Really educational read that teaches you to taste, not just eat. It gets into the science of tasting, but is an interesting, engaging book!

Thank you Netgalley and Kensington Books | Citadel for the ARC!

This was such an awesome read! Thank you so much to NetGalley and Kensington Books for this ARC. I thought this was a cookbook but it was really much more than that. It’s about taste. Taste! I mean, when was the last time we we’re really grateful for our ability to taste? And to think we’ve been through COVID. This book is an interesting and informative journey to the world of tastes - cultivate your tasting power,how some things impact taste, to name a few. This is a must read for foodies!

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this Advanced Readers Copy of How to Taste by Mandy Naglich!

A whole book on how to taste? And not even a cookbook? You bet. And a well written one at that. I felt like I’ve been living under a rock as I only knew about wine tasting professionals but not the coffee, chocolate or cheese ones!

I was less interested in the professional tasting world and much much more interested in the professional tasting tips derived from the author’s tasting skills and experiences, and from her interactions with other tasting experts. Those tips can be applied to any personal dining setting. I hope to go through those tips again to gain some insights on how to make food tastier. They will also make for some interesting conversation pieces when dining out with friends.

4 stars from me, but perhaps 5 stars for those going into the tasting competitions!

A wonderful educational book that teaches the reader how to experience each and every morsel we ingest. To truly know what were eating and elevate the experience of each and every bite. It teaches us the science of taste and how each of the senses impact what we are eating taking in without being dry and boring. How to identify each flavor, combine them and truly enjoy what you cooking and eating. If you’re someone who lives to eat, this is for you. The author shares her own experiences and draw you in. Not your typical cookbook, but one that anyone who enjoys cooking could benefit from.

Savor Life's Delectable Moments: 'How to Taste' is Your Gateway to Culinary Bliss.……

Book Information

"How to Taste: A Guide to Discovering Flavor and Savoring Life", written by Mandy Naglich, is a 273-page book published on June 27, 2023. Naglich is an award-winning professional taster and certified food and beverage expert. This is her literary debut. Thank you to Kensington Books for providing me with an advance reader copy of this book for review.

Summary

Mandy Naglich, takes food enthusiasts on a captivating journey into the world of taste. Drawing inspiration from renowned experts such as sommeliers, chefs, and sensory scientists, Naglich unveils the secrets behind their refined palates and offers readers the opportunity to develop their own tasting superpowers. From exploring the nuances of ingredients like honey, olive oil, and mineral water to understanding the impact of variables like temperature and music on our taste buds, this book provides a comprehensive guide to the art of savoring flavors. Through engaging anecdotes, Naglich demonstrates how appreciating food can lead to a deeper appreciation of life itself, making this book a must-read for foodies and anyone eager to enhance their culinary experiences.

My Thoughts

"How to Taste: A Guide to Discovering Flavor and Savoring Life" by Mandy Naglich is a well-organized and thoroughly researched book that delves into the experience and science of tasting and takes readers on an epic flavor adventure. It is a must-read for both everyday people and serious foodies who want to enhance their culinary experiences.

Naglich takes readers on a journey to understand how our senses of taste and smell work, exploring the factors that influence them and providing valuable insights on how to heighten these senses. From the science behind taste to the formation of tasting memories, each chapter offers something new.

The book offers surprising, intriguing, and sometimes shocking revelations that Naglich has uncovered during her travels. For instance, she shares the unexpected use of mustard as an ingredient in certain desserts to enhance their flavor. You will have to read the book to learn what and why.

One of the book's strengths lies in its focus on the scientific aspects of taste and other senses. This knowledge allows readers to develop a heightened awareness of how their environment affects their perception of flavor. As an example, the taste of a sandwich on an airplane (where I just ate it and am writing this review) versus at the airport or at home is different. The reader gains insight into the impact of location and ambiance on enjoyment.

"How to Taste" is not a cookbook. Instead, it offers a comprehensive guide that empowers readers to extract the maximum enjoyment from any recipe or meal they encounter. It teaches readers how to identify and appreciate the subtler flavors and aromas that enrich their everyday dining experiences.

The book strikes a perfect balance between accessibility and depth. It is easily understandable for anyone, yet it also satisfies the curiosity of serious foodies. Whether you just want to enjoy a good meal or aspire to become a professional taster, this book caters to your cravings for culinary knowledge.

