The brief
A leading coffee brand was testing a new line of premium blends and needed more than a standard taste test. The client wanted insights into flavour preferences, but they also wanted to understand how those preferences were shaped by the full cafe experience: the preparation method, the aroma as it brewed, the way the coffee was presented. A CLT run on filter coffee from a thermos would not deliver that. The project demanded immersion and realism, because a premium coffee product is not just a liquid in a cup. It is the whole ritual around it.
The challenge was operational as much as methodological. Replicating an authentic cafe experience inside a testing hub meant controlling variables that most fieldwork facilities do not even think about: grind consistency, water temperature, extraction time, milk texturing, cup type and serving presentation. Get any of those wrong and the product participants taste is not the product the brand is actually launching.
What we did
- Brought in talented local artisan baristas to prepare every serve to the brand’s exact specifications
- Equipped our testing hub with commercial-grade coffee machines capable of producing cafe-standard espresso, pour-over and filter serves
- Implemented detailed testing guidelines produced to specific recipes and brewing protocols, so every cup was prepared to the same standard across the full study
- Controlled the full sensory environment: grind freshness, water quality, serving temperature, cup presentation and aroma management
- Ran structured feedback capture across both flavour preference and the broader sensory experience, including aroma, visual presentation and preparation theatre
The result
Participants reported significantly higher engagement and realism compared to a standard CLT format. The immersive approach did not just capture flavour preferences. It revealed nuanced insights about sensory expectations that only surface when the product is experienced in context: how aroma influenced first-sip perception, how visual presentation affected quality expectations, and how preparation theatre shaped willingness to pay. Those insights ultimately influenced the final product formulation and contributed to a successful commercial outcome for the brand.
Why this project matters
A premium product tested in a non-premium way gives you non-premium insight. This project worked because we understood that the testing environment is part of the product experience, not separate from it. Bringing in specialist baristas, investing in commercial-grade equipment and building brewing protocols into the operational plan was not a nice-to-have. It was the thing that made the data trustworthy. When a client is making formulation decisions worth significant investment, the fieldwork has to earn that trust.
