Crunch, Crackle, and Pop

“Sound is the forgotten flavor sense,” says experimental
psychologist Charles Spence. In this episode, we discover how
manipulating sound can transform our experience of food and drink,
making stale potato chips taste fresh, adding the sensation of
cream to black coffee, or boosting the savory, peaty notes in
whiskey. Composers have written music to go with feasts and
banquets since antiquity—indeed, in at a particularly spectacular
dinner hosted by Duke Philip of Burgundy in 1454, twenty-eight
musicians were hidden inside an immense pie, beginning to play as
the crust was opened. Today, however, most chefs and restaurants
fail to consider the sonic aspects of eating and drinking. That’s a
mistake, because, as we reveal in this episode, sound can affect
how fast we eat, how much we’re prepared to pay for our meal, and
even what it tastes like. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
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