WEBVTT - Is Flavor Really All In Your Brain? 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:02.520 Guess what will what's that mango? So I was watching 0:00:02.600 --> 0:00:05.720 this old BBC clip online of an electronic lollipop. What 0:00:05.920 --> 0:00:09.280 is that? So it's not actually a candy. The lollipop 0:00:09.360 --> 0:00:12.160 is still being developed in labs. But it's this gentle 0:00:12.240 --> 0:00:15.720 clamp that slides metal plates over the top and bottomy tongue. 0:00:15.760 --> 0:00:17.759 I don't think it helps to call this clamp gentle. 0:00:17.800 --> 0:00:21.040 That still doesn't sound that appealing. Well, here's what's cool 0:00:21.040 --> 0:00:23.799 about it. So it sends currents through your tongue and 0:00:23.840 --> 0:00:27.000 adjust the temperature on those plates, and the electronic lollipop 0:00:27.000 --> 0:00:29.520 can actually trick your tongue into thinking it's tasting a 0:00:29.520 --> 0:00:33.040 wide variety of flavors, like a lemony sour taste is 0:00:33.040 --> 0:00:35.680 the easiest to pull off, and scientists can do reasonable 0:00:35.680 --> 0:00:39.280 approximations of other flavors. But the application of all this 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:42.680 is really cool. Like imagine you're watching Iron Chef and 0:00:42.720 --> 0:00:44.480 Bobby Flay is on there and he's just made the 0:00:44.520 --> 0:00:47.879 most amazing eggplant spaghetti taco in the world, and you 0:00:47.920 --> 0:00:49.839 can't figure out for the life of you what an 0:00:49.880 --> 0:00:52.760 eggplant plus spaghetti and a taco shell should taste like, 0:00:53.120 --> 0:00:55.040 And so you just take a lick of your lollipop 0:00:55.080 --> 0:00:56.920 and suddenly you get a sense of that flavor. 0:00:57.040 --> 0:00:57.320 Wow. 0:00:57.360 --> 0:00:59.960 I mean, that's kind of weird, but it is pretty cool. 0:01:00.000 --> 0:01:01.840 Reminds me a little bit of smell vision, except for 0:01:01.880 --> 0:01:04.880 your taste bud exactly. And you can see how this 0:01:05.000 --> 0:01:07.800 might be used in online grocery shopping in the future 0:01:07.920 --> 0:01:11.360 or checking out new recipes. It's totally fascinating. But what 0:01:11.440 --> 0:01:14.240 I found most interesting in all of this are the limitations. 0:01:14.520 --> 0:01:16.960 Because these currents are only playing with your tongue, they 0:01:17.000 --> 0:01:19.640 can only create a set of basic flavors. But when 0:01:19.640 --> 0:01:22.960 the scientists added technology that incorporates your nose, suddenly the 0:01:23.080 --> 0:01:26.679 range of flavors expanded dramatically, and that got me thinking 0:01:26.800 --> 0:01:29.000 what other tricks can we play on our tongue and 0:01:29.120 --> 0:01:31.560 how much a flavor is really just something constructed in 0:01:31.560 --> 0:01:32.000 our brain. 0:01:32.480 --> 0:01:48.760 So that's what this episode is all about. 0:01:50.240 --> 0:01:52.920 Hey, their podcast listeners, Welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm 0:01:52.920 --> 0:01:54.920 Will Pearson and as always I'm joined by my good 0:01:54.920 --> 0:01:57.760 friend mangesh Hot Ticketer, and today I'm here to address 0:01:57.800 --> 0:02:00.120 a big problem in the English language. 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:02.440 I'm pretty sure we were talking about starting sentences with 0:02:02.600 --> 0:02:05.400 because because my second grade English teacher had the same 0:02:05.520 --> 0:02:06.120 argument with me. 0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:08.320 Wait, this was second grade. You got in trouble in 0:02:08.360 --> 0:02:10.360 second grade for starting sentences. 