– what is the difference between the sort of sour that vinegar is, and the sort of sour that berries are?

Question

I’m the sort of person who loves acidity in my food, I love pickles and tomatoes and I put vinegar on everything. When I was pregnant I drank spoonfuls of balsamic vinegar because I craved it. But this doesn’t seem to apply to sour berries. I have to put sugar on strawberries and I can’t eat raspberries because they’re too tart. What is the difference between these two types of sour, so that I have an extreme tolerance for one and no tolerance for the other?

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

Hard to ELI5 flavor or sensations. Perhaps what you find different about the berries is the astringency which you might have construed as sourness.

You could try some strong freshly made black tea. If you have that same “tartness” sensation, it might be that you are reacting to astringency rather than “sourness”.