Coffee Order Personality
Coffee order personality is a research-based study of the connection between people’s personality types and their coffee orders.
It explains, with real data, what your coffee order says about you and your coffee personality traits, drawing on proven studies in behaviorism and clinical psychology.
Table of Contents
What Your Coffee Order Says About Your Personality (Backed by Real Psychology)
You walk into a cafe and order a drink.
And it seems like a psychologist learned something about your personality.
Your coffee order and personality are more intertwined than you think.
Not in the astrology, “it will tell you your destiny” way.
But more in the peer-reviewed, researched, and published psychologist’s study on coffee orders and personality.
The research is real, and the study is specific, and some of them are slightly uncomfortable.
This post will break down psychologists’ findings on coffee orders and personality traits, which orders they studied, and the results without much exaggerated buzz.
And it means about your coffee order personality.
Take this Coffee Order Personality Quiz!
The Research Behind Coffee Order and Personality
Two studies form the backbone of the link between coffee orders and personality traits.
They’re rarely cited or, if cited, quite poorly.
So let’s see what they are and what they actually found.
Dr. Ramani Durvasula’s Survey of 1,000 Coffee Drinkers
Clinical psychologist Dr. Ramani Durvasula surveyed 1000 people.
She tested for behavioral traits like extraversion, perfectionism, warmth, and overall social behavior.
Then, she cross-referenced those personality traits with coffee orders.
The results later appeared in her book You Are WHY You Eat.
Her key concept being:
“We are no more defined by our coffee orders than we are by our astrological signs.”
The patterns are real and speak some truth, but the determinism is not.
The University of Innsbruck Study (2016, Published in Appetite)
This study drew significant attention for its alarming findings.
Researchers Christina Sagioglou and Tobias Greitemeyer conducted two studies with 953 Americans.
They measured their taste preferences for sweetness, saltiness, bitterness, and sourness.
They ran those results against four personality scales: Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism, and everyday sadism.
Both studies found that a preference for bitter taste correlated strongly with malevolent personality traits and everyday sadism.
The media ran headlines like: Black coffee drinkers are psychopaths.
That’s not what the study found. The study measured a general preference for bitter food, not the love of black coffee.
The Big Five Personality Framework
The most prominent research on the coffee order personality test uses the Big Five Personality Framework.
It includes openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
A study by Lindenwood University found weak correlations between Big Five personality traits and coffee consumption among 50 students.
High Conscientiousness was associated with moderate coffee consumption.
High Openness was associated with more coffee consumption.
It was a small study, but it shows there’s some connection between coffee and personality traits.
What Your Specific Coffee Order Says About You
The research findings are below, with honest data and what it says about your coffee order and personality.
Black Coffee — The Purist
So, according to Durvasula, the black-coffee order personality is old-school, efficient, straightforward, stubborn, and prone to occasional moodiness.
Innsbruck’s findings suggest a preference for bitter taste, including black coffee, is associated with dark traits.
Although this is true for anyone who likes bitter-tasting things, it’s not true only for black coffee drinkers.
What’s actually true is that a person who orders black coffee has fewer needs at the point of ordering.
A black coffee order reflects a personality that values efficiency over comfort.
It’s also worth noticing that, according to behavioral data reviewed in Le Ravi (2026), 65% of the black coffee drinkers said convenience is their primary reason to choose black.
Not the bitterness, darkness, but convenience.
Latte — The People-Pleaser
Dravusla’s findings suggest that the latte coffee order personality showed the strongest people-pleasing attitude.
Latte drinkers were likelier to go out of their way for others.
They were also the ones likely to experience anxiety about how others perceived them.
The silky approachable nature of the latte maps into a personality with soft edges.
This trait is consistent across multiple surveys, and it is not a flaw.
On the other hand, high agreeableness is associated with strong social bonds and collaborative behaviour in Big Five research.
The data show that latte drinkers exhibit a pattern of comfort-seeking, social motivation, and occasional over-investment in what other people think of them.
Espresso — The Decisive One
According to Duravsula’s research, espresso drinkers are result-oriented, often highly opinionated, and hardworking.
The espresso order is intentional because you’re not there for a sensory experience packed with milk.
You’re there for the coffee you want, and you want it now.
Research on the Big Five Places suggests this pattern is correlated with high conscientiousness.
Meaning, espresso coffee order personality drinkers are organized, goal-directed, and not much interested in being talked out of their position.
And, Unsurprisingly, they’re mostly the ones who’re most disappointed when the cafe is out of their usual bean.
Oat Milk Latte — The Considered Consumer
Oat milk Latte coffee order didn’t exist in Durvasula’s or Innsbruck’s research.
However, a 2019 field study at Michigan State University, published in Food Research International, found that personality traits such as openness and conscientiousness better predicted specialty coffee preference than demographics did.
Oat Milk Latte coffee order personality strongly correlates with an experimental nature and a high level of ethical consciousness.
Research on consumer psychology reveals that people who choose plant-based alternatives are more prone to a systemic impact in everyday decisions.
There is a difference: it isn’t a trend coffee order personality but a considerate consumer personality.
Decaf — The Health-Conscious Planner
Durvasula’s research suggests that decaf drinkers were more likely to be detail-oriented, health-conscious, and occasionally controlling.
Another study added that women who chose decaf were more likely to make better fitness choices, such as exercising and planning their diets.
A decaf order is a signal that someone is conscious of what goes into their body.
With high conscientiousness and intentional choices, decaf is like the Big Five poster child.
