The experience in London, called Tongue Twister, just wrapped up. We managed to check it out over the weekend and had quite the adventure.
When we arrived at the venue, it was like stepping into a colorful, Willy Wonka-inspired wonderland. Excitement kicked in right away, especially since I love vibrant settings, and this one involved food too! My impatience got the better of me, and I began to sneak around for a preview of what awaited inside.
Once we were called in, I darted to the entrance with eager anticipation. The first order of business was a taste test to determine the sensitivity of our taste buds. After years of diverse eating, my taste buds were pretty unshakeable, landing me in the non-tasters group, just like Lloyd. The other categories were super tasters (those show-offs!) and the medium tasters.
After the taste tests, we cleansed our palates with something I can only call toothpaste sorbet. It was a sorbet flavored like spearmint—odd but intriguing, and I finished mine quickly. Then, the main experience began.
The session explored how sound influences our sense of taste. We enjoyed several activities in the room, with my top three being:
1. Listening to the crunch of foods like crisps, popping candy, and cornflakes, which intensified the already noticeable crunch.
2. Pairing the experience of eating soft sweets with a fitting song. Mine was a Sam Smith tune!
3. Eating everything within reach, although this led to a sour surprise when I bit into what must have been the world’s most sour candy. I tried bravely enduring the sourness, hoping for some sweet relief underneath, but it was tough! Lloyd’s reaction was priceless as he quickly tossed his sour candy into the bin.
Despite the unpleasant surprise, I admired how they made the candy so incredibly sour. Later, I started grabbing snacks around the room to eat, ignoring the sound element. I can’t resist when there’s chocolate around.
Next, we headed to the “see” room. You’ll quickly understand the name. It turns out that the colors we find appealing in food are almost instinctive, which explains why certain colors never seem appetizing. I can’t think of any gray dish that gets people drooling.
In this room, a fun guessing game awaited us. We tasted drinks and noted our guesses, with the answers revealed later. I had to drag Lloyd away from some Plasma balls to get started. The experience reminded me of my previous, less-than-stellar attempt at wine-tasting—getting the flavors wrong, despite being the only one to correctly identify a coconut-flavored drink, was a small victory for me.
There was also a part involving basil and UV lights, but I’ll leave that for you to experience on your own.
Our final stop was the “smell” room, where we learned just how much our sense of taste relies on smell. We tried holding our noses and eating strawberry sweets; they tasted sweet but lacked flavor. Once our noses were free, the strawberry flavor returned.
We tested this concept with jelly beans while different scent tubes influenced their flavor. I found the popcorn-flavored one delightful and the black pepper scent surprisingly interesting.
As the experience concluded, we prepared to leave, but not before grabbing our own samples on the way out. It seems we’ve all numbed our taste buds with too much spicy food over time!
