Why Do You Crave Sugar, Salt and Fat tastes ?

Because sugar, salt and fat were the most important flavors for human survival over the last couple of million years of evolution. You crave for sweetness because it signals ripe fruit. You yearn for salt because it’s an essential compound for basic body function. You long for fat because it’s an extremely dense source of dietary energy. On the other side of things, sourness can alert you to spoiled food, and bitterness can warn you about poisonous substances.

But the good news is that was long long time ago. Today, you can enjoy the complex aromas of a dark chocolate, the citrus astringency or the green bitterness of the gourd and appreciate their wide range of flavors. Thanks to evolution, and your taste buds development.

Making a parallel, the same goes for tea tasting, a more formal term for sensory examination and evaluation of the precious liquor, where we use an appropriate terminology to describe the range of perceived flavors, aromas and general characteristics of a tea. It can be done professionally, like for instance, during a tea competition, or as a recreational past time, like we love to do, involving a much less analytical process for a more individual appreciation.

In any case, only practice makes the difference, therefore, just go out there, and observe tea, try tea, drink tea, smell tea, appreciate, and contemplate .... the complexity of a cup of tea.