I recently caught a respiratory illness, and was hit by a symptom I haven’t had before: an enhanced sense of taste. People talk about COVID taking away the sense of taste, and I guess this is some sort of the opposite of that.

They say that taste and smell are closely linked, but my sense of smell was unaffected. I feel like my brain was just no longer filtering out similar tastes it previously would have – I found it hard to brush my teeth with my normal toothpaste because the taste of the mint was so overpowering, whereas it’s usually background noise.

Roasted bell peppers had a subtle sharpness instead of the normal blandness. Chocolate tasted different, but still delicious – probably more addictive than usual. Toast was the same as always.

I have fasted before, which enhances the sense of both smell and taste. This wasn’t that. I hope to experience it again.