Mouthfeel is a product's physical and chemical interaction in the mouth, an aspect of
food rheology. It is used in many areas related to the testing and evaluating of foodstuffs, such as
wine-tasting and
rheology. It is evaluated from initial perception on the
palate, to first bite, through
mastication to
swallowing and
aftertaste. In wine-tasting, for example, mouthfeel is usually used with a modifier (big, sweet, tannic, chewy, etc.) to the general sensation of the wine in the mouth. Some people, however, use the traditional term
texture. Mouthfeel is often related to a product's
water activity, hard or crisp products having lower water activities and soft products having intermediate to high water activities.