Consumers often express different preferences for beverages in sensory test settings compared with those in real-life settings. This study investigates the effects of tasting context on consumer tasting and evaluation of beverages. Three groups of respondents participated in a blind taste test of a consumer beverage in different settings and then evaluated the pleasantness of the beverage. Those who tasted in a real-life setting tended to report greater pleasantness for the sample than those who tasted in a test setting where they were asked to rate multiple sensory characteristics of the sample. Those who tasted in a test setting in which they were not asked to rate these char- acteristics tended to give the sampled beverage moderate ratings that ranked between those given by the other two groups. Several potential explanations for the effects of tasting context are discussed.