Improving Sense of Smell and Taste

[JustinW]

Just a few interesting tid-bits I just picked up off of Google.

- A higher humidity can improve your sense of taste and smell. That explains why tea always taste best during a nice rain. I live in a particularly dry climate, so I think it's time to invest in a humidifier (which I've been meaning to get for a while).

- Our sense of taste and smell is heightened after exercise. This could be one of the reasons, among other things, morning tea doesn't always taste the best. On my days off I'll drink in the mornings, but I find it to not be as good as in the evening (after I've been running around all day doing things). You have to get the blood flowing!

- Dry mouth is bad for taste. Like I said earlier, I live in a dry climate, and I tend to wake up with a dry mouth in the mornings. Keep up on the water!

These are just a few interesting ones not everyone might think about.

Happy tea drinking everybody,
Justin

[Victoria]

That is interesting, thanks for sharing. Another good reason to start my day with a black. I can definitely appreciate my oolongs more later in the day that way.

[rabbit]

I'd have to agree with rain effecting taste, I think my best cups of tea are when it's raining!

[aya_s]

I must agree with the exercise bit- when I'm exhausted after two hours of class and one of my classmates opens a soda, the smell of sugar and lime and carbonation from several feet away is like an arrow up the nostrils. I don't drink soda or sweet things, but when dehydrated and spent, my body screams for a sugary beverage.

[tingjunkie]

Probably obvious, but in my experience, both spicy food and alcohol before a tea session are both huge mistakes.

[rabbit]

Probably obvious, but in my experience, both spicy food and alcohol before a tea session are both huge mistakes.

Well, especially alcohol, but sometimes a high roasted wuyi oolong with spicy food can be good.

[pimli]

Pretty neat, thanks! And just in time, as I've just moved from an arid climate into a tropical one. Taste buds, ENGAGE!

It probably also helped when I moved away from all that spicy Indian/Middle Eastern food.

This inspired me to do some googling on my own, and this was the first time I encountered that tidbit about zinc. Better start taking my vitamins then! And reducing dairy, white bread and all those mucous-y food. Another sneaky way of tea making one healthier. Still working on the exercise bit though!

[dooble]

I dunno about the morning tea, I often drink tea in summer mornings, watching the sunlight play on surfaces and listening to the wind etc.

It's probably one of my favorite times to drink tea, and also when it's raining and in the evening.

[ABx]

Makes sense; thanks for sharing

I've always sort of semi-consciously inhaled the steam of the tea deeply and never expected much from the first couple of small (1-2oz) cups, but I always just thought that was me. It stays pretty humid here for most of the year, but I also never really understood why people thought tea was so much better when it rained; I guess that would explain it

[bryan_drinks_tea]

Probably obvious, but in my experience, both spicy food and alcohol before a tea session are both huge mistakes.

+1.

I had the learn the spicy food issue the hard way. For anyone reading this,
listen to the wise tingjunkie above me.

[aya_s]

Funny, I always thought spices opened up the sinuses and got the tastebuds more sensitive, not less.

[wyardley]

Depends what kind of spicy; I think spicy by itself (hot chilis and such) isn't so bad, but spicy food often has a lot of onion, garlic, and other pungent stuff, which I think does tend to affect your sense of taste. I sometimes find that really pungent stuff negatively affects my sense of taste even the next day.