Taste vs. Flavor

We tend to use the words taste and flavor interchangeably, but they are really two different concepts.

Taste is registered by your tongue, and current science knows of only five tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami (also called savory or brothy).

Flavor includes taste, plus texture (perceived by your tongue, gums, and the walls of your mouth) and smell—and some would argue that the influences of appearance, memory, culture, and preference play a part in flavor as well.

If you have ever had a sinus cold clog your sense of smell, you know how unappealing a taste-only diet can be. It is the sense of smell that adds so many more dimensions to food and wine. In a blind tasting, it would be the flavor (smell + texture + taste), not taste alone, that tells your brain “this is chicken” or “this is Cabernet.”

Comments

[Aldo]

I love this post. Finally some one speaking to aspects of tasting that will actually help people how to taste from the point of already being able to taste without some fancy certificate!