Ajax the Supertaster

I believe I am a supertaster. This does not mean that if one were to eat me, I would taste better than anyone else, although personally I think I would taste as good as anyone, perhaps better. I am in relatively good health, and I do like to eat sugary foods. But I am not a supertasty-er, just a supertaster, and that’s not even a confirmed claim. I might be a regular taster. In the end it doesn’t really matter.


A supertaster is someone who has a wider range of tasting ability, or specifically heightened ability to taste certain flavors. The tongue is covered with papillae, which are the bumps housing that which we commonly refer to as “taste buds.” These “taste buds” allow us to differentiate between the various flavors. There are five main flavors: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami (savory, e.g. MSG). Different concentrations of specific papillae or other biological specifics might correlate to someone being a supertaster.

I found a home test for determining supertaster ability utilizing the Google search engine. That is, I utilized the Google search engine to find a home test for determining your supertaster status. I got lost quickly with the many steps to preparing such a test. Instead of “science” I will rely solely on personal opinion. I think that I am a supertaster because I can’t stand drinking anything with fake sugar in it. Any of the light foods out there with zero calorie sugar replacements taste like death to me. I would rather lick the bottom of my shoe (not really) than to drink a zero calorie beverage. It doesn’t matter if it is juice or soda or whatever. People tell me they can’t taste a difference, I can taste a difference, and I don’t like it.

I really don’t have any other support for my supertaster claim. Sometimes I think I can smell better than other people, and since the sense of smell has a lot to do with the sense of taste, I think this plays into my supertaster status, but I can’t be sure. I guess I could be sure because all I’m going on is personal opinion, so I choose not to be sure. Gus, from the TV show Psych!, refers to his nose as the super sniffer. He has the uncanny ability to break down a smell into components. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I can do that, but I can definitely taste sugar replacements out of a whole product. Just like Spiderman, perhaps this blessing of supertasting is also my curse. Also, just like Spiderman, maybe I am delusional. I think most super heroes are.