Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
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: https://denverandliely.com?sca_ref=10556800.e7ewKn3zFWL8ex
Follow Kami on Instagram: instagram.com/the_sensory_advantage
00:00 Origin Stories - Asda, Oddbins, WSET, Malt & Copper, Scotch Malt Whisky Society
04:40 Principles of Flavour Psychology vs. Chemistry, Flavour is a Movie*
10:30 Setting Up A Whisky Tasting: Psychology, Neuroscience, Chemistry, Philosophy
13:25 How Does Philosophy Impact Flavour? Non-Conscious vs. Conscious Experience of Flavour
20:00 How Genetics Impact Flavour Perception: Supertasters, Olfactory Bulb, Gene Switching
22:30 How Stress and Mood Effect Flavour Perception, Dopamine
27:20 What is an Experienced Taster? Vocabulary, Brain Hemispheres, Tasting Notes as Poetry
34:00 How Environment Affects Flavour Perception - Crossmodal Connections: Light, Colour, Sound, Boba & Kiki, Brand Homes, Processing Fluency, Recency Bias, Tasting Order of Whisky
49:30 How Does Clothing Affect Flavour?
53:30 Emotion & Flavour - The Cake of Flavour (Which Has No Flavour)
1:00:30 How A Bottle Communicates Flavour, SMWS
1:05:45 The Correct Way to Do a Whisky Tasting, The Problem with Filling Gaps in Knowledge with Technical Descriptions, Weird Whisky
1:10:45 St George Spirits in California
1:13:15 How Colour and Vision Impacts Whisky Flavour - Colouring Whisky & Rum, E150
1:23:10 How Glassware Affects Flavour - Are We Using the Right Glasses? Prioritising Flavour, Sensory Analysis vs Real World Drinking
1:30:21 Denver & Liely Whisky Glass
1:31:00 Different Whisky, Different Glasses? Stemmed Glassware
1:36:00 Why Smell Whisky? Sub-Threshold Odours, Methods for Shifting Flavour Thresholds
1:43:45 Subjectivity vs Objectivity - Is There Truth? Analytic vs Synthetic Senses
1:52:00 What Happens in the Mouth? Taste Sensations, Bitterness
1:59:50 East London Liquor Company Rye Whisky
2:0035 What is Smoothness in Whisky? Mouthfeel vs Texture, Burning, Effervescence, Viscosity, Astringency
2:07:50 Spitting vs Swallowing
2:09:25 How Enzymes, Microbiota, and pH Affect Flavour
2:14: 00 Single Cask Glen Spey - Weight of Bottle & Perceived Value, Wine Glasses & Tea Cups
2:16:30 How to Taste Whisky - Odour and Taste Habituation
2:19:20 Mismatch Negativity, Consciousness
2:23:30 Comparative Tastings, Recency & Primacy Bias, Tasting Thresholds
📷 Follow me on Instagram - instagram.com/tristanstephenson
📚 I've written quite a few books on spirits and cocktails - thecuriousbartender.com
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: https://denverandliely.com?sca_ref=10556800.e7ewKn3zFWL8ex
Follow Kami on Instagram: instagram.com/the_sensory_advantage
00:00 Origin Stories - Asda, Oddbins, WSET, Malt & Copper, Scotch Malt Whisky Society
04:40 Principles of Flavour Psychology vs. Chemistry, Flavour is a Movie*
10:30 Setting Up A Whisky Tasting: Psychology, Neuroscience, Chemistry, Philosophy
13:25 How Does Philosophy Impact Flavour? Non-Conscious vs. Conscious Experience of Flavour
20:00 How Genetics Impact Flavour Perception: Supertasters, Olfactory Bulb, Gene Switching
22:30 How Stress and Mood Effect Flavour Perception, Dopamine
27:20 What is an Experienced Taster? Vocabulary, Brain Hemispheres, Tasting Notes as Poetry
34:00 How Environment Affects Flavour Perception - Crossmodal Connections: Light, Colour, Sound, Boba & Kiki, Brand Homes, Processing Fluency, Recency Bias, Tasting Order of Whisky
49:30 How Does Clothing Affect Flavour?
53:30 Emotion & Flavour - The Cake of Flavour (Which Has No Flavour)
1:00:30 How A Bottle Communicates Flavour, SMWS
1:05:45 The Correct Way to Do a Whisky Tasting, The Problem with Filling Gaps in Knowledge with Technical Descriptions, Weird Whisky
1:10:45 St George Spirits in California
1:13:15 How Colour and Vision Impacts Whisky Flavour - Colouring Whisky & Rum, E150
1:23:10 How Glassware Affects Flavour - Are We Using the Right Glasses? Prioritising Flavour, Sensory Analysis vs Real World Drinking
1:30:21 Denver & Liely Whisky Glass
1:31:00 Different Whisky, Different Glasses? Stemmed Glassware
1:36:00 Why Smell Whisky? Sub-Threshold Odours, Methods for Shifting Flavour Thresholds
1:43:45 Subjectivity vs Objectivity - Is There Truth? Analytic vs Synthetic Senses
1:52:00 What Happens in the Mouth? Taste Sensations, Bitterness
1:59:50 East London Liquor Company Rye Whisky
2:0035 What is Smoothness in Whisky? Mouthfeel vs Texture, Burning, Effervescence, Viscosity, Astringency
2:07:50 Spitting vs Swallowing
2:09:25 How Enzymes, Microbiota, and pH Affect Flavour
2:14: 00 Single Cask Glen Spey - Weight of Bottle & Perceived Value, Wine Glasses & Tea Cups
2:16:30 How to Taste Whisky - Odour and Taste Habituation
2:19:20 Mismatch Negativity, Consciousness
2:23:30 Comparative Tastings, Recency & Primacy Bias, Tasting Thresholds
📷 Follow me on Instagram - instagram.com/tristanstephenson
📚 I've written quite a few books on spirits and cocktails - thecuriousbartender.com
