From Bland to Bold: 12 Ways to Add the Sense of Taste to Your Writing (Without the Calories)

Let’s face it—taste often gets the cold shoulder in writing. Sight, sound, and touch, tend to be the main focus, but here’s the deal: Taste is deliciously underutilized, and it has the power to take your writing from “meh” to mouth-watering. No need for extra calories, just a sprinkle of creativity. Taste in writing can evoke emotions, reveal hidden character traits, and enrich your world-building. It's not just about food—it’s about making your reader feel what your characters taste, whether it’s the sweetness of nostalgia or the sour bite of regret.

So, what are you waiting for? Let’s stop serving up bland sentences and start seasoning our prose with a little flavor! Here are 12 tips for using taste to make your writing more savory than ever. Trust me, your readers will be hungry for more.

1. Trigger Memories and Emotion with Taste

We’ve all had that moment when a certain taste zaps us right back to a (not always distant) memory. Taste is heavily tied to memory and emotion, so why not use it to trigger a moment of introspection or a pivotal flashback in your story? Suddenly, that weird salad your character hates isn’t just lettuce—it’s a gateway to feelings.

Example: As Emily took the first bite of the lemon meringue pie, it was as if the years had melted away and she was standing on the warm, checkered tile of her mother’s kitchen.

2. Your Character’s Food Choices Can Reveal Their Personality

If your character insists on ordering ketchup with everything or grimaces at a kale salad, their taste buds might be telling you something important. Use food preferences to highlight their quirks, likes, or dislikes. Are they a sweet-tooth adventurer or a savory soul who can’t stand the thought of dessert? Taste can speak volumes about who they are.

Example: Mike’s eyes twinkled as he shoved an extra-large slice of double pepperoni pizza into his mouth. Sweet, salty, and indulgent—just like him.

3. Enrich the Mood

Taste can help set the tone and atmosphere of a scene. Whether it’s the sweetness of ripe fruit in a summer garden or the metallic tang of blood after a battle, taste can intensify the mood.

Example: The air was thick with the scent of overripe peaches, their juice sticky on her fingers as she plucked one from the trees and bit into it. A sweet, cloying taste lingered on her tongue, but it was no match for the salt of her tears as she remembered Jacob and everything that could have been had he lived.

4. Spice Up Your World-Building: Establish Setting & Cultural Identity

As a universal element that offers a strong sense of place and cultural background, food can be a powerful tool for building. A character’s meals can reveal details about the world they inhabit, the region they live in, or the time period they’re from. Describing a unique dish or a shared meal can immerse readers in the setting, giving them more than just a visual and auditory picture of the environment.

Ask yourself: What does the food in your character’s world taste like? Is it sweet, sour, or completely unidentifiable? The culinary landscape of your fictional universe can reveal so much about the culture, climate, and even the politics. Give your world a bite that your readers will never forget!

Example: In the dusty streets of the market, vendors shouted their wares, the smell of roasted goat and fresh cilantro filling the air. Mara took a bite of the spiced flatbread, the tang of yogurt mingling with the heat of chili, and felt the weight of the desert sun on her skin. It was the taste of home.

5. Reflect Power, Control, Conflict & Internal Struggles

What your characters taste—or, more importantly, what they can’t taste—can be a subtle way to express power dynamics. A character unable to enjoy food due to stress or fear could demonstrate their loss of control. On the flip side, a character who gorges on indulgent food might be asserting their dominance or asserting control over a situation.

Taste can also parallel a character’s internal conflict or emotional struggle. If they’re dealing with inner turmoil, maybe everything they eat suddenly tastes wrong. Or, if they’re overwhelmed with joy, their favorite dessert might suddenly taste like pure bliss. Taste reflects more than just flavor—it’s an emotional mirror.

Example: The cake sat in front of Elena. She reached for a fork, longing to indulge in the sweet curls of chocolate and sugar, but with a sigh, pushed the plate away, the bitterness of regret heavy on her tongue.

6. Ground the Reader in the Present Moment

Sometimes, a strong experience of taste can pull the reader deeper into the present moment, especially when paired with vivid descriptions of other senses. This can be particularly effective in scenes where the character is undergoing sensory overload or is in a state of heightened awareness.

