I recently went on a minor spiral over how water from a glass feels fresh, but water from a mug tastes like betrayal.
My friends think I’m overreacting. I think I’m just sensitive.
Is this just me? Or do you also have strong (and completely irrational) beverage vessel preferences?
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You may need to wash your mugs. Lol. Never had this experience, honestly
It’s because the mug isn’t transparent, in my opinion. I have had sort of the same feeling with paper cups in the past. It’s all in our heads!
Hard agree. It’s not that the mug itself is dirty, it’s a psychological thing. I also like how glass conducts heat better so that the glass feels colder in your hands.
I agree. For me a metal cup is the only way to drink water. Even a glass cup isnt as satisfying.
It’s definitely a thing, and a topic that’s been studied. Here’s one such study out of many.
I think it’s like a memory association thing. I’m expecting coffee or tea out of a mug so when it’s water my brain is surprised and it feels wrong more than it tastes wrong. Oddly enough I have a Yeti brand mug that metal but water tastes/feels fine from it, I think because the metal reminds me of a canteen and my brain goes “oh yeah water can be in canteens”
I don’t know, humans are weird.
I think water tastes weird all the time.
OHMYGAWD I thought I was the only one! 🤣
I’ve thought about this many many times.
My theory is that a mug generally has a thick wall resulting in a thick rim around the top. A glass generally has a thin wall and thin rim. We generally drink (sip even) warm/hot things from a mug and cold things from a glass. I think some of us have developed a mental association with, or are more sensitive to, the temperature of a beverage in combination with the feeling of the vessel from which it is being consumed from.
This is why water (and for me cold beverages) just feel weird from mugs. It’s rare we’d drink hot things from cups/glasses as it’s not practical given the thermal transfer to the hands.
Now that you mention it, yes I do think think water from a mug tastes a bit weird… Or it feels weird… like extra tasteless. I think maybe it’s because you’re used to beverage from a mug being hot. I don’t know though. 😀
Yeah it doesn’t matter how scalding the water was or how I cramped my hand scrubbing. Ceramic makes water taste fundamentally different than glass. But metal cups are king.
yeah, anything but my personal bottle makes me feel paranoid as hell. my mind always convinces me, “SOMEONE MUST HAVE SNUCK SOMETHING INTO MY WATER” so i never use mugs since i cant see through them to check for particles or oil or stuff. and it always tastes off from a mug because,,. i guess im paranoid and my mind is playing tricks on me.
Yes but I never realized this until reading this post
Omg okay, I didn’t expect this many people to relate 😅
I actually went full nerd on this and wrote an article about it – with science, mug betrayal, and a tastebud identity crisis:
👉 The Wine Mug and the Coffee Glas
TL;DR: It’s not you. It’s crossmodal perception and your disappointed dopamine system.
Yes I agree with you, for cold water, drinking out on a metal cup, is the freshest for me.
I notice a slight difference. It’s a massive difference in bottled water, which I find insipid. I only like water in a glass glass over ice. I’ll drink whatever in a dehydration emergency, but in a glass over ice is more thirst quenching than any other way.
You’re not crazy, people who put water in mugs are crazy. It’s all wrong. The thickness of the cup makes it hit your mouth wrong, the temperature automatically feels weird, it’s all just weird. My husband brought me water in a mug once, I had to drink that to not be rude and crazy, but it was unpleasant. Sure, it’s all in my head and maybe I am crazy, but cold water in a mug is just blasphemy
Yep. I have no reason for it but certain beverages have specific cups 🤷♀️ I’ve never been able to drink wine from a mug either
Yep but have you ever grabbed your glass of water and been met with glass of someone else’s non-water beverage? Among the biggest jump scares. My unconscious KNOWS that soda is poison for a second
Absolutely true. It tastes rounder
Yes but additionally to that, coffee in a mug is comforting while coffee in a glass/jar is energising
It is all about the vibes ✨️
I have noticed that water from a (store-bought) bottle tastes like water and water from the faucet tastes like slow death. But glass or mug? no difference.
I do feel like water from a glass is “better” but I rarely drink water this way and usually just use stainless steel water bottles.
I use a big glass and somehow it just taste better
No, but a glass of water from The bathroom tap tastes differently from the kitchen tap.
I have the same quirk. I cannot drink water, soda or juice from a mug. It has to be in a glass. I can’t drink out of a plastic cup either. Definitely “tastes” different. 😂
Agree. Water from a mug tastes different. Better from a glass.
One well documented reason for this can be how the shape of a glass dramatically changes the taste of beverages, particularly wine but any liquid will be impacted — has to do with the combination of concentration of vapor for smell and how and where it hits your tongue.
You can test this with a balloon glass vs a narrow neck wine glass: not just wine but fruit juice and tomato juice will taste dramatically different.
A plastic cup is the worst! Even more terrible than a mug.
You are sensitive. Welcome to the club. I wouldn’t go so far as “betrayal” though, for me things like this are just off-putting or feel weird.
Definitely texture/shape makes it feel different. When I was a kid, one of my friends had glasses that just felt or smelled different, I don’t remember exactly what it was. Drinking out of them tasted/felt weird to me.
I never drink coffee, but do have tea or cocoa in a mug. I’ve gotten really lazy lately though and drink everything, water, juice, etc, out of the same cup a lot of the time which is – gasp – a mug. I know, how could I.
When I used to drink sodas I couldn’t drink them from plastic for the same reason, had to be glass.
Anything cold in a mug tastes off for some reason. It’s all in our heads most likely, we’re just too used to associating it with hot drinks.
Water tastes worse from plastic cups though! I’ve gotten picky as I get older.
Yes
It is a different experience somehow
Nah, you’re onto something. Water from a mug is sus. It’s like, I know you’re water, but you’re also holding the ghost of coffee past.
Yes