Instant Coffee — The Pragmatist
According to Durvasula’s findings, instant coffee drinkers were more likely to procrastinate.
This has led people to mock instant coffee drinkers for being lazy.
But the real take is that for instant coffee drinkers, coffee is entirely functional and convenience-based.
So they’re not investing in the coffee experience.
The procrastinating finding may reflect a delay in optimizing their environment, including coffee, due to other priorities.
Instant coffee drinkers are not lazy.
They are just differently focused.
Frappuccinos and Sweet Frozen Drinks — The Social One
Durvasula’s findings say that these drinkers are easy-going, young at heart, and carefree.
The social and sensory experience drives them more than caffeine efficiency.
Observations from coffee industry writers added that seasonal drink anticipators love the nostalgia and collective experience.
So if you’re someone who gets all fired up for pumpkin-spiced lattes and summer citrus drinks, it’s due to the nostalgia and the experience of it.
Seasonal coffee drinkers are deeply embedded in the ritual and its vibe.
Coffee Orders and Personality (What the Research Found)
Take a look at this simple table that systematically maps your coffee order to your personality.
| Coffee Order | Personality Pattern | Reliability/Trust signal |
|---|---|---|
| Black Coffee | Stubborn, efficient, moody. | Moderate (Two studies) |
| Latte | People-pleasing, comfort-seeking, anxious. | Strong (Durvasula) |
| Espresso | Decisive, result-driven, impatient. | Moderate |
| Oat Milk Latte | Open, ethically motivated, and considerate. | Moderate (field study) |
| Decaf | Planner, detail-oriented, health-conscious. | Moderate (Lindenwood) |
| Instant Coffee | Procrastinators, pragmatic. | Week (single survey) |
| Sweet/Frappe | Carefree, social, nostalgic. | Weak to moderate |
What the Research Gets Wrong
Most research makes a mistake: it treats association as identity.
It goes: you order black coffee, you’re stubborn, or you order a latte, so you’re anxious.
That’s wrong.
Let’s now move to the fun part of this study, which is what it reveals about your coffee order personality.
The research has significant limitations, and even the researchers acknowledge them.
Below are the honest remarks of researchers on coffee order and personality research.
- All major studies are self-reported and correlational, not completely causal.
- The Innsbruck study measured general bitterness preference, not the specific preference for black coffee.
- Durvasula’s research was not published in a peer-reviewed journal, but was published as a book survey.
- None of these studies checked or controlled for cultural, upbringing, or economic access to specialty coffee.
- A barista with 20 years of experience noticed in the barista magazine that most orders came from a place of nostalgia, or a single formative experience, not personality.
What the Researchers support:
There are weak to moderate correlations between coffee preferences and some personality traits.
These correlations are good for self-reflection but not for diagnosing anyone.
Your Coffee Order Changes, and So Does Your Personality
The Big Five research suggests that most people become more agreeable with age.
That also shows in their coffee tastes.
A person who drinks a sweetened iced coffee latte may end up drinking a single-origin pour-over at 35.
This is due to openness to new experiences and conscientiousness shifting over a lifetime.
So if you’re a latte drinker in your early twenties, you may become an espresso snob at some point in your life.
You never know.
Conclusion
Your coffee order personality is a signal, not a hard truth.
The research is real, with two peer-reviewed journals and a large-scale survey, but the conclusions are modest at best.
What’s interesting is the patterns your coffee order reveals about you.
It reveals how you relate to comfort, risk, efficiency, and other people.
But none of these things is set in stone.
Your coffee taste shifts as you do.
So next time, before you judge someone for ordering a black coffee, remember 65% of people can’t be bothered to ask for milk. 😉
Save this Pin!
FAQs
Is there real science behind coffee order personality?
Yes, but it’s modest at best. Dr. Ramani Durvasula’s book survey of 1,000 coffee drinkers and Innsbruck’s 2015 study, published in Appetite, both associate coffee order with personality traits. It’s real but not definitive.
Q: Do black coffee drinkers really have psychopathic traits?
The Innsbruck study found a connection between a general preference for bitterness and Dark Triad traits. It didn’t isolate black coffee drinkers only. Most black coffee drinkers say convenience is their primary reason to order black coffee, not a love of bitterness.
Q: What does ordering a latte say about you?
According to Durvasula’s research, latte drinkers show the strongest pattern of people-pleasing and comfort-seeking behaviour. In the Big Five terms, it’s called high agreeableness. It also correlates with strong social bonds and a collaborative work style.
Can your coffee order really predict personality?
Predict word is too strong for this. Coffee orders connect with certain personality traits, but many factors influence your order. These factors are habit, cost, health, nostalgia, and culture. Use this coffee order and personality research as a mirror for self-reflection, not as identity.
Does coffee taste preference change with age?
Yes, the Big Five research shows that conscientiousness and openness to experiences increase with age. It also maps into your coffee preferences. As people get older, they go from choosing sweet, milky coffee toward simpler, more complex-tasting orders.
Enjoyed reading this? Subscribe to my newsletter below and get more articles like these in your inbox!
Read More: Make Easy & Affordable Syrups at Home
Hi! I’m Kounj, a freelance writer and a coffee enthusiast with experience of five years in the coffee space. I specialize in email marketing and blog writing for coffee brands and businesses. My niche focus is coffee and health, coffee lifestyle, and coffee wellness. I love writing, and I love coffee, so when you have a coffee + writing problem, I’m the only copywriter you want to contact.
Leave a Reply to Rosie Cancel reply