We’re ready to start tasting! While next week’s post will start exploring how to taste, this week’s TTT&T is short and sweet. Here are three tips to make for a more enjoyable and accurate tasting experience:

1—Be careful what you put in our mouth. Similar to drinking orange juice right after brushing your teeth, eating certain foods, sucking on mints, and cleaning your teeth/mouth can have a significant impact on your wine tasting experience. Don’t get me wrong…food and wine are meant to go together, but when you taste a wine for the first time, try doing it before you eat your garlic-laced pizza, your cream-soaked herrings, or your onion-laden chip dip. Those flavors will stay in your mouth and alter what you’re tasting.

2—Taste the wine before you grab a butt. This works from both the liquid courage and the smoking angle. Seriously, those of you who smoke probably already know this, but just as with any other food or drink, cigarettes can change the way things taste. Therefore, make sure you give the wine a chance before you grab your ciggy, otherwise, you might miss the true flavors of the wine.

3—Use cologne/perfume sparingly. Overlooking the fact that the person sitting next to you will be thankful that you didn’t bath in your cologne/perfume, if you’re planning to taste wine, it’s a good idea to leave the cologne/perfume at home. Most of the tasting experience is actually done using your nose, so if you’re wearing cologne/perfume, the scents might mix with the aromas/flavors of the wine. This ultimately might cause confusion as you try to differentiate between the smell of the cologne/perfume and the smell/taste of the wine.