11 Foods That Smell Way Better Than They Taste

It’s not uncommon that some foods taste better than they smell, but sometimes, the opposite is true. Every now and then an aroma lures you in, but when you actually taste it, things change. Is there anything worse? 

Here are 11 foods that smell far better than they actually taste. 

I’ll start this extremely subjective list of my own personal aroma preferences with a bang: Eggnog is overrated. If you like weird, thick milk so much, go get a milkshake. Either way, eggnog smells a little bit like bubblegum, which is a lot better than what you’re getting. 

Fried chicken produces one of the greatest aromas on the planet, and it awakens your nose in any chain chicken shop you walk into. Unfortunately, if it’s not fried with care (fried chicken really oughta be small-batch) then it’s not going to be the same food we all know and love; the umami bomb of instant euphoria; the crunchy, salty, savory masterpiece we call fried chicken. 

There’s nothing like the smell of garlic, but crunching into some raw garlic isn’t the same experience. Not to say raw garlic is inedible, but the smell is superior. 

The way this smell lights up a street is one of the greatest things about walking around New York in the winter. Luckily, you don’t need to spend a dime on this experience, because the smell is quite literally as good as it gets. As in, eating them does not make anything better. They just can’t live up to the precedent that the smell sets. 

Cocoa powder always seems so tasty when you’re a kid, but the stuff isn’t even as close to as sweet as you always want it to be. Keep it mixed into milk where it belongs. 

Gum may have a very small window for the flavor matching up to the scent, but when that window closes, it’s not reopening. You’ll be chewing a flavorless glob for most of the experience. Despite the fact that it’s the year 2025 and we’ve got tiny little computers in our pockets that we can use to make wireless video calls to each other across the world, we still haven’t come up with a way to make chewing gum’s flavor last.  

The smell of a movie theater lobby is top-shelf, you know? That buttery aroma just wafts through the place, all coming from the neon-yellow popcorn behind the snack counter. The smell is perfect and pure, and best of all, it won’t get stuck in your teeth for the entire movie.  

This is one of the strangest foods we have. I don’t get it at all. It feels like this was invented by somebody who was sick of chewing on fiberglass insulation that hadn’t been sweetened. Though cotton candy smells fruity and appetizing, that’s where the fun ends. 

Hibiscus, you dirty trickster, you trick me every single time. Oh, a hibiscus seltzer! Oh, a hibiscus lemonade! Oh, a hibiscus dessert! Every damn time, I fall for that alluring pink color and pleasant scent, and every damn time, I remember: Hibiscus sucks. 

Obviously, you’re not supposed to be drinking pure vanilla extract. How did we all learn that crucial lesson, though? Yeah. I suspect we all learned it the same way. 

Whether or not you like the taste of alcohol, there’s still a world of difference between the smell and the flavor. Some liquors are outstanding and match up to the taste, yes, but for the most part, that burning swallow leaves you a little more worse for the wear than just a simple sniff would. 

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