Sean Carroll

So, I mean, it's very interesting. And I don't know if there's a theory behind that. Some drinks are resilient. Some, you know, like the bartender can be a little sloppy. Others, you had better get it exactly right or it goes dramatically wrong very quickly.

I had a friend who is still mad at me because I went over to his house and he served room temperature martinis. And I could not hide my horror from that. And I normally try to be polite when people are serving things, but I can't deal with that. The temperature really matters. And I guess I hadn't even appreciated that until I got the room temperature martini.

I had a friend who is still mad at me because I went over to his house and he served room temperature martinis. And I could not hide my horror from that. And I normally try to be polite when people are serving things, but I can't deal with that. The temperature really matters. And I guess I hadn't even appreciated that until I got the room temperature martini.

When you talk about the sensitivity of the taste buds and things like that, are you completely empirically driven? You've tried different things and this is what works, or is it actually useful to you to dig into reading about how taste buds work?

When you talk about the sensitivity of the taste buds and things like that, are you completely empirically driven? You've tried different things and this is what works, or is it actually useful to you to dig into reading about how taste buds work?

So let's do the worked example. I mean, again, I can't improve on what you did in the book. You made daiquiris and you played around and you tasted, I don't even want to know how many daiquiris you tasted. It seems like a lot.

So let's do the worked example. I mean, again, I can't improve on what you did in the book. You made daiquiris and you played around and you tasted, I don't even want to know how many daiquiris you tasted. It seems like a lot.

So what is a daiquiri for those who don't know? I think I didn't say it explicitly, but I'm hoping that people will get something out of this, even if they're not cocktail aficionados. I think that the lessons go deeper than that. So what is a daiquiri and what are the things you varied to sort of be a scientist?

So what is a daiquiri for those who don't know? I think I didn't say it explicitly, but I'm hoping that people will get something out of this, even if they're not cocktail aficionados. I think that the lessons go deeper than that. So what is a daiquiri and what are the things you varied to sort of be a scientist?

cut back on that dilution when I shake a daiquiri. And one thing is, you know, you're super scientific about what you are tasting, but then it's you tasting it. So I know that in some areas of science, like psychology, et cetera, we have the reproducibility crisis.

cut back on that dilution when I shake a daiquiri. And one thing is, you know, you're super scientific about what you are tasting, but then it's you tasting it. So I know that in some areas of science, like psychology, et cetera, we have the reproducibility crisis.

Do you know whether or not if someone else were tasting it, or even if you were sort of blind tasting the same thing, would you reliably get the same answer for how good it was?

Do you know whether or not if someone else were tasting it, or even if you were sort of blind tasting the same thing, would you reliably get the same answer for how good it was?

And just for the audience, which is an audio podcast, so they can't see a graph, but given that you keep the amount of rum fixed, what you're varying is the citrus, the lime juice, and the sweetener, whatever that is. And then you get plots of, you know, here is the region in this parameter space where everything works. And one of the interesting things is the region is not like a circle, right?

And just for the audience, which is an audio podcast, so they can't see a graph, but given that you keep the amount of rum fixed, what you're varying is the citrus, the lime juice, and the sweetener, whatever that is. And then you get plots of, you know, here is the region in this parameter space where everything works. And one of the interesting things is the region is not like a circle, right?

It's a tilted ellipse. You can trade off a little bit. And in retrospect, it makes sense. If you have more lime juice, you can make up for that a little bit with more sweetener.

It's a tilted ellipse. You can trade off a little bit. And in retrospect, it makes sense. If you have more lime juice, you can make up for that a little bit with more sweetener.

And then given what you said before about the sort of families of cocktails, the daiquiri is a paradigm for a certain kind of cocktail, right? Spirit, citrus, sweet. So number one, what are the other kinds of cocktails that fit into that pattern? And then number two, do they behave similarly in the diagram of what works and what doesn't?

And then given what you said before about the sort of families of cocktails, the daiquiri is a paradigm for a certain kind of cocktail, right? Spirit, citrus, sweet. So number one, what are the other kinds of cocktails that fit into that pattern? And then number two, do they behave similarly in the diagram of what works and what doesn't?

Oh, that's interesting. That's exactly the opposite of what I would have guessed.