Food-rating parties

Do you like to party, but are looking for something new to do at your next shindig? A popular craze sweeping the country is the food-rating party. Basically, your pick a type of food to review, assemble different samples, prepare them so that they are not identified, and have guests give systematic ratings. The idea grew out of the ubiquitous marketing surveys used by food companies to test new products on the general public.

For some time, food marketers have known that it can be very hard to predict the taste predilections of John and Jane Q. Public. Many a brilliant ad campaign has been scuttled because people gave unexpected responses during taste-test panel studies. And failure to take these results seriously can lead to costly and embarrassing mistakes. Recall New Coke? So marketers have found it cost-efficient to set up tasting panels in public places such as malls where they can expose their new products to a cross section of Americana.

Now, party-givers are taking up the practice and arranging their own food-rating parties just for fun. Any kind of food rating is fine: soda ratings, junk food ratings, candy ratings... if you consume it, it is fair game. Here is how to prepare for such a party - we'll take ice cream as the subject food:

1. Carefully compose your guest list to include only people who are not offended by gluttony. You should include at least 6 but no more than 12 people in order to keep the party manageable.
2. You should have one brand of ice cream for each invitee. They should all be the same or similar flavor. Chocolate, while tasty, can overwhelm taste buds after a while, so try something a little more delicate. Strawberry is a good choice.
3. Buy at least two ounces of each brand per invitee. If you have 6 guests plus yourself, you will need at least 14 ounces of each ice cream sample. If any of your guests is real piggo, buy additional quantities.
4. Purchase a suitable number of foam bowls and plastic spoons. You do not want to be washing up dozens of your own bowls and spoons.
5. Prepare a rating matrix on a pad of paper which records everyone's ratings by each sample.
6. Assemble your ice creams before the guests arrive. You'll need some sort of identifying mark on each foam bowl so that you can decode the results. Keep in the freezer until 10 minutes before the test, then let them thaw a little.
7. Welcome your guests, pass around the samples, record results, and laugh your ass off.