If you watched Mondovino, you know that Robert Parker is a Supertaster and has his palate insured for one million dollars. OK then, what is a Supertaster? It’s a person who's more sensitive to tastes than others because of a higher density of papillae on their tongue. According to studies conducted since the 1930’s approximately 25% of all people are supertasters, 50% regular tasters and 25% non tasters.
I first read about this in Jennifer Rosen’s entertaining article Taste Test. More recently it was referred to in Jamie Goode’s excellent new book Wine Science. I couldn’t wait any longer.
To test yourself, you’ll need:
- Blue food coloring
- Q-tips (or something to dab the food coloring on your tongue – I used a paper towel)
- Piece of paper with a standard (7mm) hole punched in it.
- Magnifying glass or camera with close-up macro mode
Procedure:
- Dab the blue food coloring on the tip of your tongue
- place the piece of paper with the hole in it on the tip of your tongue
- Using the magnifying glass, count the pink dots (your papillae) in the hole or take a close-up photo.
Evaluation:
- If you count less than 15 papillae, you’re a non-taster.
- Between 15 and 35, you’re a regular taster.
- Over 35, you’re a supertaster.
I counted 27, so I’m a regular taster. Damn! The picture on the right isn't a bunch of botrytised grapes; it’s a 7mm diameter part of my tongue with blue food coloring on it. To find out more about supertasters go to the BBC’s Science and Nature.
Comments
how have I possibly not managed to see this before. It’s fucking fantastic. Even the headlines are seriously cute (you could write for the Mirror). The tongue business is amazing. If I were an NPR reporter I’d do a feature on tongues tomorrow. Sadly, I’m just a gynecologist from Salem, Oregon. The tongue picture is beyond fabulous. YOU, sir, have an enormous penis — metaphorically speaking. Story on St John was terrific too. How can you get yourself a weekly column?
Fred
Wow, I can’t believe my luck! Consecutive posts from 2 different Jamie G’s: one a famous author and one a wine chick extraordinaire! What other wine blog can boast such a phenomenon?
732 would make you a hypertaster there AJG! I conveniently left it out above but more women are supertasters than men. 25% of people overall are supertasters which breaks down to 35% of women being supertasters and only 15% of men.
I lost count a few times, but I got 732. We chicks have more sensitive palates, you see.
Hey, thanks for the link!
Glad it worked. It’s a fun test. I’ve been trying to get hold of PROP for ages, which is less messy – would love to do this test with a bunch of wine writers and food critics to see whether there’s any pattern.
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