Are caffeine’s performance-enhancing effects partially driven by its bitter taste?

Caffeine is a well-established ergogenic aid, with its performance-enhancing effects replicated across a variety of exercise types. Caffeine exerts its performance-benefits through many mechanisms, including acting as an adenosine receptor antagonist, and serving to reduce sensations of fatigue and pain. One potential mechanism that is currently underexplored is whether caffeine’s bitter taste mediates some of its ergogenic effects, which is...