Effects of interval length between tasting sessions and sweetener level on long-term acceptability of novel green tea drinks

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of the interval length between sessions (1-day vs. 3-day), the sweetener level (Optimal (OP) vs. Low (LO)), and the number of stimuli (one vs. two) on long-term acceptability of a novel green tea drink. Two consumer groups (N = 80) rated their liking of two drinks (OP and LO) while another 4 consumer groups (N = 162) rated only one drink over 10 sessions at either 1-day or 3-day intervals. Repeated consumption led to an overall increase in liking of the novel drink even though the patterns of increase were different according to the sweetener level and the interval length. Higher sweetener level and shorter interval length might contribute to increase in liking score during the earlier sessions and stable liking during the later sessions for novel green tea drink.