Do Women Like The Taste Of Cum? [2024 CUM-tastic Facts]

In this article, we’ve gathered every fact and story we could find about what cum tastes like, do women like the taste of cum, why they like it, and more.

do women like the taste of cum

Do women enjoy the taste of cum? That’s what we sought to find out.

Unfortunately, there hasn’t been a plethora of scientific research on the topic, but there is lots of anecdotal evidence. Many women seem to like cum, but that isn’t always the case.

Top Cum Taste Statistics You Should Know:

  • Semen (cum) is made mostly of water, plasma, and mucus (a lubricating substance). It also contains 5 to 25 calories. 
  • Cum is about 96% Water.
  • Dr. Shirin Larkhani, a general practitioner, says that sperm “develops an antioxidant that’s similar to mushrooms,” which may give it a slightly mushroomy taste. 
  • Of 49 people studied who swallow cum, only 4 said they do it because they like the taste.
  • Diet may also have an impact, with women reporting that “It tastes like whatever he ate or drank a few hours prior to the blowjob.
  • Semen has a pH range of 7.2 to 8.2.
  • “Any sugary liquid or food” can help improve the taste of cum because it can change the fructose (sugar) content and/or change the pH levels. “Cranberries help balance the pH levels in semen, making for a better taste,” according to Dr. Bennett.
  • Drinking lots of water can also improve the taste of cum, according to Dr. Abdur-Rahman. 
  • Others said drinking pineapple juice a few hours beforehand was key to good-tasting cum.

What Is Cum Composed Of?

Before we get into whether or not they like it – what’s inside cum? Studies have shown that:

  • Semen (cum) is made mostly of water, plasma, and mucus (a lubricating substance). It also contains 5 to 25 calories. (WebMD, 2021)1
  • Here’s what cum is composed of: (Psychology Today, 2009)2
    • Cum is about 96% water.
    • 2% is sperm.
    • It also contains small amounts of:
      • Fructose (fruit sugar), which nourishes sperm.
      • Vitamin C, which helps keep sperm healthy.
      • Sodium bicarbonate protects sperm from the slightly acidic environment of the vagina.
      • Various proteins and enzymes.
      • Several minerals, including magnesium, phosphorus, potassium—and zinc, which give semen its odd, metallic taste.
  • The sperm in semen needs these nutrients to travel and survive in the harsh environment of the vagina. (WebMD, 2021)1
    • The nutrients found in semen keep the sperm alive and provide energy while they travel to the egg.
    • The main source of energy is fructose, a type of sugar.

What Does Cum Taste Like?

Many people describe cum in different ways – some say it’s sweet, others salty, and others think it tastes like bleach or something bitter. But, it turns out, there’s a good reason for all of those tastes, based on this research:

  • Several fluids combine with sperm to make semen, each influence the way it tastes.
    • Dr. Shirin Larkhani, a general practitioner, says that sperm “develops an antioxidant that’s similar to mushrooms,” which may give it a slightly mushroomy taste. (Cosmopolitan, 2021)3
  • Dr. Shirin Larkhani says that cum contains “fructose which may create a sweeter taste. and that fluids added from the prostate gland and seminal vesicles can “alter the taste and smell. It has a bleach-like smell due to the alkaline content.” (Cosmopolitan, 2021)3
  • Dr. Shirin Larkhani also says healthy semen is “usually cloudy white or grey fluid which is thicker than water, and almost jelly-like,” but it can also be a little bit yellow. (Cosmopolitan, 2021)3
  • Some say semen tastes sweet” from the sugar content in semen, according to Jamin Brahmbhatt, MD, a urologist at Orlando Health and assistant professor at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine. (Men’s Health, 2022)4
    • Others have said semen tastes bitter, metallic, or sour, which could be based on individual taste buds or the alkaline nature of semen.
  • The texture and taste of cum according to women: (Bad Girls Bible, 2021a)5
    • “Tangy yet sweet milky texture.”
    • “Mostly bitter, I’d say, sometimes a little sweetness to it.”
    • “Hopefully, like cum! A little bland with a whisper of aspirin.”
    • “Soupy pudding texture. Mostly sour/salty tasting.”
    • “My partner’s (cum) is spicy.”
    • “Thick, like pudding, and salty, like ocean water.”
    • “It tastes like marshmallow, but sometimes it’s bitter. Many times, it feels good and slimy.”

