May 15, 2007

Are you a Super Taster?

With the average person having about 10,000 taste buds, and as we age, that number goes down. Well in typical tasting, you can only taste sweet, sour, bitter and salty, but then your nose comes into play and brings to life all of those wonderful aromas and flavors that are swirling around in your cup of coffee or espresso. As we age, the number of taste buds we have goes down and so does our ability to smell and pick apart that delicate balance of flavors that comes bundled in each high quality, well roasted coffee bean. Super tasters have the ability to pick apart flavors and aromas better than the rest of us, but it comes at a cost. Some reportedly can’t eat foods that are more bitter than others, like eggplant and broccoli.

Even if you aren’t a Super Taster, there are a few things that you can do to make a cupping or tasting experience better when you taste and compare coffee. For a full article on cupping, tasting and being a better taster all around head over to Roast Magazine.

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