the.com/taste test
Democracy's cutest form: letting your tongue vote before your brain can object.
means A side-by-side trial in which people sample different versions of something — usually unlabeled — to judge which one they actually prefer.
from Straightforward compound: 'taste,' from Old French 'taster' (to feel, touch, sample), itself from Latin 'taxare' (to touch sharply, assess, evaluate) — so even the root word was already about judging — plus 'test,' from Latin 'testum,' a pot used for assaying metals. The phrase itself is a plain 20th-century coinage, popularized by blind cola-and-coffee marketing trials that turned sipping into a spectator sport.
- pepsi paradox
- Pepsi often wins sips, Coke wins bottles
- brand blindness
- labels change flavor ratings without changing flavor
- small sips bias
- sweeter samples win small sips, lose whole cans
- marketing origin
- popularized by Pepsi to dethrone Coca-Cola, 1975