flavor Do colors correlate with taste?

[spicy.curry]

I see that there are numerous varieties of habanero and scotch bonnet peppers.

Do peppers which share a color typically share a similar taste? Do the different red scotch bonnets taste more like each other and less like yellow scotch bonnets?

 

[The_NorthEast_ChileMan]

I see that there are numerous varieties of habanero and scotch bonnet peppers.

Do peppers which share a color typically share a similar taste? Do the different red scotch bonnets taste more like each other and less like yellow scotch bonnets?

 
Taste is very subjective. Read through this post.>Grocery Store Mystery... If I had a buck every time someone posted "earthy" as an odor or taste of hot peppers I could retire. Me? I eat a sliver of Habanero and all I taste is HOT!_
 

Hello again again!

Zero Scorpion aroma. Zero 7 Pot aroma. Douglah! But no. Without being plasticy or acidic or deep down earthy, I'd bet this is an unknown cross or variety all its own. The smell is almost Bubblegum. Like the chewable kind...not the pod. Lol.

Hey Bhuter - any help with the OPs inquiry?

 

[Bhuter]

Taste is very subjective. Read through this post.>Grocery Store Mystery... If I had a buck every time someone posted "earthy" as an odor or taste of hot peppers I could retire. Me? I eat a sliver of Habanero and all I taste is HOT!_

Lol!!! Hi, NECM!!!
Off the bat:
When I think "earthy" in the pepper world, I guess I lean more towards the richness you'd get from a type of mushroom....be it Morel or Portabellas.....deeper and more robust than a red. In ganja terms, "earthy" is more like something that been dragged through a field: soil, fungus, potting up your plants. Lol. Both of these to me are in "Flavor". The "aroma" can be different, while having the same underlying aspects.
I don't know....it's all guesswork and tomorrow it'll taste differently. Lmao! Just like you said. "Subjective". Whether the subject is the person or the day. Lol.
Thank you for asking lil 'ol ME!

OP:
I personally think that the flavor CAN be associated or related to the color within the same cultivar. In the Species, Chinense, Red Bhut Jolokia taste NOTHING like red Trinidad Scorpions. Could be the origin, or the cultivar, but Red bhuts are fruity and pleasant, whereas red Scorpions are floral, with hardly any fruit to me.
Browns Bhuts are that deeper flavor I spoke about and again pleasant, but brown scorpions taste more like ( ) acrid, bitterness and floraly perfume.

Did I answer anything, or just ramble? Lol

Thanks again, NECM!


EDIT:
I would say that yes, Red Bonnet "A" would taste more like Red Bonnet "B" than they would taste like any of the Yellow scotch bonnets.
I love chocolate habs, but I can't even find a flavor difference between a choc hab or choc bonnet. (I know......boo and hiss), but the texture sure is different!

 

[The Hot Pepper]

Taste is not subjective. If I eat and strawberry and you eat a strawberry the taste is the same, if I say strawberries are awesome, that is subjective as you may not like them. But that does not change the taste.

 

[Bhuter]

I'm reminded of a mind-BLEEP about colors that someone threw at me:

"What if the color I see as orange is the same color you see as blue? And your red is my green? And so on......?"

If that's a thing, I wonder if it's the same for flavors????

 

[The Hot Pepper]

It's true it is somewhat subjective. Some people taste soap when they eat cilantro. But overall taste is objective, subjective by preference, but also our bodies can dictate some of that.

 

[Bhuter]

It's true it is somewhat subjective. Some people taste soap when they eat cilantro. But overall taste is objective, subjective by preference, but also our bodies can dictate some of that.

Not being facetious at all...........
Thank you, Boss, for writing out the subjective/objective difference. Sometimes I have to stop and think of the words' meaning to get the whole picture. "Objective" helped me out with "subjective".

 

[The Hot Pepper]

I didn't think you were...

