# What quality food/drink has been verified by double-blind taste tests?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-quality-food-drink-has-been-verified-by-double-blind-taste-tests/710785>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 24, 2015, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-quality-food-drink-has-been-verified-by-double-blind-taste-tests/710785 "2015-01-24T20:19:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\
**Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-quality-food-drink-has-been-verified-by-double-blind-taste-tests/710785/41 "2015-01-29T08:50:09Z")

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> [@Labdad](#):
>
> 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”

Correct me if I’m wrong, as I no longer have the book, but my recollection is that Gladwell concluded most prefer Pepsi after one sip (because it’s sweeter), but are less happy to drink a whole case of it (because it’s sweeter?) than to drink a case of Coke.

This seems not to jibe with Warren Buffett’s claim that I read in some bibliofied version of his speeches. There, he claims that cola is unique among sodas in that the seventh or fifteenth glass tastes just as good as the first.

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**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\
**Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-quality-food-drink-has-been-verified-by-double-blind-taste-tests/710785/42 "2015-01-29T09:33:52Z")

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> [@Peremensoe](#):
>
> That’s not what was described.
> 
> If unlabeled (“blind” to the taster) samples were presented randomly to begin with, could _you_ then put them in brand/cost order?

I was simply rattling off the common rums you find in a bar.

My point still stands though. Testing someone labeled a professional is pointless for these purposes. The general public is not professional.

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**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\
**Post date:** [January 29, 2015, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-quality-food-drink-has-been-verified-by-double-blind-taste-tests/710785/43 "2015-01-29T16:56:10Z")

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> [@Critical1](#):
>
> Testing someone labeled a professional is pointless for these purposes.

What purposes? I’m interested in whether there _are_ human-taste-detectable differences. The OP refers to “trained testers.”

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