Recommendation

"How to Taste: A Guide to Discovering Flavor and Savoring Life" is an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to expand their understanding of taste. Mandy Naglich's expertise and passion shine through in this engaging and enlightening exploration of the sensory world of food and drink. 'How to Taste' will forever change the way you experience food. Recommended.

Rating

4 Tasty Stars

A very informative book that has really made me think about how I cook and eat. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for a review.

Not a fan. I just could not get into this book. From reading other people’s reviews, I am aware that my opinion of the book is an outlier, as others seem to have really enjoyed it. I do not want to cause any harm to the author, so I will not be posting this review on any of my review sites.

Looking for a way to enhance your tasting skills? There’s actually a how-to book that is for you. How to Taste: A Guide to Discovering Flavor and Savoring Life, by food and beverage journalist, beer educator, Advanced Cicerone®, AROXA Certified Taster, Certified Cider Professional, National Homebrew Competition gold medalist, Mandy Naglich. It would be difficult to find anyone more qualified to write this fascinating book.

Who knew that it is possible to hone your tasting skills and make it even more enjoyable to eat and taste food. This is a book for foodies and those who live to eat. Naglich has broken down the science of taste, and presents different methods of tasting. She covers different flavors and how they interact with body chemistry. There is also a chapter on personal tastes – we all know that individuals taste differently and everyone has foods that don’t taste good to them.

While this book doesn’t include photographs or recipes, it does contain plenty of valuable information that is designed to help anyone learn the basics of taste. It is one of those books that readers can curl up in a corner and read. The prose is well-written and easy to understand. It also makes sense and the information is credible.

Anyone who wants to improve their foodie lifestyle will want to pick up this book.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

I’m not sure what I was was expecting, but it wasn’t a primer on taking tasting classes and tests. After reading the book description again, I see that’s exactly what I should have been expecting because the author is a professional taster so that was my mistake. I guess I was confused because I read a book with the same title that was written by a chef and was about flavors and how to adjust your cooking. If you have aspirations to become a professional taster or if you enter tasting contests, you will love this book. It just wasn’t for me. Four stars because it was well-written and I learned a lot!

Foodies will love this book about the art and science of taste. And since taste begins with smell, the book covers that as well. Written from the perspective of a professional taster, the book offers useful tips for enhancing your tasting abilities. It explains the impact of environmental factors like temperature and music. Eating is something we do every day, and this book helps us to be more mindful and to take the time to savor our food.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

How to Taste by @drinkswithmandy brings out an appetizing gastronomic lesson and series of suggestive ideas in describing tasty food. It’s an informative book that the author explains the right words for food description. The author has explained well to stretch out her reader’s mind and vocabulary for better communication about what we eat and drink. And besides, we love to share it with others, right?

I really enjoyed reading this book. Like an adventurous eater myself who enjoys trying out new and unique dishes and beverages truly suited me well in this book. I had learned most in the science area, specifically how influential 5 senses on what we taste before we even take a bite.

All in all, it is a good reference book for food lovers who are passionate to share about the food they love. It’s a good conversation starter. Perfect to include in one of the books on the coffee table that would spark a good conversation while having a morning coffee or afternoon tea with friends or guest/s. It’s remarkably a book that I would highly recommend to foodies.

My perspective on this book has morphed over time, much like the flavors of a fine wine. At first I was confused, unsure who the target audience was intended to be. Everyone? Casual food explorers? Passionate foodies? Culinary critics? The book sections seemed to shift back and forth in addressing different audiences, and its focus on only the categories of food used for professional tasting certificates (e.g. chocolate, wine, whiskey, beer, honey, and olive oil) gave it the impression of being niche.

Eventually, I realized that the unifying theme was the author’s lessons learned from training in professional, intensely-focused tasting techniques, not necessarily all tasting of all food as the title suggests. When I viewed it from that regard, I had a much better appreciation for the contents. To help guide reader’s expectations, I would suggest that the book needs a subtitle, something like: “What I learned from the world of professional tasting.”

