Rate together
Wine, beer, burgers or biscuits: the best part of tasting together is finding out what everyone else really thought. Here are the rules for a tasting where every opinion counts and nobody gets talked over.
- The golden rule
- Rate on your own, reveal together
- Scale
- 1 to 10
- Criteria
- Three to five per tasting
Updated
Why rate on your own?
Try tasting a wine while a friend says “this one is amazing”. It’s hard not to be swayed. The first opinion said out loud pulls the rest of the table along, and the quiet voices disappear.
It isn’t just a feeling. In 1907 the statistician Francis Galton wrote about a contest at a country fair where nearly 800 visitors guessed the weight of an ox. On their own, most of them were off, but the middle of all the guesses landed very close to the real weight. The point is that the guesses were independent. Many opinions are wiser than one, but only if they haven’t heard each other first.
A tasting works the same way. When everyone rates on their own, the average shows what the table really thinks. And the differences come out: who loved the one everyone else hated?
Four rules for rating together
Rate on your own.
Nobody says anything out loud until everyone has scored. No faces, no “mmm”.
Use the same criteria.
Agree on three to five things to look for, like taste, aroma and value for money. Then you’re comparing like with like.
Go blind when you can.
Hide labels, brands and price tags. Then you rate what’s in the glass, not what’s on the bottle.
Reveal at the same time.
Turn the cards together, after each round or at the end. That’s where the discussion starts.
The scale
Give a score from 1 to 10 for each criterion. Agree on what the numbers mean before you start, or it turns into a contest over who is most generous. More on giving scores.
| Score | Means |
|---|---|
| 1–3 | Wouldn’t have it again |
| 4–5 | Fine, but forgotten tomorrow |
| 6–7 | Good. Yes please, if offered |
| 8–9 | Really good. Would buy or order it myself |
| 10 | Best of the year. Use it sparingly |
On paper or in the app
You can rate on paper. Make your own score sheet with your own title, criteria and number of rounds, print one for everyone, and add up the averages afterwards.
Paper means someone has to do the sums, and nobody can peek over a shoulder. Jury does the same on your phones: scores stay hidden until they’re revealed, the averages are worked out straight away, and you can see how much you agreed and who was most generous.
Read on
- Hosting a tasting at home: checklist, amounts and order.
- Rating criteria: ideas for wine, beer, coffee, food, bakes and more.
- How to give scores: make the scale mean the same to everyone.
- Blind taste tests: when you want to know if you can really tell the difference.
Questions and answers
Why rate on your own?
Because the first opinion said out loud sways everyone else. When everyone rates independently, the average shows what the table really thinks.
How many criteria should we use?
Three to five. Fewer is too rough, more and you won’t get through the tasting.
How do we find the winner?
Work out the average for each round across everyone and every criterion. The highest average wins.
Does the tasting have to be blind?
No, but it makes it more honest. Price and label sway people more than most expect.
Can we rate things other than food and drink?
Yes. Christmas jumpers, speeches, films, cafés or the best holiday of the year. Anything you can disagree about.
All ideas for rate together
Ready for the first round?
Jury is free, with no ads. Get the app, make an activity and send the link to your friends.