We often receive messages from some of our customers who say that they've noticed a significant difference in the taste of their tap water after switching to our pitcher filter. While it's no secret that some some tap water contaminants can leave a foul taste in your mouth, we wonder if there could be something else going on here. Well, as it turns--there just might be. According to a new article published by the Nautilus, approximately 25% of the population has more hypersensitivity to taste than the rest. That's right. And take a guess what they're called:
Supertasters.
Beer (Indian Pale Ales). Often cited by Supertasters as extremely bitter and unpleasant.
So what's a Supertaster exactly?
A supertaster is someone who experiences taste more intensely than the average person.
Who is likely to be a Supertaster?
As we mentioned above, approximately 25% of the population are supertasters. Supertasters are most likely to be women, and people of European ancestory are likely not to be.
What causes "supertasting"?
Anatomically speaking, "supertasting" all comes down to the structure of the tongue. Taste buds, or papillae, receive and send taste signals for the brain to interpret. Supertasters simply have more dense regions of taste buds on their tongue than the average person.
What can Supertasters taste?
Supertasters don't necessarily taste, or detect things that the average person can't. The Supertaster's tongue simply detects more intensity of a flavor. For instance, bitter foods such as broccoli, spinach or IPAs taste extremely bitter to Supertasters. For this reason, bitter foods are often very disliked by the average Supertaster.
Can a Supertaster really taste the differences in tap water?
It's no secret that tap water contains contaminants that can flavor (often in a very bad way) the taste of water. If a supertaster has hypersensitive taste, then he/she could be experiencing the flavor or chlorine, for example, at an above average intensity. Although we must admit this our opinion is not backed by science, it stands to reason that this might be possible.
If you're interested in finding out if you're a supertaster, then check out this test by the Scientific American.