On 03/03/2019 22:37, Tim Streater wrote:
In article , Clive Arthur
wrote:

On 03/03/2019 19:58, Tim Streater wrote:
In article , Clive Arthur

snip

But it's an interesting point.Â* Why would something have no taste?

Because it doesn't activate any taste bud.

With respect 'activating taste buds' is simplified GCSE biology stuff.

Assuming you're not eating or drinking now, what do you taste?Â* How
does that change when you take a sip of water?Â* Is that because your
taste buds sense something different?

There is no zero, no non-taste.

So tell me, which of these five taste groups does water belong to? And
by water I mean water, not any impurities that may be in it).

Salty, sour, bitter, sweet and umami.

Useful approximations. It tastes like water. Not like air or perhaps
some inert gas. Put some in you mouth and you'd know it was water[1],
because that's what water tastes like. What do you taste at the moment?
Saliva? And that tastes different to water, you can taste the difference.

It's not like sound, where you can to a large extent remove it and say
there's nearly none, or light where you can be in the dark see only
'noise' on your retina/brain. You're always tasting.

[1] or northern beer.

Cheers
--
Clive