Today's Word 👉 Umami

A savory, mouth-filling taste—considered the “fifth taste” alongside sweet, sour, salty, and bitter

September 04, 2025

In partnership with

Take a minute and get one word smarter. Yes, only a minute!

Umami (oo-MAH-mee) (noun): A savory, mouth-filling taste—considered the “fifth taste” alongside sweet, sour, salty, and bitter.

“Umami is the taste that brings depth to food—it’s what makes a tomato rich, a mushroom earthy, and a piece of parmesan unforgettable.”

— The Fifth Taste: Cooking with Umami by Anna & David Kasabian

First published 2005

In The Fifth Taste, Kasabian explores how this once “mysterious” flavor was discovered in Japan in the early 1900s and how it’s been shaping cuisines around the world for centuries—even when chefs didn’t have a name for it.

SMARTER INSIGHT
Umami is like the background music of flavor—it doesn’t shout like salt or sugar, but without it, food feels flat. It’s why broth comforts you, why soy sauce transforms a dish, and why aged cheese feels so satisfying.

USE IT TODAY
Next meal, notice if your food has depth or feels one-dimensional. A sprinkle of parmesan, a dash of soy sauce, or some roasted mushrooms might be the small but mighty tweak you need to awaken umami power.

Help Us Get Slightly Smarter

How did you like today's email?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

ROKU

CTV ads made easy: Black Friday edition

As with any digital ad campaign, the important thing is to reach streaming audiences who will convert. Roku’s self-service Ads Manager stands ready with powerful segmentation and targeting — plus creative upscaling tools that transform existing assets into CTV-ready video ads. Bonus: we’re gifting you $5K in ad credits when you spend your first $5K on Roku Ads Manager. Just sign up and use code GET5K. Terms apply.

SUPERHUMAN AI

Go from AI overwhelmed to AI savvy professional

AI will eliminate 300 million jobs in the next 5 years.

Yours doesn't have to be one of them.

Here's how to future-proof your career:

  • Join the Superhuman AI newsletter - read by 1M+ professionals

  • Learn AI skills in 3 mins a day

  • Become the AI expert on your team

PACASO

Keep This Stock Ticker on Your Watchlist

They’re a private company, but Pacaso just reserved the Nasdaq ticker “$PCSO.”

No surprise the same firms that backed Uber, eBay, and Venmo already invested in Pacaso. What is unique is Pacaso is giving the same opportunity to everyday investors. And 10,000+ people have already joined them.

Created a former Zillow exec who sold his first venture for $120M, Pacaso brings co-ownership to the $1.3T vacation home industry.

They’ve generated $1B+ worth of luxury home transactions across 2,000+ owners. That’s good for more than $110M in gross profit since inception, including 41% YoY growth last year alone.

And you can join them today for just $2.90/share. But don’t wait too long. Invest in Pacaso before the opportunity ends September 18.

Paid advertisement for Pacaso’s Regulation A offering. Read the offering circular at invest.pacaso.com. Reserving a ticker symbol is not a guarantee that the company will go public. Listing on the NASDAQ is subject to approvals.