0:02:09.919 --> 0:02:12.040 Was because yeah, actually it was more of a thing 0:02:12.080 --> 0:02:14.240 that she said we shouldn't do. And then I started 0:02:14.280 --> 0:02:16.880 every sentence in a story with a word because it 0:02:16.960 --> 0:02:19.079 was not a good strategy for going to recess that. 0:02:19.480 --> 0:02:21.800 All right, Well, at some point we'll do a whole 0:02:21.840 --> 0:02:24.280 episode on grammar, so you can save your SOB stories 0:02:24.280 --> 0:02:27.480 for then. But today I'm talking about how English speakers 0:02:27.600 --> 0:02:31.400 use the words taste and flavor interchangeably, as though they 0:02:31.400 --> 0:02:32.119 mean the same thing. 0:02:32.360 --> 0:02:33.520 Wait, they don't mean the same thing. 0:02:33.639 --> 0:02:35.760 I know, it's pretty crazy. So I've been reading this 0:02:35.840 --> 0:02:38.560 new book called Flavor. It's by Bob Holmes, and it's 0:02:38.680 --> 0:02:42.680 really good. As Holmes explains, taste is just one component 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:45.320 of flavor, and he writes, the best way to think 0:02:45.320 --> 0:02:47.600 about flavor is that it's the sum of all the 0:02:47.680 --> 0:02:50.000 sensations we get when we have food in the mouth. 0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:52.400 So think about the weight of the bowl, the color 0:02:52.440 --> 0:02:55.079 of the plate, the crunch of the potato chip. Even 0:02:55.120 --> 0:02:57.960 the choice of background music can have a direct effect 0:02:58.000 --> 0:02:59.440 on how we perceive flavor. 0:03:00.000 --> 0:03:02.079 It's funny because when I think of flavor, it seems 0:03:02.120 --> 0:03:05.960 like such a specific thing, like popcorn flavor, jelly beans, 0:03:06.040 --> 0:03:06.919 that's a flavor. 0:03:07.080 --> 0:03:09.000 I think there might be some people who disagree with 0:03:09.040 --> 0:03:10.400 you on this, but. 0:03:10.440 --> 0:03:13.000 I know what you're saying is true. Like taste and 0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:15.600 smell and touch and sound, they all play a role 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:17.880 in how much we appreciate food. I guess I've just 0:03:17.960 --> 0:03:19.440 been using the wrong vocabulary. 0:03:19.480 --> 0:03:21.640 All right. Well, I'm not here to flavor Shandy, but 0:03:21.720 --> 0:03:24.079 we do have Bob Holmes on the show today, which 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:26.200 is super exciting, and we'll be talking to him about 0:03:26.280 --> 0:03:29.280 flavor and some of the fascinating studies and facts he 0:03:29.320 --> 0:03:32.000 covered in his book. Speaking of which, do you have 0:03:32.080 --> 0:03:34.000 a terrible quiz lined up for us today? Oh? 0:03:34.040 --> 0:03:36.400 Of course I do. Sticking with the flavors theme, we're 0:03:36.440 --> 0:03:39.920 playing real vintage recipe or gourmet cat food flavor. It's 0:03:39.960 --> 0:03:41.120 a little harder than you think. 0:03:41.280 --> 0:03:44.040 Awesome, all right, all right, Well, let's kick this off 0:03:44.080 --> 0:03:46.800 by talking about taste. Even if it's not the same 0:03:46.960 --> 0:03:50.720 thing as flavor, it's obviously an important thing, definitely so. 0:03:50.760 --> 0:03:54.120 In the English speaking world, psychologists have traditionally acknowledged four 0:03:54.120 --> 0:03:58.600 different tastes. They're sweet, sour, salty, and bitter, and humans 0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:01.600 have different receptors for each of these. And then more recently, 0:04:01.600 --> 0:04:04.320 we've added a fifth taste, umami, which kind of just 0:04:04.320 --> 0:04:06.240 sounds made up, so we need to talk about that. 0:04:06.680 --> 0:04:09.080 Yeah, it did feel like a few years ago people 0:04:09.080 --> 0:04:11.840 started talking about umami and it was like breaking news, 0:04:11.880 --> 0:04:14.600 like did you hear about this umami flavor? And actually, 0:04:14.600 --> 0:04:16.560 to be honest, I got confused. I was mixing it 0:04:16.640 --> 0:04:20.080 up with the word unagi, which is the Japanese word 0:04:20.120 --> 0:04:23.760 for fresh water eel, so I was trying to understand 0:04:23.800 --> 0:04:25.920 why eel got to be a flavor of its own. 0:04:25.920 --> 0:04:27.919 I mean, don't get me wrong, I love eel, but 0:04:27.960 --> 0:04:29.120 it was still a little confusing. 