Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by petejodo 2897 days ago
If you don't mind me asking, how do you do blind tastings? Doesn't someone have to pour the glasses and therefore knows which is which? Also how do you figure out at the end, which was which? I imagine, one person pours, another rearranges, and then the glasses have a labeled underneath
1 comments

You pretty much nailed it. It is easier if you have an impartial helper though; a professor I knew back in school would, after finals, invite his students to a wine tasting at this house. His wife would pour and label the glasses, but never took part, removing the chance for subtle cues at the tastings occurred. After we'd all tasted and jotted down our notes, and shared our thoughts, they'd be revealed.

He (the prof) always took joy in how much variation there was in the wines students deemed "best", given our relatively inexperienced pallets. One's favorite was as likely to be pulled from a $150 bottle as an $8 box.