 

[hogleg]

Think of it like a piano. The yellows have more high zingy notes. While the reds have the deeper richer notes

 

[The Hot Pepper]

To me:
Most dark green hot peppers are similar to green bell but not as bitter, pale greens are similar to yellow but yellow can be fruitier, orange taste like reds without the rich sweetness. And if you get a pepper hot enough none of this matters.

 

[Bhuter]

To me:
Most dark green hot peppers are similar to green bell but not as bitter, pale greens are similar to yellow but yellow can be fruitier, orange taste like reds without the rich sweetness. And if you get a pepper hot enough none of this matters.

Ha!
"What's the flavor of this one?"
"Fire."
"What does this one taste like?"
"Fire."
"What d..................."
"Dante's inferno, lava, flames, blistered sun........and it feels like Dynamite, explosions, coerced Combustion......"

 

[AzJon]

I'm reminded of a mind-BLEEP about colors that someone threw at me:

"What if the color I see as orange is the same color you see as blue? And your red is my green? And so on......?"

If that's a thing, I wonder if it's the same for flavors????

This falls under what is called the Theory of Knowledge.

In a nutshell, things derive their sheer existence from how many 'nodes' we can attach to them.
 
For example, if I say, "there is a chair in that corner of the room."
 
There may, or may not, be a chair. So, lets attach some nodes. "There is a chairn in that corner of the room, I can touch it with my hands, I can sit on it, I can knock on it, I can (for the freaks out there, you know who you are) taste the chair."
 
In this example, we attach a number of attributes to the chair. This lets us determine that the chair is likely real.
 
We can keep attaching nodes like this by the consensus of other people (who we also have to assume, via these attached nodes, are also real) on the qualities of the chair.
 
Of course, our own sensory receptors could be faulty. Colorblindness is an example of that. However, if 1 person in a room of 30 says something is green that is reported by the other 29 as red, we can deduce that the one person is likely incorrect about the color of the object.
 
As an extension, if enough people describe a flavor as a general profile, we can come to expect that will be the case across them all. All habaneros taste similar to me and the taste is unique.
 
Sometimes we lack the right word to describe the taste. If you have never had a strawberry, using "strawberry notes" in a flavor profile is totally useless to you. However, if you keep tasting that thing, over and over, when you do taste a strawberry, the flavor should be, in part, familiar to you and recognizable as "strawberry".

 

[CaneDog]

I would look at this way.  There are attributes that affect color that also affect taste, but the attributes affecting taste are not limited to those affecting color.  An example, brown peppers are brown because the green chlorophyll present in the pod does not degrade when the pod ripens due to the mutation cl.  When the pod would otherwise be red, the remaining green chlorophyll causes it to color brown.  So, the taste of all brown peppers is influenced by the presence of chlorophyll.  Another example would be the color mutation "c2," which acts to reduce the levels of carotenoids produced in the ripe fruit generating (in the absence of other aberrant alleles) an orange mature pepper.  Because carotenoids are precursors to many of the chemicals responsible for the flavor of pods, a reduction in the level of carotenoids from what would otherwise be a red pepper would have an impact on the flavor of the pod.  Different mutations, such as c1 + c2, a pale yellow mature pod, would cause a much greater reduction in carotenoids therefore have a similarly greater impact on the flavor of the fruit.  But these attributes affecting color aren't the only ones affecting taste.  For example, the brix/sugar content of the pod governs the perceived sweetness, but doesn't affect color. And, as many people have mentioned above, different peppers have different flavor profiles, despite showing the same color.
 

I'm reminded of a mind-BLEEP about colors that someone threw at me:

"What if the color I see as orange is the same color you see as blue? And your red is my green? And so on......?"

If that's a thing, I wonder if it's the same for flavors????

