Part 2: The Day I Won The Taste Test

I was enjoying coffee daily and had slowly started drinking coffee black, no creamer. I was starting to really enjoy the flavors I could finally taste because of my taste buds adjusting without the sugar and cream. When the package says cocoa flavored with rich praline, I could really taste that. Even the harder to taste flavors, like black truffle, cherry notes, cedar, spice cocoa started to present themselves. If I had not acquired the taste, I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy those flavors. There is also more acidic flavored coffee. Before, I would read the package and not taste the difference between a citrusy blend and a nutty flavor. It would just taste like coffee to me.

With this expansion of my taste buds, I found that I had a preference.

While I was out to brunch one day, I ordered a coffee. I had a taste and quickly determined it tasted like my least favorite kind. (A lot of people like it, I just don’t.) I told the waitress I didn’t want it and would still pay for it. I said, ‘It tastes like x brand coffee, is that what it is?’ Lo and behold, it was the coffee brand, I had guessed it on a taste!

This was something I proudly told a lot of people. Getting to that point was a lot of choices over time. It took careful consideration into what flavors I wanted to be eating every day: bitter, pungent, astringent, sweet, sour & salty. Appreciating all the flavors makes food more fun.