0:04:29.360 --> 0:04:31.360 Yeah, it was confusing to me because I thought we 0:04:31.360 --> 0:04:33.919 were getting a brand new flavor, like you know that 0:04:34.000 --> 0:04:36.200 apartment you have, did you know it's been hiding a 0:04:36.200 --> 0:04:38.760 secret room all this time? Or like you're familiar with 0:04:38.760 --> 0:04:41.120 the rainbow, guess what we're adding a new color exactly, 0:04:41.720 --> 0:04:44.400 And instead it was like, you know, parmesan cheese or 0:04:44.440 --> 0:04:46.800 soy sauce, those are umami. You just didn't have a 0:04:46.839 --> 0:04:50.320 word for it, right, But umami is definitely distinct. Yeah, 0:04:50.320 --> 0:04:54.279 it's a Japanese word meaning delicious flavor and linguists usually 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:58.039 translated as savory or maybe meaty, and his Homes explains 0:04:58.080 --> 0:04:59.640 there are a few reasons why it takes a while 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:02.600 to rap your head around what umami is. First, is that, 0:05:02.760 --> 0:05:05.719 unlike other tastes, you don't really experience umami as this 0:05:05.880 --> 0:05:08.560 isolated thing. Think about it. You can bite into a 0:05:08.600 --> 0:05:11.720 strawberry and immediately experience that as sweet, or lick a 0:05:11.760 --> 0:05:14.920 French fry and no, that's kind of a salty taste. 0:05:15.040 --> 0:05:17.039 I think we've talked about this. You've got to stop 0:05:17.080 --> 0:05:19.239 licking your French fries. That's a little weird. 0:05:19.960 --> 0:05:23.520 They're just so good though. But anyway, you can experience 0:05:23.560 --> 0:05:26.720 those tastes in a pretty pure and direct form. With umami, 0:05:26.760 --> 0:05:29.960 it's more in combination with other things. Taste researcher Paul 0:05:30.000 --> 0:05:32.560 Breslin also points out that the receptors for umami have 0:05:32.640 --> 0:05:36.640 a pretty low maximum intensity compared to other tastes, which 0:05:36.680 --> 0:05:38.880 prevents us from being able to note something as being 0:05:39.160 --> 0:05:42.279 very umami, unlike how we might say something's very sweet 0:05:42.360 --> 0:05:43.000 or very salty. 0:05:43.200 --> 0:05:46.000 Yeah, and there's a much stronger cultural element than I realized. 0:05:46.040 --> 0:05:48.600 I mean, I know the stereotypes of different cultures being 0:05:48.680 --> 0:05:51.480 able to handle different levels of spice or things like that, 0:05:51.920 --> 0:05:53.520 but I really didn't think about how that could be 0:05:53.520 --> 0:05:56.440 applied to something like umami. But it turns out many 0:05:56.440 --> 0:05:59.960 people in Asian countries have no problem identifying things as umami, 0:06:00.240 --> 0:06:02.919 but they have the same ease that American children have 0:06:03.000 --> 0:06:06.480 identifying things as sweet. It's really interesting how taste has 0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:09.400 developed differently in different places around the world. 0:06:09.600 --> 0:06:11.640 Well, let's back up for a minute and talk about 0:06:11.640 --> 0:06:14.719 how these tastes would have developed from an evolutionary perspective. 0:06:15.000 --> 0:06:16.880 Yeah, it's one thing for us to identify or talk 0:06:16.920 --> 0:06:18.920 about these tastes when we cook at home or eat 0:06:18.960 --> 0:06:21.919 at restaurants now, but for our ancestors, these tastes were 0:06:22.000 --> 0:06:24.560 key to survival. So think about how a sweet taste 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:26.800 would have let someone know that they were getting sugars, 0:06:26.839 --> 0:06:29.280 which are an important way to get calories for energy, 0:06:29.720 --> 0:06:32.680 or tasting salt would be an indication of electrolytes, and 