07 Aug 2019 --- An artificial “tongue” that can “taste” subtle differences between drams of whiskey could help cut down on the trade in counterfeit alcohol, scientists say. In a new paper published today in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s journal Nanoscale, Scottish engineers describe how they built the tiny taster, which exploits the optical properties of gold and aluminium to test samples of whiskey. The invention was able to pick up the differences between drinks with greater than 99 percent accuracy, presenting a novel method of testing and quality control across food and beverage applications, according to the researchers.
