Usually my commute to work or school would include getting some coffee and a chocolate chip muffin. However, there is a reason why we crave something sweet with our coffee.

Researchers have found that caffeine -- the key stimulant of coffee, which effects how we are able to taste sweets and beverages, which makes us want to eat and drink them more to be able to satisfy the sweet cravings we get.

The study:

Senior study author Robin Dando, of the Department of Food Science at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, and colleagues recently reported their results in the Journal of Food Science.

Coffee is undoubtedly one of America's favorite beverages. Around 54 percent of us drink coffee on a daily basis, and as a nation, we spend around $40 billion on the beverage annually.

The researchers came to their conclusion by enrolling 107 adults and randomly assigning them to one of two groups.

One group drank coffee containing caffeine - the equivalent of a strong cup of coffee - while the other group consumed decaffeinated coffee supplemented with quinine, making it taste just as bitter as the caffeinated coffee. Both groups had sugar added to their beverage.

Participants were unaware of which type of coffee they were drinking.

The team found that subjects who consumed the caffeinated coffee rated the beverage as being less sweet than those who drank the decaffeinated coffee.

Additionally, after drinking a sucrose solution, participants who consumed caffeinated coffee said the solution tasted less sweet, compared with those who drank decaffeinated coffee.

Dando and colleagues note that caffeine blocks adenosine receptors in the brain, which increases alertness. At the same time, blocking these receptors reduces a person's ability to taste sweet foods and drinks. In turn, this may increase cravings for such products.

"When you drink caffeinated coffee, it will change how you perceive taste - for however long that effect lasts," says Dando. "So if you eat food directly after drinking a caffeinated coffee or other caffeinated drinks, you will likely perceive food differently."