0:06:32.720 --> 0:06:36.120 a mommy would have indicated the presence of proteins. Now, 0:06:36.160 --> 0:06:38.719 on the negative side, our ancestors learned from bitter taste 0:06:38.760 --> 0:06:41.280 that something might be toxic, or from sourness that a 0:06:41.320 --> 0:06:43.400 fruit might have gone bad or just not be good 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:43.760 to eat. 0:06:44.240 --> 0:06:46.440 Yeah, it's not hard to see how we'd be hardwired 0:06:46.480 --> 0:06:49.640 to like sweet, salty, and a mommy. And it's equally 0:06:49.640 --> 0:06:52.760 fascinating to see how other animals have evolved differently because 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:56.279 of their different nutritional needs. Like there was a cat study. 0:06:56.720 --> 0:07:01.400 It's oh great, it's back. Well, a study was done 0:07:01.480 --> 0:07:04.720 that showed cats, because their carnivores are unable to really 0:07:04.720 --> 0:07:08.400 identify sweetness and it has no appeal for them. And pandas, 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:11.040 who are some serious bamboo eaters, don't really need to 0:07:11.080 --> 0:07:14.240 identify umami, so they've lost the ability to taste it well. 0:07:14.240 --> 0:07:16.960 And even more extreme than that, vampire bat's love of 0:07:17.000 --> 0:07:19.320 blood has caused them to lose the ability to taste 0:07:19.440 --> 0:07:22.960 umami sweet and bitter. I'm actually curious why we don't 0:07:23.040 --> 0:07:28.080 do a bad study like we do cat studies. Have 0:07:28.160 --> 0:07:30.640 I mentioned I don't like cats. I think you've mentioned 0:07:30.680 --> 0:07:32.160 that a few times, all right, I just wanted to 0:07:32.160 --> 0:07:35.120 make sure. So back to how we've evolved, there's another 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:37.720 thing about taste that I think is just crazy interesting. 0:07:37.800 --> 0:07:40.520 So just as we're discussing how flavor is much more 0:07:40.600 --> 0:07:43.880 than just taste. Taste also happens to be more complex 0:07:43.920 --> 0:07:45.960 than we thought. Did you know that there are taste 0:07:45.960 --> 0:07:49.520 receptors in multiple places around our body, not just our mouth? 0:07:49.600 --> 0:07:50.800 Sure, it's crazy, isn't it. 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:53.240 Wait, so that means you do know about this. I'm 0:07:53.240 --> 0:07:56.120 gonna quiz you. So, do we have taste receptors in 0:07:56.160 --> 0:07:56.760 our lungs? 0:07:56.840 --> 0:07:57.080 Yes? 0:07:57.920 --> 0:07:58.760 What about our guts? 0:07:58.800 --> 0:07:59.040 Yes? 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:02.160 What about it our brain? Yes? What about our forte? 0:08:02.240 --> 0:08:03.720 Definitely no, we don't. 0:08:03.920 --> 0:08:06.360 We do not have taste receptors in our forehead. You 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:08.960 slum dog millionaireed me you should know about it. There's 0:08:08.960 --> 0:08:11.840 no cheating on our quizzes. So this isn't exactly well 0:08:11.920 --> 0:08:15.080 understood yet, but it's really fascinating. The ones in the gut, 0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:18.400 for example, detective Mommy and sweet and let our brains 0:08:18.440 --> 0:08:21.480 know that some yummy and nutritious food has arrived, and 0:08:21.520 --> 0:08:23.560 if they taste something bitter, they let us know there 0:08:23.560 --> 0:08:26.640 may be a problem and trigger a response of some kind. 0:08:26.880 --> 0:08:29.120 So you can get the sense for why they're helpful. 0:08:29.280 --> 0:08:31.200 But why do you think we need taste receptors in 0:08:31.240 --> 0:08:32.400 our respiratory system? 0:08:32.720 --> 0:08:35.240 So it's one way of letting our bodies know if 0:08:35.320 --> 0:08:39.000 bacteria has arrived because bacteria have a communication chemical with 0:08:39.000 --> 0:08:41.000 a bitter taste, and when the receptor is in our 0:08:41.040 --> 0:08:44.720 respiratory system, notice this, they help our bodies mount response. 