Women’s Different Descriptions Of The Taste Of Cum

Women describe cum in a wide variety of ways – everything from food to rubber bands. Whether this is due to the man, their personal taste buds, or something else is still to be determined, but here’s what they said about how cum tastes:

  • Some women compare cum to food: (Bad Girls Bible, 2021a)5
    • Some women say cum tastes like different foods, such as:
      • “Green tea.”
      • “Salty and a bit like a stone apple.”
      • “Usually Sunflower seeds.”
      • “It’s salty but in a good way. Like mayonnaise.”
      • “Depends on the diet, medication but generally like soft coconut meat.”
      • “Candy.”
      • “Tastes like vanilla.”
      • “Cream soda.”
      • “Cottage cheese”
      • “Pineapple.”
      • “It tastes like bad sauce or like some type of seafood.”
  • Some women don’t taste much at all: (Bad Girls Bible, 2021a)5
    • Cum can taste like nothing/flavorless according to some women:
      • “It is almost tasteless.”
      • “Most of the time, it doesn’t have a flavor. Other times, it’s sweeter.”
      • “Bland, thick, needs a few herbs 😂”
      • “It’s slightly acidic but has really no specific taste.”
      • “Tastes like what I imagine a tablespoon of warm spit tastes like.”
  • And others compare it to unusual things, such as: (Bad Girls Bible, 2021a)5
    • “Baking soda.”
    • “Chlorine.”
    • “It tastes like medicine, and the texture of it can feel harsh-ish on my teeth.”
    • “Sweaty over-the-counter Cetaphil face wash.”
    • “Salty with a slight ammonia after taste”
    • “Kinda like a rubber band, maybe a saltier rubber band.”

Do Women Like The Taste Of Cum?

Some women seem to like cum, while others think it tastes a bit funky. Many, it turns out, don’t swallow cum because of the taste, but for other reasons. 

  • When women were asked why they liked cum: (Bad Girls Bible, 2021a)5
    • Some said, “It’s an aggressive flavor that attacks the tongue.And described it with a “kind of musky earthiness.”
    • “If I like the man, I appreciate the way his cum tastes just like I appreciate all the other things about him.”
    • Diet may also have an impact, with women reporting that “It tastes like whatever he ate or drank a few hours prior to the blowjob.” These women say they like the taste unless the man ate or drank something bitter like beer, but they still “enjoy the taste and texture.”
    • Others simply call cum “Delicious.”
    • Some women report cum tastes different depending on the man and describe cum as “viscous, mildly salty, and a little soapy,” almost like mucus. They can also be apathetic to the taste, with it not being bothersome or particularly delicious, but enjoy it anyway. They describe enjoying the experience due to feeling “powerful” because they were able to get a man to orgasm.
  • Only a few people say they swallow cum because of the taste. Most swallow for other reasons
  • Of 49 people studied who swallow cum, only 4 said they do it because they like the taste. The remaining 45 women said they like swallowing cum because…
    • It turns them on.
    • It turns him on.
    • It pleases their partner.
    • They like being submissive.
    • They feel empowered by it.
    • They enjoy the taboo, kinky, or naughty aspect of swallowing.

(Bad Girls Bible, 2021b)6


Can Diet Improve The Taste Of Cum?

There are common rumors and beliefs about eating certain foods to improve the taste of cum. And based on these studies, there’s a good reason for them! Sweet and acidic foods can improve the taste, according to this research.

  • These foods can make cum taste a little better:
    • Celery
    • Parsley
    • Wheatgrass
    • Cinnamon
    • Nutmeg
    • Pineapple
    • Papaya
    • Oranges
  • This does not necessarily mean cum will taste sweeter after eating these foods. These foods are thought to cut down on semen’s natural alkalinity levels. (Healthline, 2020)7
  • Semen has a pH range of 7.2 to 8.2. These foods may reduce the bitterness. (Healthline, 2020)7
  • Eating a lot of pineapples, or drinking a lot of pineapple juice, can help cut down on the bitter taste of cum due to the acidic nature of pineapple. Other acidic fruits like lemons and cranberries can have a similar effect. (Men’s Health, 2018)8
  • “Any sugary liquid or food” can help improve the taste of cum, because it can change the fructose (sugar) content and/or change the pH levels. “Cranberries help balance the pH levels in semen, making for a better taste,” according to Dr. Bennett. (Men’s Health, 2018)8
  • Drinking lots of water can also improve the taste of cum, according to Dr. Abdur-Rahman. He said, “When water-rich foods and drinks are consumed, they dilute the blood,” and that once the blood has been diluted, the semen produced will also be diluted. “This means that the natural, slightly bitter, and salty taste that semen normally has will be less pronounced.” (Elite Daily, 2017)9
  • When women were asked what they prefer their man to eat beforehand: (Bad Girls Bible, 2021a)5
    • Most referred to pineapple juice as a go-to option, but sweet foods like coconut juice also worked.
    • One said, “Body Armor makes a coconut pineapple drink, and it’s perfect.” Describing the taste as “sweet and delicious.”
    • Some women also said that being dehydrated had a negative effect on the taste.
    • One woman described cum like candy, saying, “I’m obsessed with the taste of come. Pre-come is out of control delicious it’s like liquid candy for me.”
    • Others said drinking pineapple juice a few hours beforehand was key to good-tasting cum.
    • A balanced diet and a healthy guy can improve the taste of cum, saying, “it has a slightly salty and sweeter taste to it.” 
    • They also said that smoking can affect the taste of cum, saying it adds a smokey flavor that can be “off-putting if you’re not expecting that hint of smoke in the flavor.” 
    • Apparently, men who don’t have a lot of iron in their diet can have a more muted flavor and say, “You can tell how healthy he is by how balanced his cum tastes.” and think that if it doesn’t take good, that means he’s unhealthy or should change his diet.
    • Most women agree that diet has a major impact on flavor. For example, one woman says that “Beer drinkers and sugarholics” tasted the best with a “sweet and salty” taste with the texture of warm pudding.
  • These foods can take time to affect the taste of your cum, according to Dr. Nelson Bennett, MD, a urologist at Northwestern Memorial.
  • “Changes in semen taste as a result of ingesting certain foods and liquids take several days to weeks to manifest.” Due to the amount of time it takes for the fluid from the prostate to be created. “Drinking a quart of pineapple juice today will not sweeten the semen tonight,” he said. (Men’s Health, 2018)8

