For instance, the otter pops that my kids eat taste less sweet in popsicle form than in liquid form. What dark popsicle magic causes this?
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Cold numbs your tastebuds, so you taste things less intensely. That’s also why ice-cream slush (when left in cup for a tad bit too long) is sweeter than ice-cream itself.
When something is frozen, the molecules in it are more spread out and less active than when it is warmer. This means that when something is frozen, it generally can’t taste as strong as when it is warmed up.
The tastebuds work via a checmial reaction involving the substance being tasted (sweet, salt, etc). Most chemical reactions slow down when the reactants are colder. The entire mechanism of detection and nerve firing becomes less efficient. Slower.
This is why ice cream has far more sugar than the same amount would have if served warmer. Having twice the sugar afford more chance for the sweetness to be detected, even if inefficiently.
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