0:08:45.160 --> 0:08:48.239 There's even some thinking among scientists that these bitter receptors 0:08:48.240 --> 0:08:50.640 may have existed in other areas of our body, first 0:08:50.960 --> 0:08:53.360 as a way of detecting infection and then moving to 0:08:53.440 --> 0:08:54.000 our mouths. 0:08:54.120 --> 0:08:56.800 Yes, Holmes explains. If this is the case, we have 0:08:56.880 --> 0:09:00.000 disease to thank for the flavor of coffee, beer, and broccoli. 0:09:00.200 --> 0:09:02.319 It's weird, right, all right. So I know in a 0:09:02.360 --> 0:09:04.240 few minutes we're going to play a quiz, but before 0:09:04.240 --> 0:09:05.960 we do that, I think we should find out whether 0:09:06.000 --> 0:09:07.240 we're super tasters. 0:09:07.240 --> 0:09:08.920 Super tasters Well. 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:11.280 It's not as exciting as it sounds, because while it 0:09:11.320 --> 0:09:13.960 does mean someone has a more intense sense of taste, 0:09:14.160 --> 0:09:17.480 supertasters tend to be much more bland eaters because most 0:09:17.520 --> 0:09:19.920 tastes tend to be that much more extreme for them. 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:22.040 Well, given the fact that the last time we ate 0:09:22.080 --> 0:09:24.240 at the Chinese place downstairs, it looked to me like 0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:27.080 you just ordered a plate of hot peppers, So I'm 0:09:27.200 --> 0:09:28.880 guessing you're not a super taster. 0:09:29.280 --> 0:09:30.880 Yeah, we had a joke in our family that our 0:09:30.960 --> 0:09:33.640 dad served as so much spicy food that we burned 0:09:33.679 --> 0:09:34.680 off our taste buds. 0:09:35.160 --> 0:09:35.800 I believe that. 0:09:36.080 --> 0:09:37.920 Let me show you how we test for this using 0:09:37.960 --> 0:09:40.800 this filter paper. Each strip has a small amount of 0:09:40.840 --> 0:09:44.319 a bitter compound on them. It's called prople thigh ORUSIL 0:09:44.760 --> 0:09:47.679 or PROP. So we're going to put these on our 0:09:47.720 --> 0:09:50.200 tongues and find out which of these three categories of 0:09:50.200 --> 0:09:53.760 tasters we fall in. Non tasters will taste nothing, tasters 0:09:53.760 --> 0:09:56.160 will notice the bitter taste but it's not a huge deal, 0:09:56.400 --> 0:09:59.520 and super taste will have this super strong response to it. 0:09:59.679 --> 0:10:01.360 All right, I like this. We should also get some 0:10:01.400 --> 0:10:03.040 other members of the PTG team in here. 0:10:03.080 --> 0:10:03.520 What do you say? 0:10:03.600 --> 0:10:03.800 Yeah? 0:10:03.840 --> 0:10:04.240 Definitely? 0:10:07.440 --> 0:10:09.079 All right, so let's give this a shot. So we've 0:10:09.120 --> 0:10:11.320 got two of our team members joining us. We've got 0:10:11.320 --> 0:10:13.559 Noel Brown, you may know from stuff they don't want 0:10:13.559 --> 0:10:16.160 you to know, also a supervising producer on the show, 0:10:16.679 --> 0:10:19.440 and Jerry Roland, our executive producer. Here, guys, you guys 0:10:19.520 --> 0:10:22.199 ready to give this a shot? Am I ever? 0:10:22.400 --> 0:10:22.679 Okay? 0:10:23.360 --> 0:10:25.360 All right, So we've all got these strips and on 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:26.880 the count of three, we're going to put them on 0:10:26.880 --> 0:10:28.640 our tongues. We're going to see what happens now. As 0:10:28.679 --> 0:10:32.080 a reminder, if you taste nothing, which may be the case, 0:10:32.120 --> 0:10:34.840 you're a non taster. If you taste a little bit 0:10:34.840 --> 0:10:37.840 of bitter, just some bitter, then you're a taster. And 0:10:37.880 --> 0:10:41.240 if it tastes extremely better, then you are a super taster. 0:10:41.440 --> 0:10:44.960 So ready, all right on the count of three, one, two, three. 