The human tongue is capable of distinguishing just four basic tastes. Its surface is covered by thousands of nerve endings called taste buds, which are divided into four different groups.

    Thos on the tip of the tongue sense sweetness and those at the back sense bitterness. The ones at the sides sense saltiness and sourness. There are other taste buds scattered around the inside of the mouth. The main tasters of sour and bitter are actually in the roof of the mouth.

    So things like honey and sugar are tasted with the tip of the tongue. However beer, which can have a bitter taste, is best enjoyed with the back of the tongue. Specialist beer tasters will tell you to drink it by pouring it to the back of your tongue, avoiding the tip. Salty crisps and chips are tasted by the side of the mouth and things like sour lemons, vinegar and things like that also get tasted by the taste buds at the sides.

    More complex tastes are made up of combinations of the basic four flavours. Young adults have around 8000 taste buds, but the nerve endings start to die after the age of 45, so that older people usually have only around 6500 taste buds.

    Much of what we perceive as flavour in food is in fact a mixture of taste and smell, which is why food seems to lose its taste when the nose is blocked during a cold.

    Damage to taste buds can be very painful and make it very difficult to taste food properly. Even those very tiny ulcers that sometimes affect the tongue can badly affect the ability to taste.

    人类的舌头只能区别四种基本的味道。它的表面覆盖着成千上万个称为味蕾得神经末梢，分为四个不同的组。

    在舌尖的味蕾感觉甜味，在舌根的味蕾感觉苦味。侧面的一些感觉咸味和酸味。还有其它一些味蕾散落在嘴内。尝到酸味和苦味的主要地方实际上是在上颚。

    所以，像蜂蜜和糖之类的东西是用舌尖尝到的。然而啤酒，它可能有苦味，最好用舌根来享用。啤酒品酒专家会告诉你将啤酒倒到舌根来饮用啤酒，避免碰到舌尖。咸的薯片和薯条用嘴的侧面来品尝，而酸柠檬、醋之类的东西以及像它们那样的东西也由边上的味蕾来尝味。

    更为复杂的味道都是由基本的四种口味组合而成的。年轻的成年人具有大约 8,000 个味蕾，但是在 45 岁以后，神经末梢开始死亡，所以，老年人通常只有大约 6,500 个味蕾。

    大多数我们察觉到的食品的香味实际上是味道和气味的混合，这就是为什麽在感冒期间鼻子堵塞时食物似乎失去了它的味道的原因。

    味蕾损伤会是非常痛苦的，使它非常难以正确地品尝食物。甚至那些有时影响舌头的非常微小的溃疡，都可能严重影响味觉能力。