- What does blue taste like? - Let's talk about that. (upbeat music) Good Mythical Morning. - Today we're gonna learn
all about food science by tasting colors. - Ooh, and today's episode
is sponsored by Raycon whose wireless earbuds
sound just as amazing as the other top audio
brands that you know. Raycon's everyday E25 earbuds
are their best model yet with six hours of play time,
seamless Bluetooth pairing, more bass and a more compact design that gives you a nice noise isolating fit. They also come in new
fun colors like titanium. If you can't picture titanium think of Link's hair color but cooler. - Raycon earbuds start
at about half the price of any other premium wireless
earbuds on the market which is great because just
think about all the things you can buy with the money you save. - Like hair dye. - Or Scissors. - No, the future of GMM
is Lion Face McLaughlin and Titanium Head Neal. - Raycon's are great
for working from home, working out and listening to
music and podcasts for hours without driving your roommates,
boyfriend, girlfriend or lion-faced best friend crazy. - Go to buyraycon.com/gmm or click the link in the description below to get 15% off your order. - Okay Rhett, turn on the
science part of your tongue 'cause we're about to taste some colors. It's time for, they say color
can affect the taste of food. So let's find out if that's false or true. By the way, do you spell color with a U? - I don't 'cause I'm an American. - Okay, according to scientific research color is the single most
important sensory cue when it comes to setting
people's expectations about what their food will taste like. Changing the color of food can create a dramatic impact on it's taste. - So today we're gonna take
a series of scientific tests to determine how much of
an impact color has on food and in doing so, we're going to determine if color does in fact have a taste. - Let's get to it! (twinkly music) - [Instructor] Okay, this
first test is based on a 2015 experiment by
London chef Jozef Youssef. - Love his work. - Jozef Youssef. - Yep.
- Who's goal was to determine if we
have a preconceived notion about what colors we attach
to certain flavor profiles. - I bet we do. - [Instructor] Before you
are four different colored and flavored puddings. I'm going to prompt you to
taste them in a specific order based on your own personal guesses. - Okay. - [Instructor] You must eat the entire spoonful of each pudding. - Just so we're in the
right frame of mind, we're not gonna do this
like our typical games where we're like is
there reverse psychology? Are you trying to trick us? - This is legit.
- This is like we're going to a university setting and they said Mr. McLaughlin and Mr. Neal we need you just be as normal as possible so we can get the best data. - Correct.
- So we're gonna be super normal this whole episode. - There are no tricks.
- Do I get paid in cash? - This is my normal voice. - Do I get paid in dollars or euros? - [Instructor] Okay. - Do I think of plasma? - [Instructor] Ready? - Yes. - [Instructor] First, I want
you to taste the salty pudding. - Salty pudding? Okay and again no trickery here. We're going with our guts. We should go at the same
time, so do a three, two, one. Salty? - [Instructor] Here we go. Three, two, one. - I think this white one, oh
you went with the red one? - Yeah. - Why do you think red is salty? - I don't know, I'm not thinking about-- - Just gut?
- I'm not thinking, like. Salt is white, which is
what you did. (chuckles) No, I'm just kidding. I just said which one said salt to me and I went with the red. - [Instructor] Okay, remember
you've picked different ones so consume the whole thing
but don't give any indication as to what the flavor profile is. - Link is giving me an
indication of something. But I'm being completely normal. - [Instructor] Okay. Next I need you to choose the bitter one. - Okay, bitter. What would be bitter? Okay, I'm ready, you ready? - Yeah. - [Instructor] Three, two, one. - See I think the red one's bitter. I can't articulate why. I don't know, isn't blood bitter? - My blood don't look like that. Unless I've had a lot of fast food. - Do you know why you picked green? - I'm not trying to think of a I'm not trying to make a
logical connection in my mind. Like green looks like this
plant that might be bitter I'm just like, looking at it and just seeing which one seems bitter.
- Just going to your psyche. - Yeah. - Three, two. So now we both tasted the red. You having some trouble? - No I'm normal. - Okay you're making me a
little scared to try the green. - I'm so normal right now. - [Instructor] I need you
to choose the sour one. - [Link] Oh see this is,
all right, I'm ready. - [Instructor] Three, two, one. - The green one is obviously
sour because like you said I'm thinking like sour apple type thing. Oh my goodness. (Link exclaims) Did spit just fly out of my mouth? 'Cause, oh gosh. - That a little sour? (Link exclaims) - [Instructor] Okay, the
last one, the sweet one. Here we go, three, two, one. - Yeah, just the normal. - Oh my goodness. - Now we're both tasting
this so we can talk about it. - That's bitter. - [Link] That's bitter and that's bad. - That's real bitter. - We both tasted all of them
and all of them were bad. - [Instructor] It's really
interesting how you did this because in his test, 75% of the guests matched the color to the
flavor that the chef intended proving that most of us do associate a certain color with a
certain flavor profile. Now Link, you kind of did it on the first one.
