What Does A Taster Do?

Features of the profession

The taster is a guarantor of the high quality of the products produced by the enterprise. Each taster works in his own "genre": some are experts in coffee and tea, some in spirits, some in cheeses or sweets. The taster evaluates the product at various stages of its production: raw materials, semi-finished products, finished samples. And in winemaking and in companies dealing with blended tea and coffee, the help of a taster is also needed when purchasing raw materials and developing a new blend.

A taster is a person who has an innate ability to distinguish the subtlest nuances of taste and smell. It is impossible to learn sensitivity, but if there are innate abilities, then it is quite possible to develop them. Tasters carefully work on this task, training in distinguishing smells and tastes.

Shades of taste and smell are not enough to simply distinguish, they must also be remembered. most people will distinguish the aroma of a lemon from an apple, but not everyone can tell the difference between, say, a lemon and a lime. For professional tasters , this is not a problem. They can easily distinguish even the smell of flowers after rain, and their smell on a hot day. And the greater the number of flavors and aromas in the "archive" of the taster , the more valuable he is as a specialist. In addition, tasters remember the multitude of aromas and smells that they sample within the framework of one tasting , compare them, and can also offer combinations.

To develop tasters ' skills , their sensitivity and sensory memory, two factors are needed - time and experience. Any taster needs this , no matter what he is evaluating: alcohol, food, coffee or tea. It is no secret that a skilled wine taster can determine the year of production of a drink by taste. Such a skill cannot be acquired in one year.

Tasting also requires high concentration. It is necessary to be able not to spend unnecessary attention on extraneous smells, objects, too bright light or loud conversations. In addition, tasters need to be able to prepare their receptors for tasting in advance: avoid sharp tastes and smells several days or hours before work. A real taster does not smoke, does not drink strong alcohol, which has the ability to reduce the sensitivity of receptors, does not use perfumes.

However, the task of the taster is not limited to the need to choose the best of the product samples. He must be able to analyze each taste and aroma, describe it and qualify it, that is, describe his sensations using a system of professional terms.

Tasters evaluate the product not only on taste and aroma, the organs of sight, hearing, and touch are also often involved in the tasting process. For example, when evaluating tea leaves, tasters smell it, evaluate it by touch, and listen for rustling. Then they look closely at the color of the brewed drink, and only then taste it.

What are tasters afraid of?

A taster is a living person, like any other mere mortal, he can get sick or for any other reason lose his sensitivity. Because some specialists even insure their abilities in case of loss.

For example, Gennaro Pelizzia, the chief taster of the British chain of coffee shops Costa Coffee, who tastes raw coffee beans in the workshop before roasting and sending to retail outlets. In 2009, Gennaro insured his sensitive tongue for 10 million pounds. 18 years of experience in tasting gives him the opportunity to distinguish thousands of aromas of coffee beans, the sensitivity and coordinated work of the taste buds is crucial to his career, allowing to identify flaws in coffee beans - as he explained.

The insurance company found this approach quite reasonable and commented that the taste buds of a coffee master are as important as the vocal chords of a tenor or the legs of a top model.

But Dave Roberts — the chief coffee taster of the Nestle company — in 2011 insured his nose for 2 million pounds. The fact is that he determines the quality of coffee beans and their place of origin by aroma.

Tasters work at enterprises that produce food, tea, coffee, alcohol, sweets, etc. The restaurants also have tasters who determine the quality of the purchased products and ready meals.

The profession of a taster requires high sensitivity of receptors, primarily taste and smell, good memory for aromas and flavors. The ability to concentrate and distribute attention, emotional stability is also important.

A taster needs to know as much as possible about the products he is working with. For example, in order to be able to notice the smallest flaws in wine, a taster must understand grape varieties, know where they are grown, and winemaking technologies. He needs to understand how technological operations affect the taste of wine.

At the same time, it is necessary to be able to present the research results in a clear form of tasting (organoleptic) definitions.