Methods may include emplacing an emulsion into an annular region of a Taylor-Couette (TC) device; flowing the emulsion through the annular region created by a first annular surface and a second annular surface; contacting one or more shear sensors disposed on a surface of the annular region with the flowing emulsion, wherein contact with the one or more shear sensors generates a signal that scales with shear stress exerted by the flowing emulsion, and determining one or more of wall shear stress from the signal obtained from the one or more shear sensors. Methods may also include determining the apparent viscosity of the fluid composition from the stress measured on the wall of the TC device.