After a nasty (classic) flu which left me with a long talk of cough, I've had too many "cough drops" candy. My espresso tastes odd and muddy and all over the place. I haven't had covid so I don't think it's the usual related loss of taste.

Ctrl-alt-delete? Pressure cleaning? Halp!

Time! Whenever I have a bad cold/flu, it's usually my favorite things that taste disgusting. Not much you can do but wait it out.

I'd make sure I brushed all the soft tissues in my mouth (you can brush your teeth while you're at it), including a good tongue scraping/brushing. Finish with a warm salt water gargle.

That should at least freshen things up.

Search on palate cleanser for related topics such as this thread from January.

My cousin has been currently struggling with COVID like symptoms of prolonged reduced taste perception following a flu-like illness (possibly a false-negative COVID swab test). He hasn't been able to smell or taste craft beer hardly at all, ever since, about 2 months now.

His general practitioner ordered him a small kit of scent training essential oils to help him recover some taste/smell perception.

They're easily available on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Smell-Project-Tr ... B08DLZWZX1

Time will heal it, hopefully. I have a friend who lost her sense of smell due to covid, despite 4X vaccinations. She's still smell-blind after two months. I sent her this link which, while not therapeutic, she did enjoy.

Probably not a good palate cleanser though.