Interesting Facts

According to a survey commissioned by Nationwide Credit Cards, the 1970s was the most tasteless decade when it comes to home decor in the UK. #TBT to when avocado bathrooms were in. Seriously, who thought that was a good look?! pic.twitter.com/liz1dJVtK8 — WICKES (@Wickes) January 29, 2015 (Lava lamps, orange and purple decor, tartan upholstery, shagpile rugs, avocado bathrooms and woodchip wallpaper all contributed to make the 70s so unstylish, but the 1980s, with its textured ceilings, frills and flounces, and Laura Ashley prints came second at 16 per cent. I wonder what they will say about the 2010s?)

According to a study in the Journal of Marketing Research the actual taste of inexpensive wine improves, if the label looks expensive. (In one experiment a group tasted the same wine from different bottles, and the more the tasters liked the label, the more they liked the wine. Another survey back in 2012 , found that consumers believed heavier bottles were more expensive and contained higher-quality wine. It seems we really do taste with our eyes, and it means we have a tendency to enjoy wine (as well as other products) more when we think they’re expensive.  Seemingly a carefully crafted label can make us think that something is more expensive than it actually is, so much so that people enjoy identical products such as wine or chocolate more if they think they have a higher price tag. Of course that doesn't explain the Primark effect.)

According to research carried out at the Stockholm School of Economics, and published in a report calle, "Hide The Label, Hide The Difference", all lager tastes the same. (Volunteers were given blind samples of Budvar, Heineken and Stella Artois but found they could not tell the difference. The report says:- "Our results suggest that brand loyalty in this market is likely to be driven largely by marketing and packaging, and not by the underlying sensory properties of the competing products." This is actually good news for me, because I always suspected it, but thought maybe it was my taste buds that couldn't tell the difference between cheap and premium lagers.)

According to the advertising watchdog in the UK, pyramid shaped tea bags do actually make a better cuppa than round ones. (Following an advertising complaint from round baggers Tetley (my favourite cuppa), they concluded that the pyramid shape did allow the tea to move more freely, releasing more taste. The tests showed that the infusion of tea, at 40 seconds and two minutes into the brewing process, was greater when using a pyramid teabag than when using a round teabag. IMHO what really matters is what tea is inside. I don't like PG because it has an orange colour. Hubby calls it monkey tea, but i'm sure there are people who prefer it. My mum would mock anyone who used a tea bag, but surely it's simply a matter of personal taste.) Source

According to experts at the London Wine Academy, Britons prefer cheaper wine. (In blind tests where tasters tried two wines, each from the same grape variety but at different prices, 8 out of 10 people preferred a bottle of wine costing £4.99 to a bottle that cost £19.99, and 6 people in 10 thought the £4.99 version was the more expensive of the two. The academy said that an amateur’s perception of a good wine is based on the notion of ‘smoothness’, and cheaper wines from warm climates have lower acidity, a simpler flavour, and higher alcohol content. Aha! I think the last point explains much.)

Testicles can detect sweet flavours. (According to researchers at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, testicles have taste buds. In a press release, researcher Robert Margolskee said, 'Like much good science, our current findings pose more questions than answers." That has to be the understatement of the year.)

Warheads are the world's sourest sweets. (Warheads Extreme Sour Hard Candy derive their strong sour flavour primarily from malic acid which is applied as a coating to the outside of the small, hard sweeties. The intense sour flavour fades after about 20 to 40 seconds. The sweet itself contains the somewhat less sour ascorbic acid and citric acid, but at the centre of the boiled sweet is a small pocket of more malic acid.  I wonder what part of "sweet" they don't understand.)

The catfish has over 27,000 taste buds. (Why? What on earth could be so tasty on the bottom of a pond?)