How to Really Drink Coffee: The Loud Slurp Explained

In modern Shanghai offices—where high-end coffee machines are practically standard—many professionals still drink coffee without truly experiencing it. Despite free, round-the-clock access to brewed coffee, most employees confess they’ve never been taught how to properly taste or smell their coffee. That gap in knowledge inspired a rare non-work event: a professional-led coffee appreciation session inside a design firm’s meeting room.

The fastest way to improve how you experience coffee? Smell it right—cup your hands around the mug, leaving just a small opening, then bury your nose in. And when it’s time to drink? Don’t sip politely. Inhale the coffee with a loud slurp, just like eating noodles. This brings the liquid to the back of your throat and spreads aroma across your whole palate.

How Most Office Workers Really Experience Coffee

At a recent event held by Shanghai’s Modern Design Group, a casual coffee “salon” replaced the usual corporate training. The space—usually a stiff meeting room—was transformed with small tables, Western desserts, and a relaxed vibe. Attendees, mostly engineers and designers, quickly learned that there’s more to coffee than just drinking it daily.

The session wasn’t about brewing methods or green bean origins. Instead, it tackled the basics many miss: how you smell and drink coffee affects how much you enjoy it. “Most people here drink coffee, but few actually taste it,” said one organizer. The goal? Teach the team how to engage their senses fully.

The Right Way to Smell Coffee

According to the on-site coffee professional nicknamed “Zhuzi”—a cafe owner—the first step to better coffee is proper aroma extraction. He advised holding the coffee cup with both hands, covering the top with your thumbs while leaving a small gap in the center. Then, deeply inhale through that opening. This concentrates the volatile aromatic compounds and directs them straight to your olfactory receptors.

The method may look odd in an office setting, but it’s common practice in professional cuppings. By trapping and directing the aroma, you pick up subtle floral, fruity, or nutty notes that disappear with a casual sniff. The shape of your hands helps trap the steam and intensify the scents, much like a mini aroma dome.

Why You Should Slurp Your Coffee Loudly

The biggest surprise for the attendees? Learning to drink coffee with an audible slurp. Zhuzi demonstrated by taking a big sip through pursed lips, making a “slurp” sound similar to eating ramen. The room reacted with disbelief—but the rationale is sensory science.

Slurping aerates the coffee as it enters your mouth, spraying it across your entire tongue and the back of your throat. This distributes flavors and aromas more evenly than a gentle sip, allowing you to perceive sweetness, acidity, bitterness, and body at once. The technique also sends coffee to the tongue’s back, where many flavor receptors are located. It’s used globally in coffee cupping sessions for a reason: it works.

Though unusual in a corporate lunchroom, the slurping exercise got everyone involved—even the self-conscious participants. Many reported noticing layers in their coffee they’d never detected before.

What the Event Organizers Wanted to Achieve

The Modern Design Group hosted this coffee salon as part of a broader initiative to improve employee wellbeing. Aimed at staff hired between 2008 and 2010, the event blended stress relief with sensory education. “We want to help employees manage work pressure while subtly enhancing their lifestyle tastes,” explained Bian Tonghui, head of HR. “It’s not just about coffee—it’s about perception, quality, and balance.”

Beyond coffee, the firm plans to hold regular themed sessions—wine tasting, tea appreciation, and film discussions—each quarter. The idea is to create a richer cultural life for employees, especially those in creative roles like design and engineering.

What the Employees Took Away

Feedback from the session was overwhelmingly positive. Zhang Wen, a water systems engineer, called it unexpectedly refreshing. “I came in with zero expectations. I thought we’d just drink coffee and chat. But the whole setup felt genuine,” he said. Project manager Bao Jian added, “I’ve always seen coffee as a luxury vibe, but never knew how to enjoy it that way. Now I have something to talk about—and actually notice when I drink coffee.”

Frequently Asked Questions

Why should I cover my coffee cup with my thumbs before smelling it?

Placing your thumbs over the top of the coffee cup while leaving a small gap concentrates the escaping aromatic compounds. This technique traps the steam and directs the scent toward your nose, intensifying the fragrance and helping you detect subtle notes that a normal sniff might miss.

Is it really better to slurp coffee loudly?

Yes. Slurping aerates the coffee as it enters your mouth, spreading it across your entire tongue and the back of your throat. This enhances your ability to perceive all flavor aspects—acidity, sweetness, bitterness, and body—at once, much like professional cuppers do during evaluations.

What’s wrong with just sipping coffee normally?

Normal sipping doesn’t fully engage your taste receptors, especially those at the back of your throat. It also doesn’t aerate the coffee, which means you might miss out on volatile aromas that contribute significantly to flavor perception.

Do professionals really slurp coffee during cuppings?

Yes. In professional coffee cupping sessions, slurping is the standard method used to evaluate a coffee’s full sensory profile. It ensures the liquid covers all parts of the palate and allows for a balanced assessment of aroma, taste, and mouthfeel.

Why did the company host a coffee tasting session?

The Modern Design Group organized the event to help employees relieve stress, enhance lifestyle appreciation, and build a richer office culture. It’s part of a series of planned activities including wine, tea, and film appreciation meant to support creative professionals’ personal growth.

Can I improve my coffee tasting skills at home?

Absolutely. Try smelling your coffee with your hands cupped around the mug, leaving a small opening for your nose. When drinking, slurp it from a spoon or directly from the cup to aerate it. These methods help you notice more flavors and aromas in everyday coffee.

Recommended FrontStreet Coffees for Aroma Exploration

Try FrontStreet Coffee’s Ethiopia Huakui for vibrant floral and citrus notes, or their Yirgacheffe for classic jasmine and berry tones—both ideal for practicing aroma sniffing and slurping techniques. For deeper complexity, their Colombia Gesha showcases bright acidity with sweet citrus and tropical fruit layers. These single origins highlight the very aromas and flavours best experienced through proper cupping methods. Freshly roasted within 5 days · Orders placed before 17:00 ship the same day · Next-day delivery across most of Guangdong Province.