What Your Coffee Order Says About Your Personality

Survey of 1,000 coffee drinkers reveals which type are “people-pleasers” and which are the most laid-back.

Survey of 1,000 coffee drinkers reveals which type are “people-pleasers” and which are the most laid-back.

Black coffee drinkers are old-school purists who are patient and efficient but can be a little quiet and moody, finds a survey.

While latte drinkers were generous with their time but didn’t always take the best care of their health.

These are amongst the findings from a recent survey of 1,000 coffee drinkers conducted by clinical psychologist Dr. Ramani Durvasula.

The survey looked at different facets of personality along with the types of coffee which people expressed a preference for.

Here are the highlights:

  • Frozen/blended coffee drinkers were trendsetters who liked to try new things. While they tended to be spontaneous and imaginative, they could also be reckless and fail to make healthy choices.
  • Latte drinkers were people-pleasers and comfort seekers who would go out of their way to help others. On the other hand they didn’t always take care of themselves and could get over-extended.
  • Decaf/specifically ordered coffee drinkers tended to be more obsessive and perfectionist. They made healthy choices but also tended to be worriers overly-focused on order and control.
  • Black coffee drinkers liked to keep things simple but tended to be resistant to changes.
  • Instant coffee drinkers were the most laid-back, but also tended to be poor planners and prone to procrastination.

As with any associational study, these are only patterns in the data which emerged over the large group of people surveyed.

Despite these associations, you could easily be a black coffee drinker who is highly imaginative and open to change.

Or you might be a latte drinker who is badly stuck in his ways but closely watches his health.

That said, our personalities do come out in the choices we make about hot beverages, just as they do in most of the other choices we make in life.

So, next time you’re at the counter about to order, why not try something new?

Image credit: Matthew Wicks


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This site is all about scientific research into how the mind works.

It’s mostly written by psychologist and author, Dr Jeremy Dean.

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Author: Jeremy Dean

Psychologist, Jeremy Dean, PhD is the founder and author of PsyBlog. He holds a doctorate in psychology from University College London and two other advanced degrees in psychology. He has been writing about scientific research on PsyBlog since 2004. He is also the author of the book "Making Habits, Breaking Habits" (Da Capo, 2013) and several ebooks.