(or colour-to-smell and colour-to-taste synesthesia)
These could possibly be considered sub-types of visual-olfactory and visual-gustatory synesthesia, or conceptual-olfactory and conceptual-gustatory synesthesia
Colour-smell and colour-taste synesthesia occur when a synesthete perceives smells and/or tastes on seeing, hearing about or thinking about different colours. For it to be considered synesthesia and not merely association, it should happen consciously, automatically and consistently across a wide range of colours. If it just happens from time to time as a one-off occurrence, and if the smells or tastes are those of foods, drinks, etc. that have the colour in question, then it is probably a phenomenon called “olfactorization” or “olfactory imagination”, or its taste equivalent “gustatory imagination”, rather than synesthesia. For more information on olfactorization and similar phenomena, see the page on Smelling and tasting images. However, if the consistent smells or tastes perceived for specific colours are different from anything that actually has that colour in real life, it is more likely to be an indicator of synesthesia (although not exclusively so, as the tastes and smells are not always radically different from the colour that produces them).
We can
all link colours and smells/tastes: cross-modal correspondences, not synesthesia
People in
general, and not just this type of synesthetes, are able to make seemingly
“logical” associations between sensations produced by the different senses, and
colour-to-smell/taste is a good example of this. Probably due to our past
experience, most of us would agree that a light pink colour suggests a sweet,
synthetic aroma, while dark brown might give the idea of earthy smells, for
instance. We don’t give this relationship much thought and we are not bombarded
by this kind of experience as we go about our daily lives, but the consensus is
fairly general. So, for example, if we show someone a particular colour, or an
object or scene where this colour predominates, and ask them what it smells
like, many people – synesthetes and otherwise – can give us the answer. That
doesn’t mean they all have colour-to-smell synesthesia of course, unless they
happen to have regular conscious experiences where the colours evoke real
smells, unmistakeable and consistent, physically perceived or very strongly
felt.
When colour-smell and colour-taste are synesthesia, how do
they present?
- Although this type of synesthesia is highly consistent (same stimulus = same smell) and occurs quite frequently, it doesn’t occur every single time the synesthete sees or thinks of the colour in question. This “part-time” nature actually seems to be quite typical of synesthesias with an olfactory concurrent.
- In the
cases reported, the taste concurrent is usually produced when the person
perceives the colour visually, although it is perfectly possible for it
to also happen when they merely think about the colour in question or
perhaps hear someone say its name, as colours are clearly a conceptual
inducer. This conceptual and not necessarily visual input is also typical of other
types of synesthesia such as lexical-gustatory.
- Fruity smells (or tastes) are
relatively common.
- Alternatively,
they are often difficult to describe and do not match any known smells or
tastes in real life.
- Smells
can be triggered in conjunction with tastes, and some synesthetes even have
difficulty in distinguishing whether the perception is a smell or a taste.
- Colour-to-smell and
colour-to-taste synesthesia can coexist in the same synesthete, but they
can also occur separately: some synesthetes have one without the other.
Some curiosities:
Colour-smell
synesthesia is not a common type of synesthesia, despite often being cited as
an example of it in general articles in magazines and websites that frequently
begin with statements like “Some people can smell colours and taste sounds…”.
However, in this case they are never backed up by interviews with such
synesthetes or descriptions of real, consistent cases as they are actually difficult to find.
Mindsight,
sixth-sense training and party tricks: People who smell (or taste) objects after
being blindfolded and say that they “use synesthesia” to identify their
colours are not synesthetes, or at least what they claim to do has nothing to
do with synesthesia … for the simple reason that a person with this type of
synesthesia needs to be able to perceive the colour in question (i.e. see it)
before they can smell or taste it.
In 2016, aerospace engineer Zachary Howard invented a “synesthesia mask” that lets people smell colours. Even though there are differences from what a colour-to-smell synesthete would actually experience, as the input is detected by sensors in the mask rather than by the person’s vision or thoughts, it’s an interesting experiment that would definitely be fun to try out. It could even transmit synesthetes’ idiosyncratic differences, as Zachary chose colours such as lavender for blue or grapefruit for red but in theory each user could choose any combination of smells they want.
“[The colours] usually have to be accompanied by a texture or pattern to make it happen. I sometimes smell and taste abstract art.”
“The purer
the colour was and the larger the space it filled the more likely it was for me
to smell it.”
(Source: Pau 365, my own experience with colour-to-smell synesthesia which consistently occurred when I developed hyperosmia during a period of my life, greatly heightening my sense of smell and also my synesthesia)
These two people
with color-taste synesthesia describe how the tastes they perceive from colours
are not at all related to the typical tastes that would be associated with
foods or drinks of those particular colours, this discrepancy being an aspect
that would indicate synesthesia rather than cross-modal correspondences:
“Red is not
cherry. Each color has a unique identificative taste, but the tastes don’t
really correspond to "real life" tastes. Its hard to explain how blue
tastes, it just tastes like blue!
Different
shades all have different tastes, and it can vary greatly. It's all the same
general taste, like blue is always sweet, but the kind of sweet changes from
shade to shade.”
(Source:
This comment on the Synesthesia subReddit. 2017.)
“I can
taste colours, yet only when I think about it, otherwise I don't really notice
it.
When you
look at a colour, you percieve it visually as a colour (i.e. red, green, blue).
But you also view it as a taste. Most colours taste like things that you can't
really relate to. (However, black specifically has a bland, wholesome taste to
it).”
(Source:
This comment on the Synesthesia subReddit. 2017.)
This person’s
colour-to-taste synesthesia appears to have a partially tactile component, as when
they are presented with a colour stimulus they taste it initially around their
eyes.
“I taste
and smell colors. Taste is around eyes but when strong enough it hits the back
of my tongue/throat. Aroma is smelled with my physical nose when I breathe air
with it.”
(Source: This comment on the Synesthesia subReddit. 2017.)
In 2013, a scientific
study (Drakoulis Nikolinakos et al., University of Athens) was conducted on the
case of an artist with colour-taste synesthesia, which he uses in his work to
help him judge and improve his paintings.
"His
unidirectional synesthesia involves three of the four basic tastes: greens
produce bitterness, reds produce sweetness, and yellows produce sourness. (...)
He experiences tastes synesthetically, mainly when painting and when looking at
works of art, but also from perceiving the colors of his surroundings, e.g.,
the color of trees. The intensity of the synesthetic taste varies with the
purity, amount, and intensity of the perceived hues."
Some Synesthesia
Tree pages on related phenomena you might find interesting:
Concept-taste and concept-smell synesthesia
Sight as a synesthetic inducer
This page last updated: 18 May 2026
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