"Have you Kaplowitz'd to-day?"
Sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. For years, they were our primary tastes. There are gustatory receptors in place, tripped accordingly to its paired aforementioned note. Wikipedia will tell you that "a taste receptor is a type of receptor which facilitates the sensation of taste." A handy definition, that. No, not really.
Then came umami via Japan. Think savory. Think MSG. Don't think Madison Square Garden. Thus compiling today's list of sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami/savory. "Fat" is, I understand, making some strides toward inclusion. Simply because real tastes come in all sizes. In this "Notes on Notes," we'll be focusing on an even newer & only potential addition: water.
But much like an NFL wide receiver, water has no taste; you might say if you were quite clever. Except that we/they aren't necessarily talking taste. I've heard it labeled as "water taste," most notably by Dr. Linda M. Bartoshuk, the Bushnell Professor of Food Science and Human Nutrition and the UFCST Director for Psychophysical Research. I don't really grok that caveat, myself.
It would seem it's about exposure to said taste. More precisely, the time "The taste of Water" stays on the tongue. The cumulative concentration of flavors. Also, while each primary taste has its own receptor, tastes can all piggy-back, as well. In other words: bittersweet sensations see bitter somewhat triggering sweet & vice-versa. It's my belief, as I'm not intimately aware of the good doctor's, that "water taste" can be a piggy-backer of an act. A secondary-primary note...
An accompaniment of all five primary tastes. Lesser-so in quick contact -- more so in lengthier experiences. A quick sip, nibble, draw -- perhaps nothing is noted. But have you ever tasted something that isn't quite mouthwatering (more on that by way of umami in a tick) but one which thins in flavor and exhibits a body I note as "spitty" on its afterwards? In terms of balance: astringency dries, acidity masks. That's tea & coffee, respectively. Cigars? I'm thinking cream absorbs, spices mask. If not 'nuff, a voila!
Perhaps if I were to note water more in my notations (I'd first have to experience it in a more positive light than watered-down) I'd relate my findings thusly. Perhaps not. Too poetic. Try this thought experiment in dowsing for water: think between notes, the unplayed note, and the after note. The pre-note saliva-fest is umami. The mouth-watering steak un-dug-into on your plate. Water is the after -- the drive to find quench. It can be seen as diluting. But diluted with what? Water. I mean it's in the damn title of this writing. However, there are many types of drinking water.
- Distilled water is boiled into vapor then condensed back into a liquid. It contains no minerals.
- Springwater is natural water collected from underground sources, untouched by civilization, per se. Until Coca-cola bottles it.
- Filtered water is 'sourced' from municipal tap water, then run through carbon filters to remove the chlorine. A micron filter is sometimes employed as well.
- Purified water is filtered water which is then run-thru reverse osmosis, distillation, or deionization.
All of the above is admittedly virtually sans meaning in this article's context. But hey, thanks for reading. &, as a podcast fave of mine states (paraphrase?), "Thanks for wanting to be smarter today than you were yesterday" (Philosophize This!) OK, OK, I can see something in the mineral mention of distilled and perhaps purified waters... I'd say those are straight out on the list of what to look for in flavor. Body, maybe. I should digress.
That's fine. This is fine. Oh, this is fine. But why water? Because without it we die and doesn't it make sense we have a taste for it -- a yearning beyond dehydration? Poetically, we crave ourselves, as we are some 60% water. Our bones, even, are roughly 30%. Isn't that lovely? A falling back into/unto ourselves. Too poetic. & just doesn't "hold water" in the world of tasting tastes. We may love water but not its appearance in watered-down affairs.
& if "spitty" don't water down an affair -- I don't know wtf does. Fellatio humor, anyone? I know, I apologize. Low-hanging berries, those.
For an index of these "Notes on Notes" entries, go HERE.
If you don't appreciate this "Notes on Notes" series, please blame its sponsor, the Dapper Cigar Co. You can contact them at dappercigars.com
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If you don't appreciate this "Notes on Notes" series, please blame its sponsor, the Dapper Cigar Co. You can contact them at dappercigars.com
