The Year of the Taste Test

We did another taste test recently; this time testing cokes. For some reason I feel weird just saying “cokes” – should I clarify that we were testing sodas? I don’t mind saying “coke” 24 hours a day to mean any sort of carbonated beverage, but I go to type it and I feel like I’m sending Coca-Cola along the same path as the escalator. I’m pretty sure that they’re not that worried about trademark retention, but I’m just doing my part.

We really didn’t have a clear plan or a goal with the test. I know my dad has said that people tend to get confused with Coca-Cola and Sprite during a blind taste test. Other than that we were just tasting (blindfolded), commenting, and trying to guess the correct beverage. I just know that I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to pick out Diet Coke, which would mean I would need to totally evaluate who I am and what I’ve been doing with myself for the past twelve years.

Five tasters (Trent, my dad, my brother-in-law, a Crystal Beach local and friend, and yours truly) and seven beverages later we learned that everyone can pick out Dr. Pepper. The lemon lime beverages did throw some people off, but in my personal experience you could smell the lemon lime flavor. Chris was the only person to guess every drink correctly. I personally learned that I don’t really like most cokes, but I recognized –and liked- Diet Coke immediately. Identity confirmed.

So what’s next? I would like to see a redo of the light beer taste test of a few years ago. My dad wants to test Brie and Camembert, which sounds like it should be paired with a wine tasting. I'm still trying to figure out how we could keep fast food french fries hot enough to have a valid test. Maybe we could do a bake-off for the best chocolate chip cookie recipe. That’s a win-win situation.

In the immortal words of Hunter (although at the time he was speaking to a cat): Is this what you do with your life?