Rensselaer Republican, Volume 22, Number 47, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 July 1890 — MOLASSES TASTERS. [ARTICLE]

MOLASSES TASTERS.

A Buiiuesi Tk»t la Not One »f Pleasure. The professional molasses taster a martyr. Imagine a man having td sample twenty-five or thirty grades of thatsyrup, and then try to eat a square meal. Oh, yes, he can, is the reply. To be sure he tastes of thirty kinds of molasses in one day, but he dpes not swallow a particle, at least not more than a particle. This requires muehpraetice, this abstinence from swallowing, and is the great difficulty in the beginner’s path. He must protect his teeth, too, and therefore his masticators require careful cleansing, not alone to prevent decay, but in order to keep his gustatory sense perfectly neutral. “I have been a molasses taster for several years,” said a Boston man, ‘ ‘and I assure you mine is no easy job. There is a strain that the occupation imposes, and one that many succumb to, and therefore quit the business. The tongue being very sensitive,. re quires great care, and therefore I feel it best not to use tobacco, sweetmeats, or highly seasoned food. Doctors tell me that sugar itself does not injure the teeth, but that after remaining on them for some time it undergoes a cherni cal change from the saliva and food; and that the chemical result is corrosive. ■ ‘Whether this is so or no I know that my teeth have suffered from this business, although I take extraordinary care. The difference in taste between some grades pf molasses L is- so slight that the tongue must be in a perfectly neutral condition in order to be an accurate guide. But not only must the tongue be cared for, but mouth, lips, and teeth must be as free as possible from any foreign substance, “In tasting of the various brands 1 place only a drop on the most sensitive part ofi the tongue. I try to keep it away from the lips, mouth, and teeth, but do not always succeed. Now, to do discriminate between twenty-five; samples I must keep a clear head, concentrate my attention, and make, as it ■ were, an instantaneous analysis. -To da this faithfully requires brain work that book-writers know nothin"- about. in fact, a day at honest, painstaking molasses-tasting is a day of hard, I almost said solitary, labor.”