Flavor Tripping on the Miracle Fruit

[LSPoorEeyorick]

The New York Times had a very cool article yesterday about a rare berry which, if you eat it, makes sour things taste sweet for about an hour.

Originally Posted by New York Times

CARRIE DASHOW dropped a large dollop of lemon sorbet into a glass of Guinness, stirred, drank and proclaimed that it tasted like a “chocolate shake.”

Nearby, Yuka Yoneda tilted her head back as her boyfriend, Albert Yuen, drizzled Tabasco sauce onto her tongue. She swallowed and considered the flavor: “Doughnut glaze, hot doughnut glaze!”

They were among 40 or so people who were tasting under the influence of a small red berry called miracle fruit at a rooftop party in Long Island City, Queens, last Friday night. The berry rewires the way the palate perceives sour flavors for an hour or so, rendering lemons as sweet as candy.

Apparently these berries are available for sale. And since I'm trying to avoid anything high-sugar or high-calorie, it might be a really fun experiment in attempting to sate a sweet tooth with lemons or brussells sprouts. But I have to purchase a minimum of 30 berries, and they're highly perishable and the minimum order will cost me $90.

So the only answer: have a Flavor Tripping party. Who wants in?