Is there a way to get clues about each blade favorite items?

To unlock new orbs you often have to put items of a specific category in the pouch. Some other time you have to put the blade's favorite item.

Spoiler :

I did notice that at some point in a cinematic near chapter 2 or 3 while in an inn you can see Pyra having a cup of tea and saying that she enjoys it a lot or something like that which made me think that tea would be her favorite item.

Other than that I didn't see any hints for the other blades (I might have missed it). But still for blades you don't see in cinematics aside from trying everything single category and then every single item of that category I don't see how you can achieve that.

So is there any way to know which specific item (or even category for that matter) is their favorite ?

Solution 1:

The Rare Blade Boreas gives clues to the favorite pouch items of party members and their personal blades when his affinity chart is filled out.

For other Blades, some of them have clues to their favorite items in their respective affinity charts when nodes are filled in.

Solution 2:

There are many dialogue clues like the one you mentioned. The wide majority come from speaking with * dialogue NPCs, but some come from cutscenes as well.

Minor spoiler, example:

One early example that springs to mind is when someone jokes to Nia that she might devour some meat, and she replies that she actually loves fish.