The way you drink your coffee can say volumes about you, according to a U.S. psychologist.
The way you drink your coffee can say volumes about you, according to a U.S. psychologist. (maska/

Drink your coffee black? Odds are you're a purist whose virtues include patience and efficiency and whose personality flaws include moodiness and inflexibility.

That's according to "You Are Why You Eat: Change Your Food Attitude, Change Your Life," by Los Angeles-based psychologist Ramani Durvasula who conducted a survey of 1,000 coffee drinkers and connected the way people drank their cup of Joe to personality traits, reported

For the research, participants were presented with everyday scenarios such as waiting in line, organizing dinner parties, and how they spend their weekends. They were then asked to reveal how they typically manage such situations and how they drink their coffee.

Predictably, black coffee drinkers in the survey shared the following personality traits and attitudes: They're straightforward, no-nonsense individuals who are “old school” purists and can be moody and quiet, abrupt and dismissive. They're also described as set in their ways and resistant to change.


In the same way latte drinkers soften the bitterness of coffee with milk and sugar, the main characteristics these people share are that they tend to be comfort seekers and people pleasers who are helpful and generous with their time. They also have a habit of overextending themselves and don't take good care of themselves, researchers said.

Know people whose morning coffee order requires a laundry list of demands and takes 30 seconds to rhyme off? Are you that coffee snob? Do you take soy milk in your cup of decaf? According to Durvasula's research, this category of coffee drinker tends to be obsessive, perfectionist, selfish, health conscious, overly sensitive and rigid.

This isn't the first time psychologists have tried to connect our food preferences with our personality styles. In another “You are what you eat” study conducted this summer for Baskin-Robbins, a neurologist and psychiatrist also connected personality traits with ice cream flavors. Vanilla lovers are described as impulsive, easily suggestible and idealist, while chocolate lovers tend to be dramatic, lively, charming, flirtatious and seductive.