Why Should You Incorporate Taste in Your Writing?

“Nothing takes the taste out of peanut butter quite like unrequited love.” ~ Charles M. Schulz in the persona of Charlie Brown

Your prose or poetry doesn’t have to be tasteful, but the best creative works include the sense of taste.

Charles M. Schulz understood that and turned it upside down to make a point.

Taste is one of the most important senses. We might wake in the morning with a putrid flavor in our mouth. Our first urge is to rinse with mouthwash or drink a cup of coffee.

We celebrate special occasions with food. We’re always on the hunt for that extraordinary entrée with just the right combination of seasonings.

We recoil when something is too spicy, sour, or overcooked. We might forgive a restaurant for slow service, but not for a dish that doesn’t please our palate.

Add taste to your writing, and it will sizzle with new life.

How Can You Include Taste?

Besides the obvious, adding it with food, consider describing the tastes of other objects in your story’s environment. Here are a few to stimulate your creativity.

• blood from a split lip
• chemicals in swimming pool water that’s swallowed during a long swim or near-drowning
• coins a character in a period piece might bite on to see if they’re real
• grass or doggy-doo weed-whipped into the face
• ink from a pen that a nerd chews while thinking
• mud or rocks a child stuffs into the mouth while playing or pretending
• sweat trickling onto the lips during vigorous exercise or a high-speed chase
• water dripping off a frozen beard or mustache
• puzzle pieces crammed into a child’s mouth

A Few More Ideas for Props

a baby soother, chewing gum, chewing tobacco, cigars/cigarettes, dental packing, dental procedures, dentures, fingernails, hair, heartburn, medication, mints, mud, ocean spray, phlegm, pipe tobacco, play dough, rain, a runny nose, shampoo, skin, smoke, snow, soap, a stole/boa/scarf, toothpaste, a turtleneck, wind

Taste Doesn’t Function in a Vacuum

Have you ever noticed that when your nose is plugged, your food tastes different? Taste and scent are connected. In fact, experts say these senses are our body’s way of identifying and interacting with the myriad of chemicals in our world. If you taste something, you can often smell it, and vice versa. Likewise with texture.

Therefore, some of the following words could refer to scent or texture. Embrace these senses as well to produce the most vivid prose and poetry.

See also 200+ Ways to Incorporate Scent.

Here’s a List of More Than 300 Taste Adjectives

A and B

acerbic, acidic, acrid, aged, alkaline, ambrosial, appetizing, astringent, barny, basic, benign, biting, bitter, bittersweet, bland, blissful, blistering, bloody, blubbery, boring, bracing, brackish, briny, brisk, bubbly, buttery, burnt, buttery

C

caramel, cardboard, carbonated, caustic, celestial, chalky, charcoal, charred, cheesy, chewy, chocolatey, cinnamon, citrus, citrusy, clove-like, coarse, comforting, complex, concentrated, cool, coppery, corrosive, creamy, crisp, crumbly, curdled, curious, cutting

D and E

delectable, delicate, delicious, delightful, delish, desiccated, distinct, divine, dreary, dry, dull, dusty, earthy, effervescent, eggy, elastic, elusive, enjoyable, exquisite

F

faint, fatty, fermented, fibrous, fiery, filling, fishy, fizzy, flakey, flat, flavorful, flavorless, flavorsome, flowery, floury, foamy, foul, fresh, fried, frosty, fruity, full, full-bodied, fusty

G

gamey, garlicky, gentle, ghastly, gingery, glacial, grainy, granular, grapey, grassy, gratifying, gravelly, greasy, green, gristly, gritty, grungy

H

hard-to-chew, harsh, heady, healthy, hearty, heavenly, heavy, herbal, herbed, herby, honey, honeyed, hork-inducing, horsey, hot, humdrum

I to L

icy, immature, indistinct, inedible, insipid, intense, invigorating, juicy, keen, leathery, lemony, light, limey, lip-smacking, lively, luscious

M

malty, marinated, mature, medicinal, mellow, metallic, mild, mildewy, milky, minty, moist, moldy, monotonous, mouthwatering, muddy, mulled, multi-layered, mushy, musty, muted, mysterious

N and O

nippy, nutty, obscure, odd, off, oily, oniony, overcooked, overdone, overpowering

P

palatable, passable, pasty, peanutty, peculiar, pedestrian, peppery, perfect, perky, pickled, piquant, plain, pleasant, pleasing, plummy, polluted, potent, powdery, powerful, pungent

Q and R

quenching, rancid, rare, red-hot, refined, refreshing, revitalizing, rich, ripe, robust, rotten, rough, rubbery

S

salty, sandy, satiating, sating, satisfying, savory, scalding, scorched, scrumptious, searing, seasoned, sharp, sinewy, skunky, slaking, slick, slight, slimy, smoky, smooth, soapy, sodden, soggy, sooty, sophisticated, sour, sparkling, spiced, spicy, spoiled, spongy, squidgy, squishy, stale, starchy, sterile, strange, strident, stringy, strong, subdued, subtle, succulent, sudsy, sugary, sulfurous, superb, sweet, sweet-and-sour, syrupy

T

tainted, tangy, tantalizing, tart, tasteless, tasty, tedious, tender, thick, thirst-quenching, tinny, titillating, toasty, toothsome, torrid, tough

U

unappetizing, undercooked, underdone, under-ripe, unexciting, unflavored, uninteresting, unpalatable, unpleasant, unpretentious, unseasoned, unsalted, unsophisticated

V to Z

vague, vanilla, velvety, vinegary, viscous, vivid, winey, waterlogged, watery, weak, well-done, wintry, wishy-washy, woody, yeasty, yummy, zesty, zingy