Alternative to coffee beans/grounds for resetting olfactory/nasal palate

[adamyoung]

I tried to find a specific forum for this, and it seemed this would be my best shot for a starting point...

I am training for the BJCP tasting exam later this year and have also judged as a novice at a few competitions. I find that when I'm evaluating aroma my sense of smell gets fatigued or distracted easily, and especially as I consume beer samples it seems the efficacy and ability to discern in that regard wanes fairly quickly. I do find that bringing a bag of coffee grounds helps me reset my olfactory palate in between samples, but I'm concerned that if I'm doing styles where coffee aromas and flavors are present (whether or not they're supposed to be) that I'd miss them or at least miss the potency and character.

Does anyone have other nasal palate "resetter" tricks they use? I also bury my nose in my sleeve and smell my arm/clothes as a lot folks do, and that does help a bit. It'd be great to be able to bring some kind of substance that is strong like coffee which does a great job of hitting the reset button, but which is very unlikely to be found in most beers.

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[adamyoung]

Bump?

 

[VagueSkunk]

Smelling salts

 

[adamyoung]

I suppose there's that...maybe bleach or Glade?

 

[2trout]

Box of backing soda?

 

[NoMoBud]

Saline spray?

 

[VTBrewer07]

lime sherbert

 

[adamyoung]

Fresh cat turds

 

[VagueSkunk]

Fresh cat turds

Week old ones are a bit better. They have a slightly spicier aroma to 'em.