Three years ago, I found myself working as a “Mad Scientist” for a similarly-named company. Donning a white lab coat, goggles and a goofy pseudonym, I traveled far and wide to spread scientific curiosity and slime to as many schools and birthday parties as possible. These “Mad Science” programs had all sorts of themes. They were all interactive, and messy.
One of our most popular themes was “Taste and Smell,” and it wasn’t hard to see why – the “class” involved scented slime and a taste test. The blind, nose plugged taste test was supposed to demonstrate that what we call “taste” is really 80% smell. We used generic jelly beans. The results were undeniable – without their distinctive hues and scents, the flavors couldn’t be distinguished. Grape was identical to lemon!
While taste may be mostly smell (and I’ll admit the two are linked, but I’m skeptical of the 80% figure!), the part that’s not smell makes quite a difference. Especially when it comes to jelly beans. Consider Jelly Belly – even with your nose plugged, there’s no way you’d ever confuse the warmth and mildly salty tone of their Buttered Popcorn flavor with the rich fruitiness of their Strawberry Daquiri. As far as I’m concerned, the beloved little beans have nothing in common with the blandly syrup-flavored variety utilized by Mad Science.
