[ELI5] do all similar flavors taste exactly the same?

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Weird title, but bear with me.

The tongue can perceive 5 different tastes. Smell accounts for much of what we perceive as flavor.

Those 5 tastes are sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and savory/umami.

What I want to know is if, for example, all sweet flavors taste the same as every other sweet flavor, varying only in intensity.

Best I could find is that sweetness from sugar has a much shorter duration than sweetness from artificial sweeteners.

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3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

The 5 flavors thing is a simplification of the truth. Think of a color wheel. You have primary colors, then secondary, then tirtiary on. It is as complicated. You didn’t even mention spicy/hot.
So no, they won’t be the same. Some people are less sensitive to flavor. And some are very sensitive to certain flavors. Maybe they really hate/love garlic.

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