What’s your favourite way to drink coffee? Do you prefer rich, creamy, collagen-infused brews or black coffee with a splash of milk? According to a new study published in the journal Scientific Reports, your flavour preferences may be entirely determined by your DNA.

Researchers discovered a genetic variant that corresponds to a faster caffeine metabolism—and, not surprisingly, these people also enjoy black coffee.

The link between DNA & coffee preferences.

Participants with a preference for black coffee also had a genetic variant that helped them metabolise caffeine faster, according to the study, and they associate the alertness and mental clarity they experience with the pure coffee flavour.

Basically, people with genetic factors that contribute to increased caffeine metabolism learn to appreciate the taste because of the increased metabolism and psychostimulant effects. They come to associate the psychostimulant effects with the bitter taste. Essentially, if you like black coffee, it might not be the taste you like so much as the energy you get from it.

Tea and dark chocolate, both of which contain caffeine, were also found to have strong patterns (albeit at much smaller concentrations than coffee). It just goes to show that what we’re seeing with coffee can be seen in other caffeine-containing foods and beverages. “People with genetic factors that contribute to increased caffeine metabolism prefer black coffee over-sweetened coffee, dark chocolate over milk chocolate, and unsweetened tea over-sweetened tea,” says the study. So, if you prefer raw, organic cocoa blends to a mild milk chocolate square, it’s possible that your caffeine metabolism is to blame.

What this means for Future Research. 

Understanding these genetic variants for caffeine metabolism provides an opportunity to study the potential health benefits of this well-known energising phytonutrient in greater detail as the field of caffeine research continues to grow.

“We always have these issues of confounding in classic epidemiology,” says the researcher. “We often assume that all heavy coffee drinkers have similar characteristics, but we now know that they have genetic differences, which also influence how they consume their coffee.” After all, someone who drinks black coffee may have very different health consequences than someone who drinks coffee with cream and sugar.

Most of the research that we hear in popular media just talks about how coffee has been associated with this outcome, or it’s adversely associated with that outcome, but they don’t mention how the coffee is prepared—and that makes a difference, and that makes a difference, and that makes a difference, and that makes a difference, and that makes a difference, and that makes a difference, and that makes a difference, and that makes a difference, and that makes a difference, and that makes.

The Takeaway.

If you enjoy black coffee, dark chocolate, or unsweetened tea, you may have a genetic variant that indicates a faster caffeine metabolism—so it’s not so much the taste as it is the mental boost. Something to drink while you consider the menu at the coffee shop.