Tea tasting practice using Coca Cola and Pepsi

For evaluating the quality of tea, there are 3 important criteria. It is the body, aftertaste and mouth feel. In particular, there are many people who can hardly understand and differentiate the body and aftertaste.

Body and aftertaste is the essential criteria to define the taste

The body and aftertaste is the criteria that is not only used in describing the characteristics of tea, but also used for describing the taste of wine, sake, soup, meat, fish, fruit and any other type of foods and beverages.

Body

The "body" can be substituted by some other expression such as fullness, richness, width, horizontal or spreading flavour on palate. The black tea tastes richer if it is added with milk. It is due to the milk-calcium that drastically increases the body of tea. The pasta cooked with clams tastes very rich thanks to the full-bodied taste. The pasta tastes completely different if it is cooked using clams without shell. The shell of clams is composed by calcium carbonate. It releases calcium ions that increase the body. The pasta or soup that is cooked using only clams without shell tastes very light and thin.

Aftertaste

Aftertaste is the vertical feeling that refers to the taste we felt down the throat. It is substituted by the expression such as depth, softness, lingering taste or flavour, sensation on the throat, clearness or transparency. The tea that has strong aftertaste will give lingering sweetness on our throat and the flavour remains for a long time. In a way, the tea that gives strong aftertaste appeals on our memory thanks to the lingering effect. If the tea or any food has both body and aftertaste, we feel the taste is three dimensional. It is because of the body that gives the fullness of flavour that spread widely on your palate and its sweetness lingers in your mouth for a long time thanks to the aftertaste.

Coca Cola and Pepsi is one of the best training material for body and aftertaste

Are you able to distinguish the taste profile between Coca Cola and Pepsi? In fact, these two soft drinks are one of the best training material for us to understand the body and the aftertaste. You have to make sure not to use the Coca Cola or Pepsi sold in aluminium can. It spoils both the body and aftertaste. The taste profile of Coca Cola and Pepsi is completely different. Pepsi gives very strong body, yet almost no aftertaste, while Coca Cola gives very strong aftertaste but very light body. The taste profile in these two drinks is completely opposite. With some practices, you should be able to distinguish the body and aftertaste in tea and other beverages or food as well.