Can you really tell what someone is like from their coffee order? You may have heard that black coffee drinkers are old-school, while people who order iced coffee are spontaneous and adventurous. With October 1st – Coffee Day, I thought it would be fun to explore the connection between coffee and personality. Rather than simply giving students a list of stereotypes, this lesson looks at an adapted article What Does Your Coffee Order Reveal About You? and encourages students to think critically about the research behind these claims.
Everyone has their favourite and perhaps unusual coffee order. But have you ever wondered why that is? The lesson introduces students to a survey conducted by clinical psychologist Dr. Ramani Durvasula, who asked 1,000 people about their usual coffee orders and personality traits. Students learn useful personality vocabulary, predict which traits might be associated with different coffee orders, read for gist and detail, and then question how reliable these conclusions really are.
So, keep scrolling for a full-length coffee and personality ESL lesson with a worksheet and presentation.
Warmer: What’s Your Coffee Order?
As always, I didn’t want to jump straight into the reading. Instead, students start by writing down their usual coffee order without showing anyone. I then collect the answers and read them aloud, while the group tries to guess who ordered each coffee. This is a simple warmer, but it works particularly well with this topic because students immediately start making assumptions based on someone’s choice. It sets up the main question of the lesson nicely – can our everyday choices tell us something about our personality?
Pre-reading: Is There Psychology Behind a Coffee Order?
Students then discuss the question Is there psychology behind a coffee order? before being introduced to some information about the survey findings and the rest of the adapted article What Does Your Coffee Order Reveal about You? by PsychCentral. I deliberately don’t give them the results at this point. Instead, students can start thinking about what kinds of personality traits might be connected to different coffee preferences and what other factors might influence someone’s order.
Vocabulary Focus: Personality Traits
Before reading about the coffee orders, students work with nine personality traits from the article, including conscientious, generous, laid-back, moody, old-school, perfectionistic, reckless, set in your ways, and spontaneous. Rather than simply giving students definitions, the vocabulary task describes people’s behaviour and asks students to identify the personality trait. They then choose three traits that they think describe themselves and compare their choices with a partner.
Reading for Gist: What Does Your Coffee Order Say?
Students first predict which personality traits they think are associated with five different coffee orders: black coffee, latte / cappuccino, iced coffee, decaf and milk alternatives, and instant coffee. They then read five short adapted texts based on the PsychCentral article and check their predictions. The texts introduce the personality descriptions found in Durvasula’s survey, while also beginning to show that there may be other explanations for someone’s coffee choice.
Reading for Detail: Find the Evidence
Students read the texts again and match eight paraphrased statements with the appropriate coffee orders. I wanted this to be more than a simple matching exercise. Students are encouraged to find and underline the evidence in the text that supports each answer. This gives them another opportunity to practise reading for detail while recycling the personality vocabulary from earlier in the lesson.
Speaking: Who Drinks What?
The lesson then moves away from the research and into four short profiles. Students read about people with different personalities and match them with the coffee order they would probably choose according to the text. This gives students another chance to use the target vocabulary in context. They need to look at the behaviour described in each profile and connect it with the personality traits and coffee descriptions they have just read about.
Now, students return to their own coffee orders from the beginning of the lesson. They look at the personality traits associated with their coffee order and decide how well the description actually fits them. They also return to the personality traits they chose earlier and select the coffee order that would supposedly match their personality best. I like this stage because it brings the lesson full circle. Students aren’t just discussing fictional people anymore – they are comparing the research with their own choices and experiences.
Critical Thinking: Is There REALLY Psychology Behind It?
Finally, students return to the original question from the beginning of the lesson and then read a short concluding text explaining it. Although the research found some interesting connections, it cannot reliably tell us what someone’s personality is like. The survey was small and did not account for factors such as culture, upbringing, money, or dietary requirements. Students also learn that a correlation does not prove that one thing causes another.
The lesson finishes with a discussion about the reliability and limitations of the research, why personality quizzes are so popular, and why the media sometimes exaggerates scientific findings.
So, next time you order a coffee, you can have fun wondering what it says about you – just don’t take it too seriously! This coffee and personality lesson is a great way to explore the topic with B2 learners while combining reading, vocabulary and speaking.
What’s your coffee order?
