Hello World, its been a while. I'm not even going to apologise for my absence but the truth is that I do sometimes fall in and out of love with blogging. My motto is usually if you haven't got anything to say do not bother saying anything, so that's kinda why the blog has been a bit silent lately.
Anyway....... I have got something to say today, so here it goes.
Taste, flavour and aroma have always played a large part in my life. Some people are very visually driven, others like to touch the products they are dealing with, but for me it has always been taste that pleases me the most. This got me thinking recently about how tastes change and how my own have developed over the years. We often think about children and young adults as being picky and driven by sweet flavours. A survey by the University of Copenhagen in 2008 found that it is not quite as simple as that. They concluded by saying that adult palates simply need more stimulation than children's do.
Recently I have also bought two books/kits which tie in with my current fascination with taste and my own palate. Firstly I purchased something which I have had my eye on since my days wandering through the vineyards of the Rhone Valley, Le Nez Du Vin (N.b You can get this product much cheaper by sourcing through the usual tax avoiding website with the name of a South American river, but I wouldn't want to link to them). Le Nez are a series of aroma kits compiled by renowned French wine buff Jean Lenoir. The idea is that you are provided with little glass bottles of liquid which you can use to hone your nose and ability to pick out flavours. Le Nez are currently selling wine, whisky and coffee kits but I would argue that many of the flavour compounds are going to be pretty universal, pineapple in an IPA and in a glass of Gewürztraminer are still pineapple. I am still at the early stages with my aroma kit and haven't got through all the guides that come with it but already I find it easier to pick out certain flavours I couldn't get a grasp on before by using the kit.