# #71 Kami Newton - Flavour Perception, Sensory Science, How to Taste Spirits Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-curious-bartender-podcast-7114149/71-kami-newton-flavour-perception-sensory-science-how-to-taste-spirits Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-curious-bartender-podcast-7114149/71-kami-newton-flavour-perception-sensory-science-how-to-taste-spirits.md Podcast: [The Curious Bartender Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-curious-bartender-podcast-7114149) Published: 2026-03-30T06:30:00+00:00 Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jay--tris/episodes/71-Kami-Newton---Flavour-Perception--Sensory-Science--How-to-Taste-Spirits-e3h48qa Audio file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/APO6137602320.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-curious-bartender-podcast-7114149/episodes/71-kami-newton-flavour-perception-sensory-science-how-to-taste-spirits Duration seconds: 8779 ## Resource Kami Newton is a flavour expert, sensory analyst, and founder of Sensory Advantage, whose career took him from wine shelves at Oddbins to leading tasting panels at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society — and eventually to one of the most fascinating corners of the drinks world: the gap between chemistry and perception. This is one of the most illuminating conversations about flavour we've ever had on the show. Kami unpacks why the drinks industry has become extraordinarily good at talking about technical production while almost entirely ignoring how chemistry becomes experience — and why that matters enormously for how people engage with spirits. We explore flavour as a cross-modal, non-conscious construct involving all of the senses; why tasting notes are snapshots of a movie that's constantly changing; how genetics, mood, environment and even your microbiome shape what you taste; and why the real difference between a novice and an expert taster is fundamentally about language, not sensitivity. Sponsored by Denver & Liely whose whisky tasting glass will level up your flavour experience - get 15% of their glassware with this link Follow Kami on Instagram : ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-curious-bartender-podcast-7114149/episodes/71-kami-newton-flavour-perception-sensory-science-how-to-taste-spirits/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-curious-bartender-podcast-7114149/71-kami-newton-flavour-perception-sensory-science-how-to-taste-spirits.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.