This is sort of inspired by the vodka thread where it is mentioned that blind taste tests show no preference between medium and expensive vodka but really cheap vodka might be discernible. There have been other SDMB threads on blind tests of wine that indicate much the same.
This article by Harold McGee says that trained testers couldn’t tell the difference between cheap oil and expensive olive oil for cooking (as opposed to using raw on, say, a salad).
What food and/or drink has held up to blind taste tests? I want to limit the tests to situations where people know they were being tested. Experiments like the Folgers instant coffee switcheroo, where people are told they are drinking expensive coffee, are interesting but I think say more about the power of our expectations than the quality of the coffee.
I’d say those hold up the idea that things are indistinguishable in a blind taste test. What I’m looking for is something like “wine tasters picked out the $100 bottle of wine 9 times out of 10”.
Vanilla ice cream. According to Consumer Reports (paid link) premium brands Häagen-Dazs and Ben & Jerry’s solidly beat all the cheaper ice creams like Turkey Hill. They use a fairly small number of tasters but all their food tests are double blind. This result seemed pretty obvious to me.
Personally I think I can taste the difference between sugar soda and corn syrup soda. I keep forgetting to double blind challenge myself though.
Well, the Pepsi challenge article does say “Scientific findings do support a perceptible difference between Coca-Cola and Pepsi, but not between Pepsi and RC Cola.” So that doesn’t really come to the conclusion that they are indistinguishable.
As Malcolm Gladwell noted in “Blink,” “The entire principle of a blind taste test was ridiculous. They shouldn’t have cared so much that they were losing blind taste tests with old Coke, and we shouldn’t at all be surprised that Pepsi’s dominance in blind taste tests never translated to much in the real world. Why not? Because in the real world, no one ever drinks Coca-Cola blind”
And as a comedian once noted, nobody ever walks out of a restaurant because they have the “other” cola.
Waitress: “Is Pepsi ok?”
Customer: “Pepsi? Fuck that shit! C’mon, Marge, we’re leaving.”
America’s Test Kitchen does tests like this all the time. They generally find that if heat is applied, cheap will do. Raw is another story, as Deeg noted about olive oil.
Why, who would ever have suspected things don’t taste as good after being exposed to too much heat for too long a time?
That test doesn’t sound like it reflects actual cooking.
If you fry an actual egg in olive oil, or butter, or canola oil the differences are enormous.
Wow–that really surprises me! I can’t tell much difference between Pepsi and Coke, but RC Cola has a significantly different flavor from either of the others to me, much more sour or something.
Take it from someone who lives in a country which only uses real sugar in soft drinks (soda) The difference between sugar and corn syrup is stunningly obvious. You’re not imagining the difference.
There was just an article in my paper about how when Wine Experts were comparing NJ and California Wines they would consistently rate the NJ wines at the bottom but when drinking them blind they would rate higher than California.
One of my local papers did not agree. They got a vodka professional (who worked in the industry) to blind test a dozen vodkas, and he lined them up in order of cost.
Pepsi Challenge? Yeah, right. I did that once. They gave me a cup of freshly poured, chilled Pepsi over fresh ice and a cup of Coke which had been sitting long enough for it to be diluted by melting ice and taste of the paper cup.
The people running the thing did not like it when I pointed this out to them.
Phew, a lot of stuff to reply to. Thanks for the input, all!
This is exactly the type of study I’m looking for. So chalk one up for premium brands of ice cream.
True, but people might choose one restaurant over another because of the drinks. There are times when I’m deciding between pizza places that I’ve chosen one because they had Coke.
Has anybody done a blind taste test? I can easily believe there are differences (especially since they smoke at different temperatures) but has it been shown?
As much as I love Gladwell I’m going to disagree. What’s the point of spending $50 on a bottle of red wine when a $15 bottle tastes just as good?
I haven’t seen any studies that show there’s any difference in taste. I’ve tried simple tests with Mexican and US Cokes and I can’t tell a difference. I will add, though, that simple taste tests might be the final arbiter. I’m sure some things have to be savored for a while for differences to be truly discerned.
Actually Mythbusters did a segment which I found compelling in this regard. They were testing whether cheap, low-grade vodka would be indistinguishable from top shelf vodka after being filtered 5 times through a common brita water filter. Their professional taster in the end was able to tell the difference so the myth was busted, but what I found most compelling was the fact that he could perfectly distinguish between the unfiltered cheap stuff, and the same vodka after one filtering, after 2…, after 5, and then the top shelf stuff.
A friend of mine and I once attempted our own blinded taste test of 3 varieties of Jack. Based on the price Jack Daniels Gentleman Jack is superior to regular Jack and Single Barrel is the top of the 3. And this was completely consistent with my pre-taste test experiences. But when blinded (his wife conducted it) we both rated Gentleman Jack as #1. I actually can’t remember what we rated as 2 and 3 but I think it was a surprisingly difficult choice for both of us, when theoretically this should be the easiest distinction to make. Disillusioning indeed.
A few years ago I challenged my friends to a blind beer ID. House of 1000 Beers had 45 beers on tap. I said that I could go into the men’s, then return to whatever beer they purchased and I could ID it. I nailed three in a row, but I had the bartender’s help. While I sipped and savored and made comments, she would walk over and touch the tap handle. Then one of my buddies figured out I was scamming them.
As far as I know, this is broadly applicable (and I have said this before). There is a significant, discernible increase in quality from the cheapest to the mid-price product in just about anything you care to name. As the price increases from mid-price to expensive, the marginal improvement in quality is less and less.