With that comment out of the way, I’ll move to what I really enjoyed about the book. From the science of tasting to how to form tasting memories, there was something new to think about in every chapter. One chapter that stuck with me was on how environment affects perception. For example, I had never paid attention to how food smells on a plane, but the connection between dry air and reduced sensitivity makes perfect sense. In another memorable chapter, the author encourages readers to broaden their set of culinary descriptors. I was inspired to use richer language than “good” or “not good” in everything I describe, not just food. The seven-step tasting method earns an honorable mention for making me sniff every glass of wine from here on out differently, even if I don't end up following every step to the letter!

“How to Taste” taught me to look for and appreciate the subtler flavors and aromas that percolate through what I eat and drink every day. I recommend it to anyone interested in learning how master tasters see the world and perhaps growing their own skills too along the way.

How to Taste is an interesting non-fiction read concerning all the science behind flavor. Naglich does a wonderful job of explaining the science behind everything from why things taste certain ways to how we develop flavor memories in a way that is intellectual, concise, and enjoyable to read. Most of what I read was new information to me, and the writing style and anecdotes were engaging. I really enjoyed this read.

How to Taste is a book that can help a reader start tasting instead of simply eating. It is an information-filled journey that the reader will find useful to implement practically in life. Personally, I found the writing in certain portions a bit too technical and jargon-filled for my liking. As an Indian with minimal exposure to global specialty cuisine and fine dining culture, there are many descriptions that I cannot relate to. But the practical tips, the many dos and don'ts of tasting, and the expertise and experience of the writer that translate into her writing made reading this book worth it.

A wonderful educational book on taste. I went into this book thinking it would be mostly about wine, but the taste of so many different food and drink items were explained! As it went more in-depth than I had expected, I learned a lot about the way to learn to taste more. Especially the chapter covering the seven-step tasting method was very informative.
I will for sure try to discern the different flavours in my food and drink and it will be interesting to share this with others.

A separate shout-out to the fabulous cover! I will for sure check out the author's other books.

Mandy Naglich is an Advanced Cicerone & Certified Taster and wants you to learn how to really taste your food and drink. I think many people that review food or beverages start in one category and then our curiosity to taste and evaluate everything else often happens.  This book, although it has some scientific and technical flavour and aroma terms, helps to show the depth of research that Mandy has undertaken in her quest to learn how to taste. Most of the book is written in a friendly style, with little quips about events in her life as she has tasted everything from beer, wine, cheese, chocolate, olive oil, and more.

Mandy breaks down her book, How To Taste - A Guide to Discovering Your Senses and Savoring Life, into four parts: What is Taste, How to Taste, Using Your Tasting Skills, and Tasting Life. Through the chapters, Mandy teaches you about what is flavour and how things like colour can affect your perception of it. She then describes her detailed tasting steps that you can use for both food and beverages. Once you have these skills she discusses the variability of tasting scores by professionals, how different flavours, e.g. sweet, affect other flavours that you are tasting in a dish or drink, and then how to create a great tasting note that goes beyond saying a dish was tasty or delicious.

Overall I enjoyed reading this book.  It was quite an easy read and I appreciate Mandy including examples in her life and her experiences speaking with other flavour experts.  This is a book that would be great for chefs, food and beverage influencers, as well as anyone that wants to dig a bit deeper into what they are tasting and maybe get a bit more enjoyment out of it.

A interesting look into the lives of professional tasters. Gives great ideas on how to enjoy your food and drink more. A great gift for foodies.

Want to taste like a professional?
Want to taste those things professionals feel when they dissect wine/beer/honey/chocolate/coffee... This is an accessible book for foodies who want to know better. Who want to recognise more, feel more, smell more and generally get more out of their foods and drinks.
This is not really teaching you to be a pro, but it does put in light the path that you have to take, the training, directions, and various schools of thought... without being snob and elitist.
As a pretty extensive home cook who collects cookbooks and world recipes, this was very interesting to me. A lot I won't use, but it's an interesting back-of-the-curtain look into.

As something of a foodie, I get asked often how I can tell eh difference between certain flavors. It’s sometimes hard to describe, but this book is a great way to help you understand flavors and tasting. The author takes you through a series of tasting steps and really explains this well.

You don’t need to have a culinary degree to understand the content and to become a better taster yourself. This will make a great gift for my new son in law who is a foodie in the making.