The effect of tasting sheet shape on product configurations and panellists’ performance in sensory projective mapping of brandy products

• Product maps from rectangular, round and square tasting sheets were similar.
• Panellists’ performance was more consistent when using the round tastings sheet.
• Practical implication of using different sheet shapes may be sample set dependent.

Projective mapping is a rapid sensory profiling method used to obtain overviews of the sensory differentiation in product sets. Elongated projective mapping tasting sheets, i.e. rectangles, have been hypothesised to bring forth more prominent sample differences, while shapes with equal perpendicular bisectors, such as circles or squares, could reportedly be used to visualise more subtle sample differences. This hypothesis was tested in the present study using a set of eight different brandy products, in order to gain a better understanding of the practical implications of using different tasting sheet shapes for different project goals. The results showed that very similar product configurations were obtained with square, rectangular or round tasting sheets. Panellists performed better with round tasting sheets, leading to more accurate results. Square tasting sheets delivered the most different results when compared to round and square tasting sheets. The practical significance of using different tasting sheet shapes to elicit either more prominent or more subtle sample differences could not be established in the set of brandy samples used in this study.