taster

 
Pronunciation: /ˈteɪstə/

noun

  • 1a person employed to test food or drink for quality by tasting it: a tea taster
  • a small cup used by a person tasting wine.
  • an instrument for extracting a small sample from within a cheese.
  • 2British a small quantity or brief experience of something, intended as a sample: the song is a taster for the band’s new LP

Origin:

late Middle English: in early use from Anglo-Norman French tastour, from Old French taster 'to taste'; later from taste + -er1