Why can't you taste anything for a period during a cold?

Answer 1

The swelling in your nose or mucus in your nose keeps the air which carries odors from reaching the nerves that detects and registers "smells" to your brain.

This also affects taste. 80% of taste is from the nerves (olfactory bulb) high in the nose; while 20% is from the mouth - sweet, sour, etc. This involves what is called "retro" that is - odor molecules travel through your mouth through the back of your throat and up into the nasal area and up to the olfactory bulb. If your nasal passages high in the nasal area are swollen shut you will not smell nor taste. When the infection or cold starts to subside you find that your sense of smell is now too strong due to the nerves becoming irritated. This will also subside. The nerve ending that smell and taste are renewed about every 40 days