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#43731 10/06/01 08:13 PM
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today during lunch the conversation turned to the flavor of certain things. i made a comment about the flavor of water, to which my mother-in-law responded that while she may think of water as having a taste she does not believe that it has a flavor. yet we were unable to describe the difference between taste and flavor. the best we could do was suggest that flavor may be associated with aroma.

can anyone provide a better distinction or description?


#43732 10/06/01 10:15 PM
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I think of flavor as being varietal, whereas taste describes salinity, acidity, and odor. I think that one's nose AND tongue describe taste, but our tongues and the rest of our esophageal lining identify flavor. Now, does that flavor this to your taste?


#43733 10/06/01 10:22 PM
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Water has a taste that is usually associated with the minerals dissolved in it. Distilled water tastes odd because it has almost no minerals or anything else to be detected by our sensory apparatus. Some minerals are easy to identify, salt for instance. Others may be bitter. Acids have a sour taste. Smell and taste go together. Fruit flavors are largely detected by smell. Even when the nostrils ares blocked some aerosols get into the nasal cavity from the pharynx.
I would not say water had a flavor unless something has been added to it. But we all know that just going from one town to another, the taste of the water changes. I remember reading over fifty years ago when the Prince of Wales came to America, trained persons in his entourage took distilled water, and added just the right minerals to it to make it taste like the water he was used to at home.


#43734 10/06/01 11:36 PM
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when the Prince of Wales came to America

Legend has it that he's slated for a second coming next June


#43735 10/07/01 12:05 AM
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In what ghostly archive was the legend written that Edward VIII and his horses would be reincarnated to play polo here again?


#43736 10/07/01 04:04 AM
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Besides, the current PoW already has two sons.



The idiot also known as Capfka ...
#43737 10/07/01 04:04 AM
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The best water I ever had was when I was a child. Our house was built into a hill of solid red clay and the well was deep below. The water was so cold and sweet...........
The best water smell is in the desert when it rains. The smell of wet caliche is incredible.
And, of course, the best water feeling is when it's been over 100 degrees F. for days and the humidity is 100% and you dive in the northern waters of Lake Michigan.


#43738 10/07/01 04:15 AM
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Xara, it occurs to me that we can say something "tastes flavorful"; but I'm too tired to work out the significance.


#43739 10/07/01 12:26 PM
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Welcome back, Consuelo!


#43740 10/07/01 04:33 PM
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In chem classes we were taught that water may, in part, be defined a "tasteless, colourless and odorlous liquid".

As somebody else mentioned, it gets a flavour or taste only when it has other stuff dissolved in it. Interesting thing thing about water that tastes awful (like the legendary stuff served up by the public water authority to the folk of Adelaide, South Australia) - it often makes good beer!! (Make mine a Cooper's!!)

stales


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