- I was right about salty. - [Instructor] Yeah you
were right about salty and you were right about sour as well. - Right is a relative term. - [Instructor] Well
yes but the point was-- - More sheep like would
be another way to say it. Like the masses, like 75% of all people. - [Instructor] Okay so
I guess we've proven in this very small test
that that's not true. But usually people
associate a certain color with a certain flavor profile. - I didn't do any of them right. - So red is sweet?
- Not one. - [Instructor] Correct, you
didn't do any of them right. - Yeah I gotta eat some more of this to get that other taste out of my mouth.
- That red is good though. - Red is sweet, gotta remember that. So I can be a normal human. (twinkly music) - [Instructor] Okay so
this next taste test-- - Pretty.
- Was conducted by color expert D.D. Williamson. - Love her work. - [Instructor] On two dozen
students aged 16 to 18. They were given three different drinks of different colors and
asked to describe the flavor. Before you are seven
different colored drinks let's see if you can identify
their flavor in a speed round. Please taste each drink
and immediately blurt out what flavor you think it is. We're going to start with the red drink in three, two, one. - Cherry. - Vanilla. - [Instructor] Pink. - Lime. - I'd say it's a citrus but it's-- - Grapefruit. - Pomelo. - [Instructor] Blue. (Link exclaims) - [Link] What is this? - Cherry. - No, it's medicine. Generic medicine. - Like Cherry medicine.
- Yellow. - Mouthwash. - Mint. - [Instructor] Purple. - Now I can't taste anything. - Watermelon? - The color really does throw me off. It is a fruit. Abstain.
- It is a fruit. - [Instructor] Orange. - It's very subtle, very subtle. Maybe a teeny bit of
orange, I know it's orange. - I can't taste anything. I've lost the ability to
taste, you've killed my tongue. I can't, I don't have a
guess or a taste anymore. - Maybe it's nothing,
maybe that's what it is. - [Link] Flavorless. - [Instructor] Green. - Pine.
- Cinnamon. - Oh, yep, that's cinnamon. (laughs) - Pine? See, what'd I say, pine 'cause it's green. - Did you close your eyes?
- Okay. - Did you not look at the colors? - [Instructor] So the
results of the actual test reinforced many scientific
studies that have consistently shown consumers have strong,
maybe even unconscious associations between flavors and colors. So let's go through what you guys did. The red was vanilla, as Rhett guessed. It's not cherry. The pink was orange but you
both were in the same area. - Yeah.
- Yeah, okay. - [Instructor] The blue was almond. - That's tough. - What? Oh, yeah, it's got like a, I
would've called it hazelnut like a hazelnut flavor to your coffee. What did we say it was? - [Instructor] You said cherry and Link said generic medicine. - I stand by that. - [Instructor] The yellow was mint and you both were in the right area there. - That was strong.
- Yeah. - [Instructor] The purple was apple. - Apple? Oh yeah. - Oh yeah, like sour, like green apple. - [Instructor] The orange was cranberry. - Oh that should be obvious. Too subtle, cranberry
is usually, you know. - Too subtle. - [Instructor] And the green was cinnamon. - Yeah, yeah. - Or pine. (laughs) - No it makes it tough, the color. Color is a big powerful thing. - Well, and I mean I
think what we just learned is that you're a little
bit more susceptible to it. You said that this was
cherry and that this was pine and look at the colors of them, I mean. - Yeah this experiment killed my ability to actually taste or guess. (twinkly music) - [Instructor] Does the color of beef affect the taste of beef? Before you are three
different colored beefs. You're gonna try the
cooked version of each beef and see if you can match
it to it's raw color. - Okay so I see, it's pink.
- No it's sort of dark. It's very hard to see that on camera but to the human eye right
now, they get darker this way. - [Link] Okay. - So we're trying to match the taste? - [Instructor] Correct. - So what's your preconceived notion here? - I don't have any idea. (both laugh) I don't know.
- Yeah. - I've never thought about this. - I mean if you were buying these which one would you buy? Just based on looks.