0:10:47.240 --> 0:10:48.920 I don't know it sides. You may have to flip 0:10:48.920 --> 0:10:53.280 it out. Oh wait, you get something I got? I 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:57.640 got a hint of bitter. Uh huh. Mine is totally bitter. 0:10:58.679 --> 0:11:01.360 It's like great fruit bitter. Oh nice, I have a 0:11:01.400 --> 0:11:06.400 real paper taste, but I mean something completely different. We 0:11:06.400 --> 0:11:08.320 can't talk about it. Might be fooling myself about this. 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:09.880 Oh Jerry, she's running away. 0:11:11.480 --> 0:11:12.400 She's always had great. 0:11:13.920 --> 0:11:20.760 Is blown? I hate grapefruit, super taster. Okay, spicy food, Jerry, 0:11:21.320 --> 0:11:24.400 I love spicy food. But you just like the torture. 0:11:24.760 --> 0:11:30.120 I guess I'm not sure what's happening. Wow, oh man, 0:11:30.120 --> 0:11:32.120 that's so disappointing. You've given us a lot to think 0:11:32.160 --> 0:11:32.439 about it. 0:11:32.679 --> 0:11:35.440 Yeah, I feel like I'm so cheated. Like not only 0:11:35.480 --> 0:11:37.720 can I not see those like three D magic pictures, 0:11:37.760 --> 0:11:39.240 but also I can't taste these people. 0:11:39.400 --> 0:11:41.880 Yeah, this is the worse. Okay, that's a bummer. I 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:44.120 was getting. I think I was getting a slight taste 0:11:44.120 --> 0:11:46.480 of bitter. Okay, here we go. Well, while we're having 0:11:46.480 --> 0:11:48.319 so much fun, when you say we play a little quiz, 0:11:48.400 --> 0:11:49.160 sounds good. 0:11:55.880 --> 0:11:56.200 All right. 0:11:56.240 --> 0:11:57.640 So who do we have on the line today, Mango. 0:11:57.840 --> 0:12:00.320 We've got Sarah Fiddler, who's got one of the list 0:12:00.400 --> 0:12:02.360 jobs in the world. She's a flavor guru at one 0:12:02.360 --> 0:12:04.640 of my favorite ice cream companies, Ben and Jerry's. 0:12:04.920 --> 0:12:07.000 We are so excited to have you on. Welcome to 0:12:07.000 --> 0:12:07.679 part time Genia. 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:09.400 Sarah, thank you for having me. 0:12:10.240 --> 0:12:12.920 So I'm really curious how you got this job. I mean, 0:12:12.960 --> 0:12:15.040 what sort of training and schooling do you have to 0:12:15.080 --> 0:12:17.959 have to become a Ben and Jerry's flavor guru. 0:12:18.120 --> 0:12:24.160 Well, personally, I have a degree in food science from 0:12:24.160 --> 0:12:28.200 the University of Vermont and a degree in baking and 0:12:28.320 --> 0:12:32.560 pastry from the Culinary Institute of America. There are a 0:12:32.640 --> 0:12:36.240 group of us flavor gurus here, and everybody's got kind 0:12:36.280 --> 0:12:40.200 of a mixed background, from chefs to food scientists, all 0:12:40.200 --> 0:12:41.840 comes from different backgrounds. 0:12:42.160 --> 0:12:45.840 It's very cool, that's awesome. And how are flavors decided upon? Like, 0:12:45.840 --> 0:12:47.840 how do you guys decide you have so many fun 0:12:47.880 --> 0:12:50.679 and creative and awesome flavors, how do you guys come 0:12:50.760 --> 0:12:51.200 up with these? 0:12:51.679 --> 0:12:55.960 Well, we start out by being very creative and kind 0:12:55.960 --> 0:13:00.080 of playing around in our test kitchens, and then we 0:13:00.160 --> 0:13:05.000 meet with our marketing team, our brand management team, sometimes 0:13:05.040 --> 0:13:08.680 our social mission team and figure out which of our 0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:12.680 crazy flavors makes the most sense to launch for the 0:13:12.720 --> 0:13:13.880 next season. 0:13:14.360 --> 0:13:16.520 And so, how many flavors are you typically playing with? 0:13:16.920 --> 0:13:21.480 It could be arranged anywhere from maybe three to ten 0:13:22.480 --> 0:13:23.040 at a time. 0:13:24.160 --> 0:13:27.720 That's pretty crazy. I heard that the Ben and Jerry's 0:13:27.760 --> 0:13:30.560 staff takes a field trip every year to research new flavors. 