Blind taste test

Isolation booth for taste testing for an independent lab. Tasters will receive samples through the box at right.

In marketing, a blind taste test is often used as a tool for companies to compare their brand to another brand. For example, the Pepsi Challenge is a famous taste test that has been run by Pepsi since 1975, as a method to show their superiority to Coca-Cola. Additionally, taste tests are sometimes used as a tool by companies to develop their brand or new products.

Types of blind taste tests

There are two types of blind taste tests:

• In asingle blind test, experimenters know information about the participants, but the participants know nothing about the experimenters or the product they are testing. The aforementioned Pepsi Challenge is an example of a single blind test.
• In a double blind taste test, the experimenters know nothing about the participants, and the participants know nothing about the experimenters or the product they are testing.

In popular culture

Taste tests are commonly employed by the public television show America's Test Kitchen and its spin-off series Cook's Country, typically administered by Jack Bishop.^[1]

References

1. "'Test Kitchen': Have Your (Gluten-Free) Cake, And Love Eating It Too". NPR via OPB. 2014-03-20. Retrieved 2014-04-14.