Coffee beans with candles
Does smelling coffee beans reset our sense of smell?
Coffee is typically used to wake us up in the morning and provide that extra helping hand to get us out of bed. However, when you step in our candle shop you're greeted with an arrangement of our candles surrounded by jars of coffee grounds. As pleasant as coffee smells on its own, that it not the sole purpose of our methods. Certain elements of coffee actually have been studied to clear out the palate in our nose as to give the next fragrance we smell our fullest capability.
Different opinions of this topic ridicule the internet and it seems to be a split decision on the side people fight for. The fact of the matter is that our nose is a highly sensitive tool and can experience olfactory fatigue. The definition of olfactory fatigue is described as a common experience of losing sensitivity to odors after extended periods of time. An example of this is when we wear perfume or cologne, eventually our receptors in our nose will not alert us of our fragrance as we have been exposed to our own scent for too long. This is where coffee and other forms of aroma therapy come into play.
A study on this was performed by a UC Berkeley scientist, Noam Sobel, when examining the "Influence of Smelling Coffee on Olfactory Habituation." In the study it was stated,
"Smelling coffee aroma between perfume samples, as compared to smelling unscented air, actually works. The perceived odor intensity of the perfume from sample to sample stayed the same after smelling coffee aroma while it decreased when smelling air between samples. The pleasantness of the perfume, however, was similar after smelling coffee or air.”
This thesis aligns with the beliefs we have at our candle shop and has proven trustworthy to us. Whether or not this is just a placebo affect or not, we have had the candle makers and plenty of customers participate in this unintentional study. The general consensus is that the coffee is here to stay and we positively find more enjoyment with each candle we smell.
References:
https://www.air-aroma.com/blog/using-coffee-beans-to-reset-your-sense-of-smell/
https://theroasterie.com/blogs/news/coffee-nose-best-does-coffee-cleanse-our-nasal-palate
https://shaghaf-oud.com/blogs/news/influence-of-smelling-coffee-on-olfactory-habituation
