My opinion: taste discrimination in various realms (cheese, ham, beef, wine, etc.) is a perishable attribute, and one that requires conscious attention. Overall

My opinion: taste discrimination in various realms (cheese, ham, beef, wine, etc.) is a perishable attribute, and one that requires conscious attention. Overall experience is important, but I can't pick out cattle breeds by the flavor of their ribeyes like I could when I was a kid. I was eating a lot of beef from local ranchers while I was raising beef cattle, I was looking for certain attributes in the genetic material I was buying, and so I could not only immediately pick out a Charlois from an Angus mix immediately, but I could also pick out differences in crossbreeds. Note that in my experience this isn't unusual, but I did have a knack for judging critters (somehow I won a judging award at Cal Poly SLO and it involved chickens among other animals: I don't know a damned thing about chickens). Now I can't taste beef the same way as I used to, especially not with grain-finished crossbreeds. I think it's one of those things, like pistol shooting, that is perishable and needs heavy reinforcement. Also, age is physiologically a factor. TL;DR: eat more!