Which Taste Sense Does Vinegar Fall Under?

[michele cindy]

My daughter often says things taste "sour" to her. This is mostly when something is vinegary. I know the different tastes senses are bitter, sweet, sour, salty, & more recent unami, so where does vinegary fall into these? She may be right, but It doesn't feel like sour to me, but doesn't seem to go with the others either. What's the correct category?

[akq]

Some (most?) vinegars will fall into multiple categories. For example balsamics are sweet and sour, etc.

[JMF]

I was speaking recently to some food scientists, and they have determined that instead of four, five or six tastes (sweet, sour, bitter, salty, umami, and some include spicy as in chili peppers) there are actually around forty tastes.

Wiki talks a little about it, but the conversation I had was about dna research and will be published in the near future.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taste

[mpalmer6c]

As others say, acid. But the sense of smell also enters into "taste." So distilled vinegar will not taste like malt vinegar.

[almansa]

Sour. Vinegar is acidic, and acidic = sour.

[michele cindy]

Duh ! Thanks - I will commend my 8 year old and give me a time out to reflect.

[JungMann]

Acetic acid definitely is sour. But also consider that there are nuances in vinegar that can also taste sweet.