How can the common cold affect the sense of taste?

Question

How can the common cold affect the sense of taste?

Answer 1

When you have a cold you tongue is left alone but your nose is badly clogged and many of the smell receptors do not get any stimulus, they are either covered or already overwhelmed.

Much of what you think is taste when you eat is in fact smell.  The roof of your mouth allows some food molecules into your nose and you also breath in molecules directly through your nose.  You can still perceive directly salt, sweet, sour and bitter  tastes (in many combinations)as well as heat and texture through  your tongue.   What your are missing is all the other nuances, the smell of food, not the taste.  Your nose responds to 1000's of diferent molecules, your tongue only 4 directly.

Answer 2

"The cold virus can damage smell receptors in the lining of the nose, and sometimes even the nerves that carry smell information to the brain."

Answer 3

The four elementary tastes ( sweet, sour, salty, bitter ) are tasted with the tongue. All other tastes ( aromas to be precise ) are smelled with our nose. The common cold blocks our noses so we are unable to smell.

A simple experiment:

With your nose pinched as high as possible try drinking coffee. It will taste like sweet water :)