Since Yale professor Dr. Linda Bartoshuk began publicizing research into taste variation, professional and amateur foodies everywhere have been fascinated by the idea of being a "super taster."

One of the many activities at the Great Lakes Science Center chocolate exhibit involves counting your taste buds to see if you are a "non-taster," a "normal taster" or a "super taster" (The Science Center educators glossed over the non-taster category for its younger audiences.)

Though whether you're a non-taster, a regular taster or a super taster can only definitively be settled by a genetic test, counting your taste buds usually will give you a good idea.

Approximately 25 percent of people are non-tasters, 50 percent are tasters and 25 percent are super tasters.

Before you get too excited (or concerned), these terms are a little counter-intuitive. They refer to levels of sensitivity, not absolute categories. Non-tasters do taste their food; they just taste it with less sensitivity.

They also probably rely more on smell.

Non-tasters often are the most enthusiastic eaters, and it wouldn't surprise me if most people who win spicy-food eating contests fall into this category as well.

Super tasters can have trouble eating very spicy, bitter or even sweet foods. But there are also many super tasters who love extremely spicy food.

Being a super taster is not synonymous with being a connoisseur.

It turns out that I am a super taster, but not by that much.

While it helps explain why I don't like Campari liqueur and prefer desserts that aren't overwhelmingly sweet, I'm still skeptical about whether anyone's likes and dislikes are determined by their "taster status."

Still, it's hard to dispute that the title sounds good.