 
Nice one, Bhuter.  I remember hearing that and finding it interesting, too.  We may each look at a lawn and think "the grass is green," and we'd agree that it's green, even if I were seeing the color you would describe as orange - after all, everyone's always told me that color is "green."  And if I use the label "green" for everything I see as orange, and you see everything I see as orange as green, we may be seeing different colors, but we have no way of ever knowing whether we do or not.  It's an interesting thought experiment at the least - or MF, if you prefer

 

[Siv]

It's an interesting question when you consider peppers that start green, turn yellow/orange and finally ripen to red. They will generally have flavours that are independent of colour and flavours that change with the colour. Just like an unripe strawberry tastes different to a ripe one, I would expect that he compounds that create colours change the flavour.
 
However how much does the variety impact the dominant flavour? Do ripe orange habs taste more like ripe red habs than ripe red cayenne?
 
I'm still new to the pepper game but I certainly find that the variety of pepper has far more impact on the taste than the colour. And, of course, when your mouth is on fire, are you able to really tell the flavour differences?
 
The only conclusive thing I can say is that all red peppers don't taste the same, neither do all yellow or green or orange.

 

[Bhuter]

This falls under what is called the Theory of Knowledge.

In a nutshell, things derive their sheer existence from how many 'nodes' we can attach to them.
 
For example, if I say, "there is a chair in that corner of the room."
 
There may, or may not, be a chair. So, lets attach some nodes. "There is a chairn in that corner of the room, I can touch it with my hands, I can sit on it, I can knock on it, I can (for the freaks out there, you know who you are) taste the chair."
 
In this example, we attach a number of attributes to the chair. This lets us determine that the chair is likely real.
 
We can keep attaching nodes like this by the consensus of other people (who we also have to assume, via these attached nodes, are also real) on the qualities of the chair.
 
Of course, our own sensory receptors could be faulty. Colorblindness is an example of that. However, if 1 person in a room of 30 says something is green that is reported by the other 29 as red, we can deduce that the one person is likely incorrect about the color of the object.
 
As an extension, if enough people describe a flavor as a general profile, we can come to expect that will be the case across them all. All habaneros taste similar to me and the taste is unique.
 
Sometimes we lack the right word to describe the taste. If you have never had a strawberry, using "strawberry notes" in a flavor profile is totally useless to you. However, if you keep tasting that thing, over and over, when you do taste a strawberry, the flavor should be, in part, familiar to you and recognizable as "strawberry".

  

I would look at this way.  There are attributes that affect color that also affect taste, but the attributes affecting taste are not limited to those affecting color.  An example, brown peppers are brown because the green chlorophyll present in the pod does not degrade when the pod ripens due to the mutation cl.  When the pod would otherwise be red, the remaining green chlorophyll causes it to color brown.  So, the taste of all brown peppers is influenced by the presence of chlorophyll.  Another example would be the color mutation "c2," which acts to reduce the levels of carotenoids produced in the ripe fruit generating (in the absence of other aberrant alleles) an orange mature pepper.  Because carotenoids are precursors to many of the chemicals responsible for the flavor of pods, a reduction in the level of carotenoids from what would otherwise be a red pepper would have an impact on the flavor of the pod.  Different mutations, such as c1 + c2, a pale yellow mature pod, would cause a much greater reduction in carotenoids therefore have a similarly greater impact on the flavor of the fruit.  But these attributes affecting color aren't the only ones affecting taste.  For example, the brix/sugar content of the pod governs the perceived sweetness, but doesn't affect color. And, as many people have mentioned above, different peppers have different flavor profiles, despite showing the same color.
 

 
Nice one, Bhuter.  I remember hearing that and finding it interesting, too.  We may each look at a lawn and think "the grass is green," and we'd agree that it's green, even if I were seeing the color you would describe as orange - after all, everyone's always told me that color is "green."  And if I use the label "green" for everything I see as orange, and you see everything I see as orange as green, we may be seeing different colors, but we have no way of ever knowing whether we do or not.  It's an interesting thought experiment at the least - or MF, if you prefer

  

It's an interesting question when you consider peppers that start green, turn yellow/orange and finally ripen to red. They will generally have flavours that are independent of colour and flavours that change with the colour. Just like an unripe strawberry tastes different to a ripe one, I would expect that he compounds that create colours change the flavour.
 
