This one’s wild: your brain can make up flavors when sense signals get crossed. Smell plays a huge role in taste, so if you have a stuffy nose or are recovering from COVID-19, water might taste sweet because your brain is filling in gaps. It’s like your brain said, “I don’t know what this is, so let’s call it candy.”
Why Does My Purified Water Taste Sweet at William Mata blog
Also, some medications—especially for blood pressure or chemotherapy—can cause dysgeusia (fancy word for “your tastebuds are drunk”). And yes, that includes making water taste like syrup. Fun, but not exactly desirable.
