Savorant Research · Study protocol

Perception over time.

Does a taster’s perception stay the same while their vocabulary grows?

Status
Open
Protocol
Version 1.0, 2026-10-18
Consent
S.perception.v1 (earlier data: S.perception.v1.past)
Investigator
John Schuster, Drunken Unicorn Productions
Preregistration
Being posted to the Open Science Framework; the link will appear here
Ethics review
Not yet reviewed; we intend independent review before any results are published
Target
20 tasters with two scores at least 11 months apart
Runs until
The target is reached, or 2029-10-18

Why this study

Savorant’s claim is that training changes what a taster can name and tell apart, not their underlying perception. If that is right, a taster’s smell-identification score should stay about the same from year to year while their vocabulary grows. A score that starts low and stays low counts as the same. No study has paired a standard smell test with long-term vocabulary data from the same people.

What taking part means

Log your UPSIT score once a year, as the app already suggests, and keep tasting. Your UPSIT scores and the dates you took the test, and how many distinct words you name on your own over time. UPSIT scores are used for research only if you join this study.

To join: in the app, turn on research contribution in Settings → Research, then open Perception over time under Research studies, read it, and agree. You can leave with one tap.

Hypotheses

Design

Observational, longitudinal, within-taster. Scores are self-administered and self-reported.

Who can take part. Adults 21 or older in the United States who use Savorant, have research contribution turned on, and have joined this study in the app.

Outcomes

Primary. Change in UPSIT score (out of 40) between a taster’s first two tests taken at least 11 months apart.

Secondary and exploratory.

Sample size

20 tasters with two scores at least 11 months apart (TOST, margin 2 points, assumed standard deviation of change 3 points, α = 0.05, power 0.80, true change 0: n = 19.3, rounded up). The standard deviation is an assumption and will be checked against published UPSIT test-retest data before analysis; if it changes, the sample size is updated as a dated amendment before any data is looked at. Recruitment target 35.

Analysis

Two one-sided tests (TOST) for equivalence with margins of ±2 points, α = 0.05.

Data filed before a taster joined is used only if they also agree to the separate earlier-data question. It is labeled as earlier data. The primary analysis uses only data filed after joining; the same analysis including earlier data is reported as a sensitivity analysis.

When a study reports more than one secondary test, p-values are adjusted with the Holm method.

Limitations we know about

Tasters buy, take and score the test themselves, and the app cannot verify the score. Only tasters who choose to take a smell test take part. Answers need at least a year per taster.

Standards every Savorant study follows

The consent you agree to

This is the exact text shown in the app before you join.

What it’s forSavorant lets you log a standard smell-identification test (the UPSIT) once a year. This study looks at whether tasters’ scores change over time or stay the same while their vocabulary grows. It is not a health study and makes no judgments about anyone’s health.

What you doLog your UPSIT score once a year, as the app already suggests, and keep tasting.

What’s usedYour UPSIT scores and the dates you took the test, and how many distinct words you name on your own over time. UPSIT scores are used for research only if you join this study. Nothing else from your account.

Earlier dataJoining covers what you file from now on. Separately, you can choose to let this study use what you filed before you joined. Earlier data is kept labeled as earlier, and the main result is worked out from data filed after you joined, so the result can be checked with and without it.

How longThe study runs until it reaches its sample size or until 2029-10-18, whichever comes first.

RisksThis study involves tasting whiskey. Take part only if you are 21 or older and it is safe for you to drink. Pours can be small, you can spit instead of swallowing, and never taste before you drive. If you have any reason not to drink alcohol, please don’t take part. The other risk is privacy, and the next sections say how we protect it.

BenefitsThere is no direct benefit to you and no payment. What you get is the app as it already is; what the field gets is data nobody has.

Your choiceTaking part is voluntary and changes nothing else in the app. You can leave this study any time in Settings with one tap; leaving stops all future inclusion. Results already published can’t be withdrawn, but they never identify you.

PrivacyResearch uses your coded taster ID, never your name, email or handle. The analysis dataset leaves out anything that identifies you, and no group smaller than five tasters is ever reported. When results are published, we may post a de-identified dataset so other researchers can check the work.

PublishingWe will publish what we find, as group results, including if it shows nothing.

Ethics reviewThis study has not yet been reviewed by an independent research ethics board (IRB). We intend to have it reviewed before any results are published. If that review changes what we ask of you, we will ask you again. Once a board is appointed, its contact for questions about your rights will be listed here.

Who runs itPrincipal investigator: John Schuster, Drunken Unicorn Productions (maker of Savorant). Savorant’s maker runs this study and sells the app, so we have an interest in the results. That is why the full plan is published before any data is analyzed, and why results are published either way.

The full planEvery hypothesis, the sample size and how the data will be analyzed are published before analysis at savorant.com/studies/perception/.

ContactQuestions about this study: palate@savorant.com.

Amendments

All open studies · The evidence review · Privacy policy · palate@savorant.com