Why Hershey bars taste like vomit (and I love them)

Adam Ragusea3 HN recommenders · recommended in 3 months, 2021–2023

YouTube

explainer · general · evergreen · 2021–2023 on HN

Adam Ragusea explores why Hershey's chocolate tastes the way it does to many non-Americans, tracing it to butyric acid and Hershey's history, and why familiarity makes Americans love it. He compares it with British Cadbury.

HN recommends it as a fascinating explanation of how taste is cultural and why American chocolate tastes distinctive.

Cooking & food Chemistry #hershey #chocolate #butyricacid #cadbury

4 comments from Hacker News

@jrussino2023-04 · in “The Difference Between European and American Butter”

Adam Ragusea has an excellent video on this very topic - "Why Hershey bars taste like vomit (and I love them)" : ▶ this video

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@Karunamon2021-11 · in “The World's Deadliest Thing”

European chocolate tastes dull. Snark aside, it's about what you grew up with. Fascinating video: ▶ this video

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@quietbritishjim2022-02 · in “The quest to create quality chocolate for a country obsessed with Cadbury (2017)”

There's a really good video about that [1]. A quick summary is that the aftertaste is a chemical that's in vomit, so if you're not used to it in chocolate then the chocolate literally tastes of puke. But if you are used to it, from your childhood, then it tastes great. It's also the same chemical that gives parmesan cheese its pungency, so it's not like Americans are alone in liking it in their food. [1] ▶ this video

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@explaininjs2023-03 · in “Matterhorn no more: Toblerone to change design under ‘Swissness’ rules”

Spotted the non-American! We love our Hershey's, butyric acid and all. European milk chocolates lack complexity IMO. It's akin to claiming Kraft Singles are a better cheese than Parmigiano Reggiano because they don't taste "like vomit". That said, I'd prefer a good dark to either one. See also: ▶ this video

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