AbstractTaste is an essential component of flavour. Although taste carries fewer distinctive qualities than odour, it provides an essential base on which aroma builds to generate the widely varying flavour of our foods and beverages. The present review covers a wide range of perceptual/psychophysical topics on taste. The first section reviews the taste research questions of early last century; the second section addresses the psychophysical taste research topics of the last few decades; and in the third section, the question is raised whether the old research topics of 80–100 years ago, which have largely not been answered, are worth reconsidering and pursuing. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.