Getting a sense coffee

by Bruce McMichael

Working in collaboration with acclaimed audio visual and art specialists The Frozen Music Collective, Taylors of Harrogate has created the ‘Sound of Coffee’ – an art installation which uses state-of-art neuroscience technology to give people an exclusive, real-time look inside their mind.

home-slide-xmas03For the first time, this will be used to analyse the experience of drinking coffee, right through from the smell in the cafetiere, to the first gulp.

The headset worn during the experience is specially designed to pick up electronic signals. It has been developed using Electroencephalography (EEG) technology, which records electrical activity along the scalp as people experience the pleasure of seeing, smelling and drinking coffee.

Once the headset is in place, the wearer is asked to plunge the cafetiere then smell and taste the coffee as their brain waves are displayed live on a screen in front of them. Visual representations of their reactions, both conscious and subconscious can be played out as a real-time soundtrack by live musicians.

Artists, scientists and musicians from The Frozen Music Collective have been working together to create the innovative technology. Dave Lynch, artist from The Frozen Music Collective, commented; “The brain technology can give us insights in to lots of experiences and the musicians are able to turn these visuals in to reality through a live music performance.”

He continued; “Good coffee is an experience that’s personal to everyone so the brain technology is a great way to reveal this. It allows us to create a custom experience for the drinker as it’s created by their own personal brainwaves.”

Liz Skilbeck from Taylors of Harrogate Coffee, says; “We wanted to create this experience to show consumers how mind-blowing our coffee is and to show them exactly what goes on inside the brain when we enjoy our favourite flavours. This cutting-edge technology is a great way to do that.”

The Frozen Music Collective has backgrounds in neuroscience, creative technology and live performances and the Taylors of Harrogate Sound of Coffee is their third experiment in the search for meaningful expression from the brain.

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Bruce McMichael

Food writing, discovering food stories, meeting producers, chefs and food enthusiasts are all part of desire to inspire, inform my readers and fellow food lovers. I am a freelance writer, journalist and published author focusing on the international world of food and drink, culture and travel. In 2019 I graduated from the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, Italy with a Masters in Food Culture, Communication and Marketing. I am now a visiting Professor at the university teaching Food & Drink Writing. Based in London I travel widely, particularly across western Europe. I have chaired many conferences and meetings, spoken at conferences and events and often appear on radio and TV talking most about food, the business of food and being an entrepreneur. In 2017 I won an episode of the ITV (the UK-based national television channel) cooking competition show, 'Gordon Ramsay's Culinary Genius'. I took my children on holiday to Sicily with the prize money. As an experienced farmers' market manager and operator of a small marmalade/ preserves company, I am very familiar with the issues surrounding local food, farming, enterprise and the environment.