0:13:30.920 --> 0:13:31.800 Is that true? 0:13:32.120 --> 0:13:35.959 Yeah. We go on what we call trend tracks. Pick 0:13:36.200 --> 0:13:41.240 a city or area that seems to be filled with 0:13:41.760 --> 0:13:48.079 really up and coming food places, sometimes cocktail places, farms, 0:13:49.040 --> 0:13:52.839 and go as a group and eat as much as 0:13:52.840 --> 0:13:56.760 we possibly can, and then come back and make ice 0:13:56.800 --> 0:13:59.160 cream inspired by what we ate. 0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:02.080 Cool, But where are some of the fun places you've 0:14:02.120 --> 0:14:02.520 trekked to? 0:14:03.360 --> 0:14:06.120 Well, I'm relatively new to the company, so I have 0:14:06.240 --> 0:14:08.160 yet to go on a track, but I've heard that 0:14:08.200 --> 0:14:13.959 they've gone to San Francisco, Portland's I believe there was 0:14:14.000 --> 0:14:16.120 a trip to Japan before I started. 0:14:16.520 --> 0:14:17.040 Very cool. 0:14:17.280 --> 0:14:19.880 Wow, I'm so jealous of this job. That sounds pretty great. 0:14:20.000 --> 0:14:23.200 Now we also know about the flavor graveyard at Ben 0:14:23.240 --> 0:14:25.800 and Jerry. So are there are there ceremonies when flavors 0:14:25.840 --> 0:14:28.080 are buried there? And how does this work? How do 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:29.160 you pay your respects? 0:14:30.080 --> 0:14:33.240 I think for some of the flavors that were a 0:14:33.280 --> 0:14:38.120 little bit more loved, they do ceremonies, and sometimes it's 0:14:38.160 --> 0:14:39.560 more of a quiet affair. 0:14:42.280 --> 0:14:45.280 We won't get into that then. So that's pretty great. 0:14:45.760 --> 0:14:47.840 All right, So manga, what game are we playing today 0:14:47.880 --> 0:14:48.560 with Sarah? 0:14:48.680 --> 0:14:51.480 It's called do Me a Flavor? Mostly because I just 0:14:51.520 --> 0:14:53.600 wanted to hear you say do me a flavor all things. 0:14:54.480 --> 0:14:58.160 I really appreciate that. That's a pretty terrible title of 0:14:58.240 --> 0:14:58.840 how do we play? 0:14:58.960 --> 0:15:02.040 Basically, we're giving Sarah three popular flavors from an iconic 0:15:02.040 --> 0:15:04.160 food or drink brand, and she just has to tell 0:15:04.240 --> 0:15:05.320 us what we're talking about. 0:15:05.480 --> 0:15:07.560 Okay, that sounds fun. All right, Sarah, are you ready 0:15:07.600 --> 0:15:08.040 to play? 0:15:08.320 --> 0:15:09.080 I'm ready? 0:15:09.320 --> 0:15:13.480 Okay. Question number one? This chip comes in cool Ranch, 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:16.720 Nacho cheese, and heat Wave flavors, So do me a 0:15:16.760 --> 0:15:20.560 flavor and tell me what product we're talking about. Real yepah, 0:15:20.600 --> 0:15:23.680 you got it for one, question number two. The most 0:15:23.680 --> 0:15:27.640 popular flavors of this candy include very cherry and buttered popcorn, 0:15:27.760 --> 0:15:31.320 though the blueberry flavor was particularly popular in the nineteen 0:15:31.360 --> 0:15:34.840 eighties when it was created for Ronald Reagan. Do me 0:15:34.840 --> 0:15:36.240 a flavor, Manger, are you gonna make me say? 0:15:36.240 --> 0:15:36.880 Do me a flavor? 0:15:37.640 --> 0:15:39.880 Do me a flavor and tell me what brand we're. 0:15:39.720 --> 0:15:41.440 Talking about jelly Belly. 0:15:41.800 --> 0:15:45.920 You got it two for two for two question number three. 0:15:45.960 --> 0:15:49.840 This sports drink originally came in lemon, lime, and orange flavors. 