The Scientific Reason The First Spoonful Of Ice Cream Tastes Better Than The Last

Clutching a metal spoon, you peel off the lid and sink it into a pristine, unmarred surface of ice cream. Why does that first spoonful taste so good? According to neuroscientist Rachel Herz in an interview with Vice, it's because of sensory specific satiety — essentially, a fancy word for describing a biological experience of novelty. As you eat the ice cream, it gradually becomes less and less appealing; there's a decline in motivation to keep consuming.

The reason for this strange mechanism is likely an innate self-boundary-setting system, forcing you to eat a variety of foods. That means, after a few mouthfuls of ice cream, you might very well crave something else entirely. Time to go back for that multipack of crisps you were eyeing at Costco or dive into a healthy snack, right? Sensory specific satiety is a clever internal process that is part of our evolutionary adaptation. It's definitely food for thought the next time you're researching ice cream recipes to satisfy your sweet cravings.

Wish the tastiness of that first scoop could last forever? To keep your ice cream tasting fresh for longer, there are a few things to keep in mind. Firstly, the shelf-life (or freezer-life, we should say) massively depends on whether it's homemade or store-bought. One of the biggest mistakes you're making with homemade ice cream is expecting it to last; you're lucky to keep it past three weeks due to its lack of preservatives. When purchased at the supermarket, sealed ice cream lasts between two to four months in a freezer. After this point, you'll notice a quality deterioration — the flavor goes downhill, and you won't have sensory specific satiation to blame, just spoilage.

With that said, both homemade and store-bought ice cream lasts longer with proper storage. When making it at home, avoid flimsy containers. Instead, find tight-fitting products like SUMO ice cream containers, minimizing air gaps to reduce ice crystals and freezer burn. When purchasing ice cream from the grocery stores, always reseal containers properly and consider minimizing initial temperature fluctuations with an insulated shopping bag, like this reusable bag from CIVJET.

It's not just about storage; it's about understanding how ice creams vary. One of the biggest mistakes you're making with boozy ice cream is adding too much alcohol, which prevents proper freezing. There's no such thing as a single timeline for this irresistible dessert. You might just have to eat some types of ice cream faster — and we can think of worse issues to have.