Hot chocolate tastes better in an orange cup

PARIS (AFP) - European scientists say they have found further evidence that how you serve food and drink matters hugely in the perception of taste.

Researchers at the Polytechnic University of Valencia and the University of Oxford recruited 57 volunteers and asked them to taste hot chocolate served in plastic cups with four different colours - white, cream, red and orange with white on the inside.

The chocolate was the same in all the samples, but the volunteers found that the flavour was better when the drink was served in the orange or cream-coloured cups.

"The colour of the container where food and drink are served can enhance some attributes like taste and aroma," Betina Piqueras-Fiszman of the Polytechnic University of Valencia said in a press release.