• @[email protected]
    cake
    link
    fedilink
    English
    274 months ago

    That… is something that I’ve never wondered about, but now you’ve got me contemplating the flavor profile of various mineral aggregates.

    I can tell you what coal tastes like, not that I’ve eaten any. But when you burn it for heat, it gets everywhere. It’s bitter and kind of earthy but not like rich topsoil. More like you’ve been tailgating a school bus on a dirt road for hours. And the dirt is charred.

    • @Crackhappy
      link
      English
      74 months ago

      I know what granite tastes like. I love putting a granite pebble in my mouth to suck on while trail hiking. I have been doing it since I was little, at this point it’s just nostalgia. Granite, after the first minute, just tastes like almost nothing really. At first though, it tends to be rather a dusty earthy flavor.

      • @[email protected]
        cake
        link
        fedilink
        English
        94 months ago

        Wait, do you get the pebbles out of the ground? Could explain the dusty, earthy flavour that wears off…

        • @Crackhappy
          link
          English
          34 months ago

          No, not out of the ground, laying on top. Did a lot of hiking in the Sierra Nevada so lots of loose granite bits just laying around.

  • ℕ𝕖𝕞𝕠
    link
    fedilink
    244 months ago

    Tums. Tums, and other similar antacids, are calcium carbonate. Calcium and carbon. That’s what makes limestone limestone.

  • @FollyDolly
    link
    174 months ago

    Y’know I used to eat rocks as toddler but for the life of me I can’t remember if I’ve had limestone and what it tasted like. Driveway gravel and those smooth river rocks on the otherhand definitely had a taste. Mostly gritty or smooth with hints of Sulphur.

  • @PastyWaterSnake
    link
    164 months ago

    I work in limestone quarries every day. The dust and grit gets everywhere, and almost every day I will get some in my mouth. Sometimes pieces that are about the size of a skittle somehow make it into my mouth (no. They do not taste like lime Skittles)

    The taste isn’t the problem, it’s the gritty texture that makes it feel like you’re grinding away at your teeth. The taste is similar to steak seasoning. I keep some unflavored gum with me and chew it when I get some in my mouth. This allows me to enjoy the salty/savory flavor while getting past the horrible texture. If only they made steak-flavored chewing gum.

    • @cheese_greaterOP
      link
      6
      edit-2
      4 months ago

      I would be all over savory gum haha and thanks for the real-world/boots on the ground perspective

      Why do you think it tastes savory like that? Whats in it thats giving off that flavor?

      • @Krudler
        link
        English
        3
        edit-2
        4 months ago

        Calcium has a distinct flavor that humans crave, just the way we love the taste of umami.

        edit: That’s also the answer to OP question. Limestone tastes like calcium.

      • @PastyWaterSnake
        link
        14 months ago

        I was mostly joking, but I did get some oily/greasy dust in my mouth, and it tasted kind of burnt and spicy, which is why I came up with “steak seasoning”

        But yes, I do actually inadvertently get limestone in my mouth often, but unfortunately (or fortunately) it really doesn’t taste like anything. Maybe I will have to sample a larger size.

        I might ask our geologist if she “taste tests” the rocks, according to what another commenter said…

  • @Mr_Blott
    link
    154 months ago

    You’re reading the name wrong

    It’s lime’s tone

    It used to be green before the rain washed the colour off

  • @sir_pronoun
    link
    English
    114 months ago

    This is the content I come here for

  • ᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴏʀ 帝
    link
    fedilink
    English
    94 months ago

    When I was being taught geology the lecturers would occasionally lick a rock. I still don’t know if it was a joke as most rocks taste pretty neutraock If you are interested, give it a lick, it can’t do you any harm. Although bear in mind that limestones are a broad church, so you may need to lick a few to get an idea of the breadth of their taste nuances.

    Unless a rock contains ores then they are usually OK to taste so branch out after that.

    • @Senshi
      link
      74 months ago

      Taste is actually a valid and very important identifier used for classifying minerals during geology field work when there is no access to advanced diagnostic tools. For health reasons, it’s obviously not the primary method, but it usually follows the “scrape test”. Scraping the mineral over a known hard surface tells a whole lot about hardness, texture, color, granularity…

  • credit crazy
    link
    84 months ago

    Why do you think it’s called limestone man

  • @Skanky
    link
    64 months ago

    From what I’ve learned living in Kentucky, limestone tasets like bourbon. Go figure

    • Mellow
      link
      English
      44 months ago

      Don’t you just love hard water?

      • @Skanky
        link
        54 months ago

        Well, i do fancy bourbon, so…?