Scientific American article on magnifying taste

For those who are really into Darcy's presentation on sensory perception at TOTC (which he's now posted on his site), here's the link to the SA article (August 08 issue) on taste: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=magnifying-taste Sphere: Related Content

TOTC Day 3 the importance of vodka

I attended the "Rediscovering the Traditions of vodka" led by Steve Olsen and learned a great lesson on how to engage an audience. Throughout the whole TOTC event, Vodka was criticized, belittled, vilified, marginalized and ultimately disrespected. It's like the old Yogi Berra line..."nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded."

But with 28% share of the total US spirits market, Steve eloquently made his points that it warrants respect and consideration and can't and shouldn't be ignored. He went on to walk us through a product tasting that was more about sensing the vodka as opposed to tasting it. Darcy O'Neil made the point in the sensory perception session that if you analyze vodka chemically, there aren't any flavor compounds in there... no citrus, no wheat, no potato and certainly no tobacco, peanuts or any other contrived descriptors. What there are however are components that might trigger a flavor memory or association. And that's what we're really sensing, e.g. not citrus per se, but a compound similar to citric acid that sparks an association in your mind.

Steve demonstrated a tasting protocol where you can separate the liquid flavor components from the aromatics. By coating the oral cavity with the vodka, then closing your mouth and breathing out your nose, you can segment the feel of the alcohol from the smell of the volatile compounds. Then breathe in only through your mouth to gauge the quality of the alcohol...it should feel cool like menthol or eucalyptus, not harsh or burning. He went on to demonstrate the difference between a number of brands and show how they not only differed, but had specific characteristics that would make a given vodka the preferable spirit for a given cocktail.

At the end of the session, he had turned a roomful of skeptics into advocates. Sphere: Related Content

TOTC Day 3 Working with Bloggers

Saturday was a day of blogger immersion. We had breakfast at Brennan's with Darcy O'Neil. Lunch at Bourbon St. with Gabriel Szaszko and his lovely wife Joanna, then dinner at Arnaud's with Jeff Morgenthaler and Jay Hepburn. Our objective was to get first hand input on how suppliers can work with bloggers...what their needs and interests are. Basically all gave the same answer...acknowledgement and respect. So many suppliers take the wrong tack in working with bloggers...mass mailings with samples of product supported with a lecture on how wonderful the brand is.

These guys (these guys?!....us!...I'm a blogger too!) undestand the commercial needs of business and want to write about brands. But just like old world journalists they expect brand and PR folks to do their homework. Read the blog to get an understanding of the interests and bias of the author. Participate in the conversation on an ongoing basis with comments, reciprocal links, and contributions that add value...not just talk about a brand. It's not a one night stand, it's a conversation.

Darcy's all about metrics...he's a chemist at heart and at work and while he acknowledges how widely read his blog is, he's really interested in just the facts. Gabriel's a journalist. Like me he keeps Strunk and White at the ready, appreciates it when people write in complete sentences and take the time to at least run spell check before asking for a favor. Jay's a brit that has signficant virtual presence in the U.S. but a very limited physical one. Just getting samples is a challenge. And Jeff? Well, Jeff's unique. When I asked what his needs are and ran down a long list of things we could do for him, his answer was "yes". Sphere: Related Content

TOTC Sensory Perception

Great presentation by Darcy O'Neil on sensory perception. I remember a lot of this from college, but clearly there have been advances in knowledge in the past 30 years. The fun part of the event was the taster evaluation. People fall into three categories: non-taster, normal, and super taster. All refer to the ability/senstitivity to taste bitterness. There is a chemical test strip we were handed to put on your tongue that made it pretty clear what category you fit in. The key point though is if you're a bartender, chef or someone whose palate is a judge for others...you have to know where your perceptions are before preparing for others. E.g. a super taster is very sensitive to bitters so would make a very different tasting Negroni than a non-taster. Sphere: Related Content