this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2023
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Is there actual evidence for these fundamental flavors? I am pretty dubious that taste is this reductive.
Most of what you perceive as "taste" is just using your sense of smell on food within the mouth, where it is very close to smell receptors.
To isolate taste informally, pinch your nose, stick your tongue out, and put food directly on the tongue when it's outside your mouth. You'll find that by itself your tongue can't distinguish many flavors, that's why everything tastes terrible when you have Covid or a bad cold.
There are probably some bitter etc. compounds that are just super strong. Like lemon smells nice but it alone might be a bit too much.