Experiment in Tasting

[str8edg]

That linked to something for sure.. reading it again now.

[Mark C]

Looks like you've got your 3 already, but in case you need another backup I'm willing to be a lab rat.

[wayner123]

Hmmm I thought I would have a hard time getting 3 people to meet those requirements. Maybe I need to bump it to 5? Anyone else interested?

I can't stress enough how picky I am about the requirements. If you have any doubts, please do not apply.

[moki]

Originally Posted by wayner123

LOL, this is weird...

http://vitolas.net/displayimage.php?album=25&pos=2

Try it again.

@ Virginia Gent, I have no problem with noobs as far as they truly understand the requirements. You will be next in line if Snoman13 isn't able to do this.

When linking to vitolas.net, you cannot copy the URL from the web browser's address bar. Instead, scroll to the bottom of the page, and copy it from the URL: label, like this:

http://www.vitolas.net/displayimage.php?pos=-1037

It will always be ?pos= followed by a negative number. Another example:

http://www.vitolas.net/displayimage.php?pos=-903

[ltc1303]

Great experiment to try out. I'm really looking forward to the results as well.

I do something similar when I try a new cigar. My process is pretty simple and I think its somewhat like what your planing to do. To start I usually pick the cigar I plan on smoking in the morning and read as many reviews on it as I can taking special note to what the common reoccurring tastes are in that particular stick. I then eat my lunch and dinner to cater around those tastes so they are fresh in my mind.

Again I'm really interested in your findings.

[ir13]

since im a newbie, i'd love to be a guinea pig for this as i am having a hard time distinguishing flavors in the cigars ive been smoking.

I meet all 3 requirements too.

[Snoman13]

This sounds good to me, and I fit all the requirements.

So, if you feel like dealing with a canuck, I'm your guy!

[DennisP]

I'd like in an I can meet the requirements. You say review within a week, so my one question would be how many we are reviewing in that time frame.

[DBall]

Very cool idea wayner... I'll be interested to see where you take this.

Originally Posted by ir13

I meet all 3 requirements too.

There's 4 requirements... The 4th is "Follow Directions Carefully!!"

[Fortune500]

This is a cool idea. Looking forward to the results.

[bobarian]

Nice job Wayne! This should be interesting. Blind Tastings have been the most educational experiences I have had here at CS. You really learn to take your time and look for the nuances and subtleties of each smoke. Good luck guys, this should be fun and interesting.

[koolbooy]

Originally Posted by Fortune500

This is a cool idea. Looking forward to the results.

really kool !

[wayner123]

Alright,

I see what you mean Snoman, you are in Canada. I don't know if I like the shipping times for the goods I am sending. So for now, I must decline. Maybe in the future. I am sure this testing will help you out otherwise.

So for now the list looks like this:

1. Volt
2. Blues Tiger
3. Virginia Gent
4. Mark C
5. Dennis P

So that's it for this go around. If you guys will please PM me your addresses.

@ Moki, thanks for the explanation. I hope I did it correctly the last time.

[wayner123]

Now for the Premise:

I will be sending out one cigar each. So that should make it very easy to review. I have smoked these different cigars to come up with flavor profiles for each that will serve as the baselines. However, you will not know which cigars they are as it will be a blind test.

I will also send "foods" to each of you. These might be different or the same. That is part of the experiment.

My theory is that we determine "taste" by the food we have experienced. Sure, the super tasters of the world might have the flavor come across more intensely. But if they haven't had that certain flavor my theory is that the brain short circuits and tries to link up what they are tasting with what they have had in the past.

With all the different variables and possibilities, I have not come up with a comprehensive list of questions. But I have some major points that are as follows:

1. Do foods influence how we determine flavor in cigars? If so, to what degree?

2. If no match is found in the brain, for what one is tasting, what happens?

I really can't say much more as I want to keep some "blindness" to this test. After all the reviews are in, I will be able to elaborate more.

[Volt]

Sounds like a fun project. Would you prefer with this smoke we refrain from a nice quality Bourbon, or would that influence your test?

I believe it was Myth Busters they did a similier test with a very cheap vodka filtered up to 9 times with one good vodka. The vodka super tester put all 9 or 10 shots in the correct order with out mistake. I was truley impressed.