Once I developed pine mouth (https://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/about-us/science/food-r...). It was was one of the weirdest experiences I've ever had; I thought I had stumbled on some strange genetic metabolic disorder that was starting to manifest before I eventually figured out what it was. Basically, everything with carbohydrates started tasting super metallic and bitter, a little like soap or something, and it lasted for days.
At first I thought it was all pine nuts. Eventually, after being in a study, and with more attention and study of it, people figured out it's linked to certain reactions some people have to certain species of pine trees in Asia.
So then I started becoming picky about where the pine nuts come from, and discovered the US was a major producer of pine nuts up through WWII. I started buying pine nuts from local producers, from which I learned a fair amount about them, that there's different varieties of different size and oil content, with different taste profiles, oil content, and shelf-life.
I love pine nuts and am happy in theory to buy them from whereever, but it did open my eyes a bit to possibilities that aren't really being realized. It seems like the US market is drying up due to lack of demand and/or competition, but it would be interesting to see local producers thrive, with an emphasize on varietal quality, sort of like apples etc.
This seems like a good way to reinforce a keto diet. If these pine nuts don't have any other side effect besides makings carbs taste bad this looks like a new health supplement idea!
When I found pine nuts for only $16/lb at Trader Joe's, I thought I'd hit the jackpot. I made pesto, and even snacked on the pine nuts while I cooked.
Then I had a terrible, 2-week long experience with 'pine mouth'.
Everything tasted awful: coffee, muffins, cereal, meat, vegetables – even water tasted bitter. And during the first few days, before I realized what was happening, I threw away tons of perfectly safe food that I thought had spoiled.
I never found out how common pine mouth was, but I was really upset that the risk wasn't better communicated.
Ditto. Mine was most noticeable with the taste coffee. I probably cleaned/rinsed the coffee machine three or four times in an effort to improve what was otherwise something I couldn't control.
After about a week of playing Dr. Google finally discovered pine mouth and realizing the home made pesto from last week had pine nuts in it.
Coffee frequently reveals anosmia/parosmia/the end of either. Doesn't surprise me that it would have a similar interaction with pinemouth. It's a strong flavor, early in the day, every day. Since I learned anosmia is common with covid I've paid extra attention to how my morning caffeine tastes.
Some people could be craving coffee because of iron deficiency yet coffee contains natural compounds called tannins that can prevent your body from absorbing iron.
I had the same thing happen about 10 years ago after buying a bag of pine nuts and eating them all in 3 hours. The strange metallic taste from everything had me worried until I read about it on the internet. It lasted about 3 days and went away. I still eat pine nuts in pesto and probably some other sauces but I never eat a lot by eating them directly from a bag.
I had pine mouth about 20 years ago. I switched over to using walnuts in my pesto after that. But something in that video got me wondering: The guy talks about how they let the cones ferment for a couple of weeks before they extract the nuts - but then later on says something about not letting them ferment too long. I wonder if this is an Asian method of processing the cones that isn't done in other areas of the world and if the fermentation goes on too long will the nuts be effected and give one pine mouth?
Oh wow, I think I ran into this once as well. It was such a strange experience. In my case my Shinramyun instant noodles started tasting metallic and soapy for a few days. I thought there was soap on the cutlery or something and couldn't work it out.
I'm so glad you mentioned this as it explains a lot.
At first I thought it was all pine nuts. Eventually, after being in a study, and with more attention and study of it, people figured out it's linked to certain reactions some people have to certain species of pine trees in Asia.
So then I started becoming picky about where the pine nuts come from, and discovered the US was a major producer of pine nuts up through WWII. I started buying pine nuts from local producers, from which I learned a fair amount about them, that there's different varieties of different size and oil content, with different taste profiles, oil content, and shelf-life.
I love pine nuts and am happy in theory to buy them from whereever, but it did open my eyes a bit to possibilities that aren't really being realized. It seems like the US market is drying up due to lack of demand and/or competition, but it would be interesting to see local producers thrive, with an emphasize on varietal quality, sort of like apples etc.