Coffee is an incredibly complex substance
Summary
- There are about 12 THOUSAND compounds that contribute to how we experience coffee.
Details
- All 5 senses are involved.
- Even computers can not analyze and identify flavor as effectively as a human
References
Quotes
COFFEE IS AN INCREDIBLY COMPLEX PRODUCT. Science has pinpointed about twelve thousand compounds that contribute to our sensory experience of it.1 And input from all five of our senses— taste, smell, touch, sight, and sound—contribute to that experience. Coffee flavor is a multimodal experience, as the scientists say. In this book, we focus on the first three senses: taste, smell, and touch (which we experience as mouthfeel when we drink coffee). Together, these three create the perception we call flavor.* You will soon explore these three senses individually, but in practice,
when you eat or drink something, it’s difficult to separate the senses from one another. They all influence each other, for one thing.**
Additionally,
they are all processed and synthesized simultaneously in the brain and limbic system (our so-called primitive brain), and the result is “an instantaneous sensation of flavor” that science has not yet completely explained. We humans are very good at this. At the time of this writing, not even computers can replicate the human body’s ability to analyze and identify flavor in such a speedy and precise fashion.2