Anthony Bourdain Thought This Unconventional Flavor Was Crucial To His Coffee-Drinking Experience

Of all the vast and varied flavor additions that can give your coffee a flavor boost, there might also be one de facto ingredient right under your nose. Less ubiquitous than the old cream and sugar, less divisive than pumpkin spice, this quirky aromatic comes from the cup itself. We speak, of course, of the essence of cardboard, which celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain romanticized to ABC News in an erstwhile red carpet appearance.

"I like my coffee in a cardboard cup with a picture of the Acropolis on the side, from the guy who sells donuts in the street," Bourdain told the outlet in 2016. "The cardboard flavor is an important component of my New York coffee drinking experience." Although the culinary merits of cardboard are not yet fully understood, they might actually improve the experience of imbibing a cup of joe. (Or, any ink spilled or conversation started on the matter could just be attributed to the legacy assertions of a generally beloved hospitality character. It's a fun thing to think about either way.) One thing that is certain, however, is that paper cups can noticeably affect the taste of your brew.

Perhaps most famously elucidated by Proust's madeleine, taste, as well as its faithful companion, fragrance, evokes powerful sense memories. In the best scenarios, those memories are good. So, for Anthony Bourdain to claim a fondness for the papery flavor that New York City's ubiquitous Anthora cups (which, although Greek-inspired, do not literally depict the Acropolis) infuse into Gotham's java, it's likely that he also had some affection for the routine, familiarity, or even terroir of the product itself. As unlikely as it is that Bourdain would have added notes of cardboard to other items, nostalgia could have made it seem as special as that petite sponge cake of literary tradition.

It's very likely that you have your own personal madeleine, or rather, cardboard coffee, as the case may be. Whether it's a spark of sentiment for some recipe repeated throughout your childhood, a sip of red wine that recalls falling in love, or cocktails that taste like summer, the combination of certain ingredients can conjure moments as though through a crystal ball. They may not always be for everyone, but the meaning of these acquired tastes is more priceless than the most expertly executed food and drinks in creation.

For Bourdain, his preference for a humbler coffee-drinking experience also extended to the way he liked his joe served. Ever the New Yorker, he had little patience for waxing poetic about beans. "If it takes you longer to make my coffee than for me to drink it, then we have a basic problem," he told ABC News.