Things That Can Make Your Semen Intolerable

Now you know: Drink pineapple juice and other sweet and acidic things to make your cum taste better. But what about foods that make your cum taste worse? Here’s what to avoid:

  • Foods that can make your cum musky or bitter: (Healthline, 2020)7
    • Garlic
    • Onions
    • Broccoli
    • Cabbage
    • Leafy greens
    • Asparagus
    • Meat and dairy products
  • Foods/consumables such as coffee, alcohol, and nicotine can also affect the taste of cum. (Elite Daily, 2017)9
  • Dr. Abdur-Rahman says that each of these contains pungent water-soluble chemicals and that “because blood is mostly water, the pungent water-soluble chemicals found in coffee, alcohol, and cigarettes settle right into the blood.” Then, when that blood is filtered through the pelvic glands, those chemicals can impact the taste of your cum. 
  • Since coffee has a strong, bitter taste, consuming it in large quantities could make the semen taste more bitter. (Elite Daily, 2017)9

Women’s Bad Experiences In Tasting Cum

We’ve covered the women who think cum tastes great, but not everyone agrees. Some women have negative experiences – here’s what they said about cum tasting bad:

  • When women were asked about bad cum tasting experiences: (Bad Girls Bible, 2021a)5
    • Some said cum mostly tastes good, but they have had bad experiences, such as “lumpy” cum that “reminded me of curdled yogurt and was bitter. It was so bad I gagged on it.”
    • Others described cum as “Salted like goats cheese 🤢”
    • Some women called cum “gross” with a “nasty bitter-sweet taste.” They described a smell like bleach and said cum was “hard to swallow.”
    • One woman described swallowing cum as “swallowing a raw egg with a broken yolk 🤮” and said they preferred their partner to cum on their face or boobs.
    • It was also described as having a “Nasty, like a bitter metallic taste.”
    • Some said cum can vary between being “salty and bitter” to a horrible texture and smell like “an unfresh fish, cheese, something sweated.”
    • Others said bad cum tasted similar to “how coffee breath smells.” Or saying that some cum “tasted like rubber and bitter latex. It was awful.”

Conclusion

So, do women like the taste of cum? In short… sometimes.

Many women seem to enjoy swallowing cum for reasons other than the taste, and many have also had negative experiences with it. But among those who enjoy the taste, they frequently say that one key ingredient improves the experience: the all-powerful pineapple.

For more interesting sex studies and statistics, head over to our guide here.

Footnotes

  1. WebMD, 2021. An article on how many nutrients are in semen.
  2. Psychology Today, 2009. An article on foods that sweeten men’s semen.
  3. Cosmopolitan, 2021. An article on what cum tastes according to a medical expert.
  4. Men’s Health, 2022. An article on people describing what semen tastes like.
  5. Bad Girls Bible, 2021a. An article on what cum tastes like according to women.
  6. Bad Girls Bible, 2021b. An article on why women spit or swallow.
  7. Healthline, 2020. An article on what sperm tastes like.
  8. Men’s Health, 2018. An article on pineapple can change the taste of semen.
  9. Elite Daily, 2017. An article on experts explaining what makes semen taste good or bad.
Aliyah Moore

Aliyah Moore

Aliyah Moore (she/her) is our resident sex expert at SexualAlpha. She’s a certified sex therapist with a Ph.D. in Gender & Sexuality Studies. Aliyah is a proud Black, bi-sexual femme passionate about empowering minority voices to embrace their sexuality and identity. She loves to write about everything sexual wellness and gives no-nonsense sex and relationship advice.

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