What if some people are genetically unable to perceive astringency,

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Does this taste thing also run alongside smell? ...
Pretty much. Just slot in a clearer definition of "taste". You can detect five "tastes", exclusively with your tongue: Bitter, sour, sweet, salt and um... err, um.... damn, um-thingy. The Japanese beat us to the last one and foisted an unpronounceable name on us. Then you've got "flavour", and it is that that is the same as smell (and I mix up flavour and taste, even in this thread somewhere?). So, when someone tells you a meal you've lovingly prepared for them "tastes like a worn jockstrap", they might not have stuffed a jockstrap in their mouth, they may only have sniffed one! Flippin' weird thing to be doing even if they haven't stuffed it in their mouth, so punch them on the nose anyway.

If you were a snake (?) you could waggle your tongue in the air, then stick it in a special receptor in the roof of your mouth (if you're a snake, you'd have two 'cos your tongue is forked) which would have the same sensors as your nose so you can precisely pick up "flavours" in the air ("Jacobson's organ" ... I've even looked it up for you!). Excellent for tracking down your own lost jockstraps.
 
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