- Well. Well I would think that like-- - I'd think that one had more fat. That was why it was lighter. - This is almost pork, right? - But the dark, let's try this one. This one looks like sausage. I have to think that it's lighter because of the fat content is higher. - [Rhett] And it cooked down more. - Yeah, but it behind
it and push it forward. So we agree on this,
now we're down to this. - These are pretty close and if we just go by the color
that they are when cooked. - This is darker. - Then we just do this. - [Instructor] What do you
think about the quality of the different colored
meats that you see? - I would go with the middle one. The most bright red one. - This is my favorite.
- So-- - This is my favorite flavor. - Okay, well your taste
agrees with my eyes. - Tasting them again, that's
the best flavor I think. - [Instructor] So the least
red should be plate number two which I believe is correct. - Plate number two, yes. Least red. - [Instructor] Followed
by plate number one. - Yes.
- Oh yeah! - Yes! - [Instructor] And plate number three. - Yeah so we were right. - We got them right. The highest quality--
- We got the quality. - So the highest quality
meat, is it the darkest? - So according to the USCA--
- We think it's two. - [Instructor] Fresh
ground beef starts off at a purplish color, once exposed to air the meat turns a bright cherry red color. That means the optimum surface color for fresh beef is cherry red. The more time that passes,
it'll cause the meat to fade to less appealing colors. But this does not mean
the meat has gone bad. So when you're shopping for your beef you do always wanna look for
the bright cherry red color but if it's a darker color,
it doesn't have anything to do with the quality of the meat per se just how long it's been sitting out. - So which was the best one? - [Instructor] The freshest
one is the one in the middle. The bright cherry red color. - Yeah I do think that that tasted better but you know what? You like meat that's been
sitting out for a long time. - As long as it's got fat in it. (Rhett laughs) (twinkly music) - [Instructor] So the
previous tests have shown us the science behind how color
affects the taste of food. - We've discovered so much. - Using what you've learned let's see if you can
straight up taste colors. - Okay.
(Link scoffs) - [Instructor] Put your blindfolds on. - Yeah I think I can. - I think I can too.
- I want you each to tell me what color M&M you think you're eating. Starting with the first
one in three, two, one. - Oh! Definitely is an M&M. - Yellow. - Blue. - [Instructor] It was blue. (Rhett laughs) - What'd you taste? - I tasted blue. - I tasted yellow. - [Instructor] All right,
let's see that next M&M. Okay and eat. - Oh thank you. Definitely another M&M. - That's yellow. - Nope, orange. - [Instructor] That was orange. - No! You can do it man. - Yeah. - [Instructor] Okay,
let's see the next one. And eat. - Oh thank you. Okay this one definitely tastes different. - No that one is the yellow one now. - You're right, yellow. - [Instructor] Red. (Rhett laughs) - Oh man! - [Instructor] Next. And eat. - Oh, whoa, that tastes very different. Green. - It tasted what I
thought was the last one but this is it, this is yellow. - [Instructor] Brown. - Oh.
- Oh. No that was different. - Brown is actually mostly yellow. - [Instructor] All right
let's see the next one. Okay. - They are different but I think it's the peanut I'm tasting different. I do think that is yellow. - Green. - [Instructor] It's green. (Rhett laughs and claps) - Man, Link you've got a super power. - [Instructor] Okay this is the last one. - [Rhett] What other colors are there? - [Instructor] And let's go. - Orange. - Yellow. - [Instructor] It's yellow! (Rhett laughs) - Dude, how! Hold on, you got four
out of six right, right? - [Narrator] Yeah. - I'm a little disappointed
I didn't get all of them but yeah, I can taste colors. (crew laughs) - Dang, we need to set up a state fair little sideshow thing. - That'd be great. People bring their foods to me. I'll just be blindfolded
and just be fed stuff. - Man.
- That'd be great. - That could be a back up career, for you. - We've learned so much. - Link's got a special
power, get the red beef. - Subscribe and click that bell. - That's right, you know what time it is. - This is Mikey and Kara
from Knoxville, Tennessee and it's time to spin
the wheel of mythicality! With a tangy burn. (Rhett laughs) Click the top link to watch us
compare dyed and undyed foods in Good Mythical More. - And to find out where
the wheel of mythicality is gonna land, go with the flow. Get out new neon accessories
now at mythical.com.
The GMMORE is so funny today, a must watch.
I think Link wins for Most Useless Superpower. Very impressive!
i love how link was so casual about his ability
yeah i can taste colours Β―_(γ)_/Β―
That was such a good GMMore
I adore episodes like this. What a well-executed experimentβI hope to see Rhett and Link test the validity of more silly scientific studies in the future!
this was such an interesting episode concept!! loved it :)
This was a fun episode, but I gotta give the best quote to,
"...With a tangy burn!"
So when Link's ability to taste was killed, he then could taste colors? ...