Why tannins make your mouth dry
Strong tea, red wine and unripe persimmon leave your mouth dry and puckery. That's astringency. Tannins bind to proteins in your saliva and clump them, so saliva loses its slip. It's a texture, not a taste.
Give tannins another protein to bind
Tannins bind to proteins, so give them a different target. Milk in tea, cheese with red wine, or steak with a tannic red all supply protein for the tannins to bind, and fat adds slickness back. The drying feeling fades.
Test yourself
Questions from the interactive lesson, with the answer and the why.
What causes the dry, puckery feel of very strong tea?
Tannins binding to proteins in your saliva. That reduces saliva lubrication, so the mouth feels rough.
True or false: Astringency is one of the five basic tastes.
False. Astringency is a tactile sensation from tannins, not one of the basic tastes.
What went wrong? You leave a black tea bag in a mug for 20 minutes. The tea comes out harsh and drying.
The long steep extracted a lot of tannins. More time pulls out more tannins, which bind saliva proteins.
Fill the blank: Milk softens strong tea because milk proteins ___ the tannins.
Milk softens strong tea because milk proteins bind the tannins. Milk proteins grab tannins, so fewer are left to grab saliva.
True or false: Some astringent fruits, like certain persimmons, turn less drying as they ripen.
True. Many astringent fruits, such as some persimmons, get less drying as they ripen.
Which bite most likely tames a tannic red wine?
A fatty, protein-rich bite like steak. Protein binds tannins and fat restores slickness.