The degree to which a particular beverage or food is perceived as
being refreshing during consumption also seems to depend on
learning from everyday eating and drinking experiences. As noted in
the previous section, the positive experience of alleviation of
unpleasant symptoms (thirst, mouth dryness, mental fatigue, feeling
too hot) following consumption of water or another beverage leads to
a learned association of these positive experiences and to perceiving
the drink as refreshing. This could explain why Zellner and Durlach
found that, among a group of American students who were asked to
list foods, beverages and sensory characteristics they considered to be
refreshing, water was the most frequently mentioned drink (90% of
respondents) and cold temperature the most frequent sensory
attribute. Learning may explain other associations with refreshing,
such as the positive association with clear appearance [1] and the
negative associations with sweetness, thickness, intense flavor
and after-taste.