A new study has revealed the correct way you should be eating a chocolate digestive.
When it comes to tucking into the tasty treat, it’s safe to say not much thought goes into how it should be eaten.
But, to have a better taste experience, researchers from Oxford University suggest eating it with the chocolate side facing downwards.
In the study, Oxford University food scientist Professor Charles Spence analysed different ways of eating a chocolate digestive – including chocolate side up, chocolate side down, and with the winning flip.
The report assessed a variety of reasons why the chocolate side down may make it taste even better, including the sensation of the chocolate melting directly on the tongue.
And it also suggested that picking up the biscuit with the chocolate side facing upwards allows the brain to register the coating approaching you, which maximises the overall “oral-somatosensory experience”.
Professor Charles Spence said: “Which side up a half-coated chocolate biscuit should be eaten is a topic that’s been hotly debated, which is why we wanted to get to the bottom of the million-dollar question.
“My research suggested that whilst there are merits in both ways, holding the biscuit chocolate side up first to maximise the visual experience and then switching it over as the biscuit is brought toward the mouth provides the best multi-sensory experience.”
People also tend to enjoy eating biscuits more if it’s noisier, the expert claims, as it may help to enhance the taste.
And eating it slowly can also boost the flavour.
But previous research by McVitie’s found that 77 per cent of Chocolate Digestive eaters eat their biscuits with the chocolate coating on top as people see chocolate as the topping – much like you wouldn’t eat a piece of toast with jam on the bottom.
However, those who did eat their biscuits with the chocolate facing down said they did this because they wanted to taste chocolate on their tongue first.
Mark Schomberg, Head of Chocolate and Culinary Craft at McVitie’s, said: “There is no ‘right or wrong’ way to eat a Chocolate Digestive, however, we’ve previously confirmed that technically speaking the chocolate is on the bottom of the biscuit as that’s how it’s enrobed when they are created.”