0:15:49.960 --> 0:15:53.800 It has since expanded to include rainberry, glacier freeze, and 0:15:53.960 --> 0:15:57.560 cool blue. Do me a flavor and tell me what 0:15:57.600 --> 0:16:01.600 beverage I'm talking about? Betray Yes, all right, she's three 0:16:01.640 --> 0:16:03.080 for three. Let's see if she can get the last 0:16:03.120 --> 0:16:06.720 two Question number four. While this O shaped breakfast cereal 0:16:06.760 --> 0:16:09.600 does come in flavors like fruity and frosted, the most 0:16:09.600 --> 0:16:13.320 popular varieties are still original and honeynut. Do me a 0:16:13.320 --> 0:16:17.560 flavor and tell me what breakfast cereal I'm talking about? Curios. Okay, 0:16:17.600 --> 0:16:20.640 we've saved the hardest for last. Good luck on this one. Okay, 0:16:20.760 --> 0:16:25.080 question number five. This iconic ice cream brand has the 0:16:25.120 --> 0:16:29.280 best punny flavors, including Fish Food, American Dream, and the 0:16:29.320 --> 0:16:31.920 Tonight Dough. Do me a flavor and tell me what 0:16:32.000 --> 0:16:35.400 really wonderful ice cream company we're talking about, Ben and Jerry. 0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:37.640 All Right, that would have been kind of embarrassing if 0:16:37.640 --> 0:16:39.920 she'd missed out. 0:16:41.280 --> 0:16:44.360 Well, Sarah when an astounding five for five, which wins 0:16:44.400 --> 0:16:46.840 her the grand prize, A hundred note from us to 0:16:46.920 --> 0:16:48.800 her mom or boss, singing her praises. 0:16:48.960 --> 0:16:49.200 Wow. 0:16:49.240 --> 0:16:52.480 So congratulations Sarah, and thank you so much for flaving. 0:16:52.600 --> 0:16:56.840 That's awesome. Congratulations Sarah, Thank you both. Please tell all 0:16:56.840 --> 0:16:58.920 the people at Ben and Jerry's we say thank you 0:16:58.920 --> 0:17:01.320 for making wonderful ice or even keep up the great work. 0:17:01.640 --> 0:17:02.400 I will. 0:17:18.640 --> 0:17:19.240 Guess what will? 0:17:19.359 --> 0:17:20.040 What's that mango? 0:17:20.280 --> 0:17:21.919 I'm coming to terms with the fact that I'm not 0:17:21.960 --> 0:17:23.240 a super taste all right. 0:17:23.480 --> 0:17:26.280 Well, lucky for you, we've been talking about the fact 0:17:26.320 --> 0:17:28.440 that flavor is so much more than just. 0:17:28.440 --> 0:17:32.080 Taste, and then we just talked about taste. But I 0:17:32.119 --> 0:17:34.400 think it's time we backed that statement off and talk 0:17:34.440 --> 0:17:37.480 about another key component of flavor, and that's smell, all. 0:17:37.440 --> 0:17:38.600 Right, talk to me about smell. 0:17:38.960 --> 0:17:41.320 Well, if you think taste is a complicated thing, it's 0:17:41.359 --> 0:17:44.040 nothing compared to the complexity of smell. Think about the 0:17:44.119 --> 0:17:46.520 millions upon millions of smells in the world and how 0:17:46.560 --> 0:17:48.640 our noses have to make sense of them and help 0:17:48.680 --> 0:17:52.120 us identify what things are. In fact, as Holmes points out, 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:56.399 the old faction researcher Joel Mainland estimates that they're about 0:17:56.440 --> 0:17:59.440 twenty seven billion smelly molecules in the world. 0:17:59.520 --> 0:17:59.920 Wow. 0:18:00.080 --> 0:18:02.600 And while that doesn't mean they're about twenty seven billion 0:18:02.680 --> 0:18:07.000 smells because some might be identical, that still this incredible number. 0:18:07.080 --> 0:18:09.840 Well, the other thing Holmes explains that I find so interesting, 0:18:09.880 --> 0:18:12.679 and this goes back to your electric lollipop example, but 0:18:12.720 --> 0:18:15.560 that's how different taste than smell are. So our sense 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:18.119 of taste is pretty easy to break down. We can 0:18:18.200 --> 0:18:20.640 enjoy a dish of sweet and sour pork and understand 0:18:20.640 --> 0:18:23.280 that it's sweet and sour, or have some ketch up 0:18:23.320 --> 0:18:26.199 and know that it's sweet, sour, salty and umami. And 0:18:26.320 --> 0:18:28.960 maybe we're not thinking about those things actively, but those 0:18:29.000 --> 0:18:32.040 are all there and we can identify them. But smell 0:18:32.119 --> 0:18:35.320 is different because you really can't break it down. Instead, 0:18:35.320 --> 0:18:38.320 our brains take all the information from the smelly molecules 0:18:38.320 --> 0:18:42.000