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Delivery within 3-5 business days – Free for orders of R500 or more
Think about a food you couldn’t stand when you were younger. Maybe it was olives, dark chocolate, broccoli or anything remotely bitter. Then, somewhere along the way, you tried it again and realised you actually liked it.
The same can happen with tea. A flavour you once loved might not be your first choice anymore, while one you previously overlooked can suddenly become a favourite.
So, why do our taste preferences change over time?
There’s a reason you might love something now that you wouldn’t have touched as a child.
Research shows that children generally prefer higher levels of sweetness than adults and can be more sensitive to certain bitter tastes. These preferences shift as we get older, with our liking for higher levels of sweetness generally declining towards adulthood.
So, if your childhood self couldn’t understand why anyone would willingly choose dark chocolate over milk chocolate, there may have been more going on than simply being a fussy eater.
Age and experience aren’t the only things that can influence taste. Hormones are involved in the way our taste system works too, and changes at different stages of life may affect how certain foods and flavours are experienced.
Pregnancy is a familiar example, when some women experience new food cravings or suddenly find that a familiar food or drink is less appealing. Taste can change again around menopause. As oestrogen levels fall, some women experience reduced saliva flow. Because saliva helps break food down so that our taste buds can detect different tastes, a drier mouth can mean familiar flavours taste less intense or simply different.
It’s another reminder that the flavours we enjoy aren’t necessarily fixed. They can shift at different stages of life, sometimes when we least expect them to.
Our tongues detect five basic tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter and savoury. But when you bite into something or take a sip of tea, your sense of smell and other sensory cues also contribute to the flavour you experience.
That is why the aroma rising from a freshly brewed cup is such an important part of drinking tea. Before you’ve even taken that first sip, your experience of the tea has already begun.
Of course, it isn’t all biology. What we eat and drink over the years matters too. The more familiar we become with certain flavours, the more our preferences can change. So, in a way, we really can grow into a flavour.
Think about the teas you enjoyed five or ten years ago. Would you reach for the same flavours today?
That’s what makes exploring tea so interesting. The flavours you enjoy can change over time, and there’s always something different to try. From fruity and floral to herbal and spiced, there are plenty of flavour profiles to explore in the Carmién Tea range. Our guide to fruit and herbal infusions is a good place to start.
Perhaps you enjoy the familiar, smooth taste of Carmién Pure Rooibos. Or you might prefer the gentle citrus and floral flavours of Carmién Orange Chamomile. For something with a little more spice, Carmién Citrus Chai combines rooibos and green honeybush with warm chai spices and zesty citrus flavours.
There isn’t a “grown up” flavour either. Fruity, floral, herbal, spiced or simply pure rooibos, what you enjoy is personal. And the tea you love today doesn’t have to be the one you loved five or ten years ago.
Next time you’re choosing a tea, step outside your usual flavour profile or revisit one you’ve previously decided wasn’t for you.
Take a moment to smell it before you sip. Try it before automatically adding milk, honey or sugar. Pay attention to the flavours and aromas you notice, and whether they’re what you remember.
You might take one sip and confirm that it’s definitely still not for you. Or you might be surprised.
Taste changes, and that’s part of what makes trying different flavours interesting. A tea you didn’t particularly enjoy a few years ago might taste completely different to you today.
Your next favourite cup might just be one you’ve already met.
