Taste Expert Answers Flavor Questions From Twitter | Tech Support | WIRED

Beth Kimmerle is an author and taste expert, and she's here to answer the internet's burning questions about all things food, tongues and taste. What does Coca-Cola actually taste like? What makes someone a "supertaster"? Why does gum only seem to last for 5 minutes? Beth answers all these questions and much more!

Director: Justin Wolfson
Director of Photography: Josh Herzog
Editor: Lika Kumoi
Expert: Beth Kimmerle
Line Producer: Joseph Buscemi
Associate Producer: Brandon White
Production Manager: Eric Martinez
Casting Producer: Nicole Ford
Assistant Camera: Lauren Pruitt
Audio: Gabe Quiroga
Post Production Supervisor: Nicholas Ascanio
Post Production Coordinator: Ian Bryant
Supervising Editor: Doug Larsen
Assistant Editor: Billy Ward


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[paulmarden]

This lady is awesome. Her voice makes my throat hurt but I could watch her for hours.

[EpicNerdsWithCameras]

It still blows my mind that companies have entire teams deciding whether or not a flavor is going to appeal to the masses, and yet somehow Swedish Fish flavored Oreos were still greenlit.

[VarickPrium]

As she repeatedly points out how colour plays a role in how our brains interpret flavour, I can't help but wonder what sort of impact that might have for people who are colour blind. Do some foods taste different, or more muted? Would those colour correcting glasses alter what foods they like because the brain is getting new input? Imagine liking, or not liking, a type of food, and then putting on glasses that change how it tastes, or making it more intense?

[legionaireb]

7:09 - I have a crystal-clear memory of being in school and learning about flavors. The teacher had an experiment where they had cotton swabs with different flavor types on them and they would touch the flavors to different parts of the tongue and say 'you see how you can taste this here and not there?' I have never been more vehemently told I was wrong by an authority figure than when I said to them 'It tastes the same to me at all those points.'

On a related note, people treat Umami like it's a 'new' flavor, but I remember learning about flavors as a child and being taught about 'savory' as a flavor, which judging by the way people talk, other people weren't taught about.

[Abelhawk]

I KNEW it! I KNEW that tongue-dividing thing was bullcrap, ever since I was a first-grader! I even did my own scientific experiments, tasting sugar with the side of my tongue and sour things with the tip and it was all the same. How on earth did that hypothesis get into textbooks?

[YiLunMusk]

The amount of people Wired gets to interview is of them has the passion of the kinds of job they r doing.... idk if "job" is the right word to use when ua doing something what u love.

[bartwilson]

I was a taste tester for a Food Science Lab that contracted out to various companies. It paid and well, and if you get the chance to do wine/alcohol, they have to legally feed you. The months and months we spent on mayonnaise was taxing.

[kittykat]

Whoever's aunt she is is the luckiest person alive she has such intense "cool aunt" vibes

[lovepilie]

For all people after Covid who want their smell back : I did exactly what she described BUT went a step further and tried to smell back first SMELLS I USED TO HATE or made me want to puke. I feel that it trully helped getting my smell back faster !!! The hate in our brain is a true booster, it just triggers something XD 
Please let me know if it worked for you too! Wishing all a speed recovery <3

[KeaLynn]

That “section of the tongue” theory is so funny to me because it’s what I was taught as a fact in my high school anatomy class and I was trying to test that out on my own and never could, I would always taste every flavor no matter where it was in my mouth. I have never heard anyone say it wasn’t true so it’s cool to hear now

[DrawnByDandy]

I like how she puts emotions into the tweets she reads

[missy_lynn]

i wanted to bring attention to the fact that she also narrated the pictures and context for inclusivity and to dissect the context, i love her

[TheWildSlayer]

She was absolutely lovely, I don't know how WIRED does it, but seeing the cast so comfortable means that the team makes sure their voice is really heard, and I thank you for it!

[cavvvvv]

10:16 i did a science project in elementary similar to this! i got lemon lime soda (since it's clear) and put different food colorings in each one. then i had my classmates and other students taste-test each flavor and mark on a piece of paper what flavor they thought it was. almost every single person (i tested about 70+ kids) thought red was strawberry, orange was orange, purple was grape, etc. it was really interesting!

[steener]

This woman is incredible, I could listen to her explain the science behind food any day. I hope she came back for a part 2. You rock, Beth!

[allisonp]

Great fact: inventor of Flamin Hot Cheetos is Richard Montañez. He started at Frito-Lay as a janitor. He's written a book called "Flamin Hot".

[napoearth]

I like how she reads the questions with the emotions of the writer.

[Firestormlover]

Also, the amount of carbonation to syrup isn't set in the soda machines, and can be changed. A soda with more carbonation is a 'dry' soda. A restaurant I loved would mix their own rootbeer syrup, and you could ask for it to be a dry or sweet, whichever was your preference.

[laurenroper]

I vividly remember being taught in school that the tongue had "sections" which detect different tastes. 😅 How far we've come!

[daisyweber]

The guy who made the flavor for hot Cheetos literally wrote a book about how he made the flavor. He was a Hispanic janitor who worked his way up at Frito Lay.