Why is it that spicy food always seems so much spicier when hot (temperature)?
In: Other
I might not be able to ELI5 but the most voted answer is something different than you asked for. First thing you need to understand is surface tension which for now, you can understand as resistence against dissolving. Thicker fluid has higher surface tensions usually. Surface tension has inverse relationship with temperature, which means with increasing temperatue the surface tension decreases. When surface tension decreases, the dissolving power of the liquid increases and as a resut our taste bud can receive more results from the food. This is the same reason you would like to drink your coffee/tea hot because higher the temperature less is the surface tensikn, anf higher is the coffees’ ability to dissolve in your tastebud. Same thing applies with spices,taste buds can absorb the spices better when temperature is high.
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