However how much does the variety impact the dominant flavour? Do ripe orange habs taste more like ripe red habs than ripe red cayenne?
 
I'm still new to the pepper game but I certainly find that the variety of pepper has far more impact on the taste than the colour. And, of course, when your mouth is on fire, are you able to really tell the flavour differences?
 
The only conclusive thing I can say is that all red peppers don't taste the same, neither do all yellow or green or orange.

It's 4:20am. I woke up. Read this. Mind is blown again. Going back to sleep. Lol.

 

[Bhuter]

This falls under what is called the Theory of Knowledge.

In a nutshell, things derive their sheer existence from how many 'nodes' we can attach to them.
 
For example, if I say, "there is a chair in that corner of the room."
 
There may, or may not, be a chair. So, lets attach some nodes. "There is a chairn in that corner of the room, I can touch it with my hands, I can sit on it, I can knock on it, I can (for the freaks out there, you know who you are) taste the chair."
 
In this example, we attach a number of attributes to the chair. This lets us determine that the chair is likely real.
 
We can keep attaching nodes like this by the consensus of other people (who we also have to assume, via these attached nodes, are also real) on the qualities of the chair.
 
Of course, our own sensory receptors could be faulty. Colorblindness is an example of that. However, if 1 person in a room of 30 says something is green that is reported by the other 29 as red, we can deduce that the one person is likely incorrect about the color of the object.
 
As an extension, if enough people describe a flavor as a general profile, we can come to expect that will be the case across them all. All habaneros taste similar to me and the taste is unique.
 
Sometimes we lack the right word to describe the taste. If you have never had a strawberry, using "strawberry notes" in a flavor profile is totally useless to you. However, if you keep tasting that thing, over and over, when you do taste a strawberry, the flavor should be, in part, familiar to you and recognizable as "strawberry".

Your excellent post isn't going to get lost in here, Jon.
I'm very interested in reading more. But I may stop reading at any moment to gather up the grey matter that's been scattered.

Thank you for this!

 

[ShowMeDaSauce]

I see that there are numerous varieties of habanero and scotch bonnet peppers.

Do peppers which share a color typically share a similar taste? Do the different red scotch bonnets taste more like each other and less like yellow scotch bonnets?

They do to me to some extent.....or maybe a better answer is red, brown and yellow chinense do share some commonalities. Such as Papa Dreadie, Yellow MOA, Scotch Brains and TFMs were not terribly different but a red MOA was certainly different. TFM and Dreadies i found to be the most enjoyable and the most similar.
 
Brown Nagas and some huge nasty brown bhuts both had a kind of odd flavor i cant quite describe. Almost nasty when fresh but rather nice when dried.

 

[PepperDoc]

All I know is that I love love love the flavor of brown pods. Can't put my finger on the actual aroma that makes me like them. Some say they are bitter. I don't really perceive that. But I also would not describe them as "earthy." Brown Skunk pepper really stood out to me. I did feel that it tasted "smoky" which you often hear when people describe brown pods. It could be my favorite ever.

Yellow peppers seem to smell citrusy and taste a little tart, but not sure if I'm being objective

White ghost was another pod that defintely had a unique taste. But not having tried other white pods, not sure if it's related to color.

 

[SavinaRed]

If you are looking for flavor then look no further than the Bacattum family of peppers. And you can get some decent heat and flavor all in one pepper. Also add Rocotto's into that mix. I think flavor gets thrown out the window when you start going above the scotch bonnet levels of heat. 

 

 

[Uncle Eckley]

Taste is a quale.  Fascinating subject.  While we can all agree which color is green - that is, we each have a consistent experience of what is green - we have no way of knowing whether we all have the same experience of green.