Things That Smell Great and Taste Terrible

[Spot's Meow]

Is there anything you just love the smell of but are disappointed when you actually taste it? The first obvious answer is play dough. It smells so freakin' good, especially if your mom made the homemade kind with Koolaid flavoring, but it tastes so salty. Very annoying.

The other thing for me is hummus. I looove the smell of hummus, it's a wonderful aroma, but every time I taste it I really can't stand it. It does not taste like it smells. What a disappointment.

Other examples?

 

[Tora Ziyal]

Meat: it smells wonderful on the grill, but I rarely enjoy eating it. No pun intended.
Cinnamon buns: smell heavenly, taste way too sweet.

 

[RoJoHen]

Meat: it occasionally smells wonderful, especially on the grill but I rarely enjoy eating it. No pun intended.
Cinnamon buns: smell heavenly, taste way too sweet.

You're doing everything wrong.

 

[Shazam!]

Petrol

 

[RoJoHen]

I found this Pomegranate-scented hand soap, and it basically smells like a fruit snack. I can only assume that it does not, in fact, taste like a fruit snack.

 

[farmkid]

At first I thought "of course, that happens all the time." But now that I try to actually come up with something, I can't think of anything that consistently smells good but tastes bad. On occasion I've had a pasta sauce or something that smelled good but didn't have enough salt or too much oregano or something and wasn't very good, but that's not an issue with pasta sauce, just with that one batch.

 

[Tom Hendricks]

For me it's coffee. The heavenly aroma that fills a space when it's brewed cannot overcome the dire taste of drinking liquid dirt. So I'm a very happy tea drinker, in fact I think I'll put on my very special kettle and brew myself a cup.

 

[Avon]

turtle wax

 

[Candlelight]

Vanilla essence.

 

[auntiehill]

Meat: it smells wonderful on the grill, but I rarely enjoy eating it. No pun intended.
Cinnamon buns: smell heavenly, taste way too sweet.

Huh....whaaaaat? Too. Sweet. I don't understand this concept.

For me it's coffee. The heavenly aroma that fills a space when it's brewed cannot overcome the dire taste of drinking liquid dirt. So I'm a very happy tea drinker, in fact I think I'll put on my very special kettle and brew myself a cup.

This. I HATE, HATE, HATE the taste of coffee, but I like the smell of it. I like walking down the coffee aisle at the H.E.B., because of the smell, but drinking coffee? ACK. That's some f***ing bitter crap, no matter how much sugar you put in it. I'll drink hot chocolate or tea, but never coffee. Bleh.

 

[Kestra]

Coffee is what came to mind for me as well. How can something smell so wonderful and taste so terrible? It's such a liar.

 

[propita]

Petrol

Not quite what the OP wanted:

Freon--but it smells bad and tastes worse. Needed to siphon from a five gallon drum. The only siphon we had was a tube you stuck in your mouth and sucked on. Yeah.

More on the OP's post:

Peanut sauce on food. I like peanuts, I like peanut butter, i like smelling peanut sauce, but I really don't like eating peanut sauce. Same with tomato juice--love tomatoes and the smell of tomato juice, won't drink it.

 

[TorontoTrekker]

For me it's coffee. The heavenly aroma that fills a space when it's brewed cannot overcome the dire taste of drinking liquid dirt. So I'm a very happy tea drinker, in fact I think I'll put on my very special kettle and brew myself a cup.

This. I HATE, HATE, HATE the taste of coffee, but I like the smell of it. I like walking down the coffee aisle at the H.E.B., because of the smell, but drinking coffee? ACK. That's some f***ing bitter crap, no matter how much sugar you put in it. I'll drink hot chocolate or tea, but never coffee. Bleh.

Coffee is what came to mind for me as well. How can something smell so wonderful and taste so terrible? It's such a liar.

Excellent, more coffee for me.

Now I'm craving a cup, but it being 2 o'clock in the morning, that would probably not be the best idea. Plus, I'm almost out - I have to pick some up when I go grocery shopping this weekend.

I've been wracking my brain trying to think of anything that fits into this category for me, and I'm failing utterly.

 

[scotpens]

Artist's oil paints and turpentine.

Seriously, if we're talking foods and beverages, I can't think of anything that fits.

And I happen to love coffee.

 

[Australis]

Cigars. Really.

For those who think coffee is too bitter, here's a British Army trick: try it with a tiny pinch of salt. Completely ameliorates the bitterness. But only tiny, otherwise salty coffee.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Newly laid tarmacadam
A freshly mown lawn
Perfume
Bath salts
Nail varnish remover

 

[Spot's Meow]

Petrol

Not quite what the OP wanted:

Freon--but it smells bad and tastes worse. Needed to siphon from a five gallon drum. The only siphon we had was a tube you stuck in your mouth and sucked on. Yeah.

Well, I did include play dough in my original post, so I guess anything's fair game.

I guess I was thinking of things that smell so good you desire to consume it, but it is unsatisfying when you do. When I was younger I loved the smell of petrol as well, but I can't say I ever wanted to drink it!

Vanilla essence.

This is a good one! That stuff smells sooo good. Sometimes when I am cooking with it I will crack open the bottle just to get a whiff. And I suppose it does taste good, when mixed with other things, but I'm certain it wouldn't taste so lovely if you drank it straight.

 

[scotpens]

Cigars. Really.

You're supposed to smoke them, not eat them.

 

[Kestra]

Oh yes, cigars smell wonderful but I'm sure I wouldn't like to smoke one.

 

[Tora Ziyal]

^OMG, my turn to say you're doing it wrong! Cigars smell disgusting. Cigarettes smell almost as disgusting. Some pipe tobacco smells good.