That's really interesting. That suggests that taste may be a calibrated sense, where signals come from multiple sensors and are 'gathered' into the final perception. Probably some of your taste buds and olfactory sensors are less sensitive after covid, or may even respond differently, producing a different mix of signals. To return to normal, I suspect the lagging sensors will need to fully revive.

I wonder if there's a way to retrain sensory organs, to shape your perception of flavor, perhaps the way that oenophiles teach someone to taste wine more sensitively and meaningfully. Can one learn to deconvolute the the signals of taste?