Even the most ordinary of meals can become extraordinary in the right context. Have your character savor a mundane meal with extra attention to detail—because it might not just be about the food. Sometimes the act of eating becomes a metaphor for a deeper emotional moment.

Examples:

• Distant explosions rattled the kitchenette’s window. Bob spooned two sugar cubes into his tea and stirred. There was something soothing about the simple clink of metal on porcelain as the world went to hell around him. When the sugar was dissolved, he set down the spoon on a napkin, took a sip of the sweet warmth, and then watched as flames licked Lynne’s white picket fence.

• The rich, dark coffee bit tongue with a jolt of invigorating sharpness.

  
  

7. Create Stronger Sensory Contrast

Using taste in contrast with other sensory details can amplify its impact. For instance, if a character is experiencing something very sweet and compares it with something sour, or if they’re eating in a setting that’s noisy or chaotic, the difference between sensory experiences can highlight the significance of the moment or emphasize a character’s feelings.

Tasting something completely unexpected can also jolt your reader into paying closer attention to a scene or moment you as the writer want them to notice.

Example: The coffee was strong on her tongue, the warmth of the liquid contrasting sharply with the cold wind blasting through the cracks of the old windows.

8. Heighten Physical Sensations

Taste can also be a great way to intensify other physical sensations, from pleasure to disgust. It can make an experience more visceral by tapping into how a food or drink makes the body react. Is the food too hot, too cold, too spicy? How does it feel on the tongue, in the stomach, or in the throat?

Example: Lara bit into the Carolina reaper, the searing heat exploding across her tongue. Sweat broke out across her forehead as her mouth went numb from the intensity, but she couldn’t stop chewing. She needed the win. She needed the money.

9. Give Your Fantasy & Paranormal Creatures Unique Tastes

If you’re writing fantasy or paranormal fiction*, kick it up a notch and give your creatures bold tastes that reflect their otherworldly nature. Don’t be afraid to get creative.

What does a unicorn taste like?

Perhaps your character comes from a land where the main delicacy are space snails…How do you describe that taste for a reader?

Of course, it’s not always about the food—it’s about the feeling it leaves on the tongue (and possibly in your character’s soul)—

Perhaps whenever a ghost passes through a character in your story, they leave behind an eerie, sour aftertaste. Or that first kiss from a vampire uses a different description to stand out from the mundane kisses of us average humans.

*Are you a paranormal writer? Our next post is just for you!

Example: Her lips tingled from the vampire’s kiss, the taste of cold iron mingling with a hint of cinnamon. It was sweet in the way poison was sweet—deceptive and dangerous.

10. Taste as a Warning or Omen

The flavor of the food or drink your characters consume could be an omen or warning. A sudden bitter taste might signal danger, or a strange aftertaste could be the first clue that something’s off. Use taste to foreshadow spooky or tense moments!

Example: As she sipped the tea, it tasted fine at first—but then came the metallic aftertaste.

11. Use Taste to Create Stronger Sensory Contrasts

Tasting something completely unexpected can jolt your reader into paying closer attention. Try contrasting tastes, like a sweet fruit paired with a bitter bite, to add tension, confusion, or excitement to a scene.

Example: The cherry jam on her toast was immediately followed by a sharp swallow of bitter coffee. She sipped the brew, and for a moment, everything in her world was at odds with itself—sweetness and bitterness tangled up like her own thoughts.

12. Amplify Atmosphere

Sometimes, taste can enhance the atmosphere and make your setting feel even more alive. Is the air heavy with the taste of salt in the ocean breeze? Does the room feel thick with the taste of something sour before a storm hits? Taste can add flavor to your world beyond just what’s on the menu.

Example: The air in the hall tasted like dust and mildew, a dry, metallic tang that clung to her tongue, reminding her that the hospital had been abandoned for years.

So there you have it—12 ways to turn your writing from bland to bold with the power of taste. No calories involved, just pure, unadulterated flavor for your writing! By integrating taste into your story, you not only give your readers another sensory layer to experience, but you also gain an opportunity to deepen characters, settings, and themes.

Remember, taste doesn’t just have to be about food—it can serve as a reflection of emotions, a vehicle for memory, and a tool to enhance conflict or tension in your narrative.