Tea preferences for super taster/ normal taster / hypo taster

GaoShan
Posts: 323
Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2021 12:06 am
Location: Toronto, Canada

Tue Jul 26, 2022 6:25 pm

-Based on the chart above, which one are you? (Be honest)

I'm all over the place. I like black coffee, though I gravitate toward lighter roasts and fruitier varieties. Spirits do taste like gasoline to me, but I enjoy hoppy IPAs and somewhat spicy foods. Salt and Vinegar chips are one of my favourite snacks. I'm a fairly picky eater, but do enjoy trying new foods if they don't contain anything I dislike (i.e., cheese, tofu, mayonnaise).

-which kind of teas do you gravitate towards?

Green oolong > hong > bai > green > roasted oolong > hei

-which kind of teas are a no no?

Teas that are overly roasted, bitter, tannic, astringent, or fermented. This includes most Assams and high roast oolongs and some greens.

-are you generally open to exploring many different types of teas?

Absolutely, even when I suspect I won't like them (I have a cupboard full of aging tea samples to prove it)

-do you tend to brew light or heavy? I know, some teas naturally prefer heavier or lighter infusions - but which ones do you tend to reach for?

I tend to brew lighter (typically 1 g/20 ml).


Aroma is one of the most important factors in whether I like a tea, which is probably why I enjoy green oolongs so much.
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Maerskian
Posts: 110
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Location: Atlantis

Thu Jul 28, 2022 1:00 pm

LeoFox wrote:
Sun Jul 24, 2022 1:43 pm
You brew 30g in 200 ml pot right? I forget.
For 200ml i'm using 20gr ( 1gr/10ml ratio ). Not a low one, far from unique ( found plenty people around tea communities using this same ration despite not being the most usual choice ) or abnormal.
faj
Posts: 710
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Location: Quebec

Thu Jul 28, 2022 2:55 pm

Up until very recently, I very seldom drank coffee. My partner is a coffee addict (she will absolutely have horrible coffee rather than no coffee at all), we got an espresso machine that does milk-based drinks, and this is what I typically have. I have been raised on food with low levels of salt, and while I appreciate some saltiness, an excessive amount is something I immediately notice and see as a fault. Coming from a culture where spicy foods are basically non-existent, I tolerate moderate of spiciness in dishes that are "supposed" to have it, but I prefer spiciness absent or at a level so low that it creates a bit of a feeling, but no burning. I like strong alcoholic drinks undiluted, but I sip tiny amounts, basically coating my mouth but not "drinking". I am open to culinary experiences. I do not know what all that makes me, I do not seem to fit the grid.

The main issue I have with this categorization is that it basically states that people who actively seek new experiences (foodies if you will) are people who like their food bitter, spicy and at whatever level of salt they come with, while supertasters stay at home eating potato chips. I just don't see that being the profile of chefs and people who truly love food. To me, it is like saying people who have better eyesight appreciate visual arts less. For some reason, there is no mention of preferences regarding acidity, sweetness, and umami. That seems a lot to ignore when you are mapping the sense of taste.

Also, it totally ignores everything having to do with aroma, and to me aroma is a huge part of having anything inside my mouth (especially in the case of tea), to the point where I am not sure it is valid to try to establish correlations without taking that into account.

One last thing : I remember reading (on the forum?) that there is a specific genetic variation that strongly influences the perception of bitterness. Tea being low in sodium and not spicy at all, maybe that single "detail" is more relevant to tea drinking than anything having to do with this grid or taste bud density.
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teatray
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Location: Sofia, Bulgaria

Thu Jul 28, 2022 3:19 pm

faj wrote:
Thu Jul 28, 2022 2:55 pm
One last thing : I remember reading (on the forum?) that there is a specific genetic variation that strongly influences the perception of bitterness. Tea being low in sodium and not spicy at all, maybe that single "detail" is more relevant to tea drinking than anything having to do with this grid or taste bud density.
Had similar problems with the grid and just put what seemed the best fit, as I found it valuable to have the other questions answered (gives a bit of context on tasting notes by others).

For bitterness, there are PROP supertasters, tasters and non-tasters, but these categories actually correlate with fungiform papillae density (see here or here).
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supernova
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Location: Ukraine

Tue Dec 27, 2022 3:11 pm

Based on the chart above, which one are you? (Be honest)
Hypo according to a chart with everything but the last -- seeks strong flavors.

Which kind of teas do you gravitate towards?
Sheng pu erh > oolong and green teas

Which kind of teas are a no no?
Old shu and black teas.
Are generally open to exploring many different type of teas
Always

Do you tend to brew light or heavy?
Very very light.
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bentz98125
Posts: 77
Joined: Tue Apr 30, 2019 10:08 pm
Location: Seattle

Tue Dec 27, 2022 7:15 pm

'Hypotaster' category describes me to a T.
Fascinating that physical characteristics of taste sensing structures could account for correlation with one of the 3 groups.
Equally intriguing is the role that familiarity of any particular flavor may play: in Alaska I witnessed an indigenous colleague routinely remove the cap of salt shakers in order to pour mind boggling amounts of salt on whatever food he was eating!
Maybe his palate had been conditioned by most foods he was used to, being preserved with salt (he came from a village with a primarily subsistence hunting economy).
My capacity for what Mexicans refer to as 'picante' flavors varies wildly depending on how much I have had in the recent past.
My culinary preferences are not static but alternate between repetition and exploration, familiarity and novelty.
Maybe the way a metabolism accommodates wildly different dosages of drugs according the user's history, parallels a person's perception of flavor over time.
Any definitive explanation of preferences in flavor must certainly not be simple.
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debunix
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Tue Dec 27, 2022 8:57 pm

I’m sure that there is a lot more than innate predisposition going on here: what you’re exposed to and how you get used to it I think has to be hugely important too.

While I start it out ultra picky as a young child, I have gotten a lot more adventurous as I’ve gotten older. I will never be a serious chili head, but I do keep at least a dozen varieties of dried chilies in my pantry and there are some cookbooks in my collection where I know that I routinely will need to at least double, if not triple, the spices and herbs to match my current palate. I hope that’s not all attributable to the decline in the number of taste buds on the tongue as we age!
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