If you’ve ever visited our little cafe then you know we love coffee and books. Guess that’s no secret given the floor-to-ceiling bookshelf and abundant aroma of roasted Wells Coffees.
One of our favorite things about books is the smell. When books age they emit sweet aromas of vanilla and almond (kind of makes you want to add sweetener to your coffee next visit, right?).
Coffee, on the other hand, has a much more bold scent to it. It’s sharp and bitter. In a way, it wakes you up.
According to science, coffee and books make an even more fantastic combo than just providing an inspiring setting.
A new study by the Journal of Environmental Psychology suggests that the smell of coffee gives people a cognitive boost on analytical tasks. Researchers say it is sort of a placebo — that the scent of coffee provides an expectation for better performance.
Basically, when you get a whiff of coffee you automatically correlate it to the physical sensations following consumption; you assume the alertness and productivity of a teeming mind.
The study tested 100 undergraduate students in the school of business on a 10 question algebra exam. They split the student body in half and tested them in separate environments — one unscented and the other filled with coffee aromas. The group being tested in the coffee-scented rooms scored “significantly higher” than their counterparts.
Author of the study, Adriana Madzharov said, “It’s not just that the coffee-like scent helped people perform better on analytical tests, which was already interesting, but [that] they also thought they would do better…” Confidence is key, after all. 😉
This got us thinking… are there any other life hacks we should know about?
Turns out, yes.
Other research shows that people who read fiction score higher on both empty and social ability tests than those who don’t. The data suggest that the same area of the brain actually gets fired up when people read and comprehend fiction stories, as gets activated when we are in the process of understanding people.
By stimulating the neural networks in the brain that improve social cognition and conceptual processing we are actually improving our ability to comprehend abstract content. Psychologists call this “Transportation,” or the act of losing yourself in a good book, which makes you more empathetic and creative.
Wild, right!?
Another fun fact is that reading and coffee are both associated with improved lifespans and cognitive health, in addition to gradual brain enhancement.
So what does all of this actually mean? We’ll break it down for you. *Smells cup of coffee grinds*
Coffee + Books = Brew Urban Cafe.
Coffee + Aroma = Improved cognition.
Books + Fiction = Improved creative comprehension.
Books + Coffee + BREW = A genius in the making.
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