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?

[Ghoulish Delight]

I saw this story today too. And I'm totally up for it!

[Alex]

I heard about these on NPR a couple years ago (I recall exactly where we were but can't remember which show it was, my memory is weird -- we were on 92 out of Half Moon Bay, on the last switchbacks before Skyline) and they sounded pretty cool.

However, as a flavor I far prefer sour (I drink Real Lemon straight from the bottle) to sweet so I don't know that they do me any good other than as a novelty.

[tracilicious]

Fun! Can you get some before Saturday.

[LSPoorEeyorick]

Oh, I'm sure it'd be a novelty for me, too. Who could afford keeping them stocked? But it'd be something fun to try once (or maybe, once a year if it's worth it.)

I wonder how quickly we could get them shipped? heh heh.

[mousepod]

Sounds cool! I'll kick in for the experiment.

[LSPoorEeyorick]

Heyyyy! There's a nursery in Granada Hills that sells the berries!!

http://www.papayatreenursery.com/

[flippyshark]

Oh, this sounds like such fun. I hope I can find an East Coast source someday.

[BarTopDancer]

Sounds like fun!

Did they create a money tree too?

Ooo. the link that H found has them for $35 minimum order.

[LSPoorEeyorick]

Originally Posted by flippyshark

Oh, this sounds like such fun. I hope I can find an East Coast source someday.

There seem to be more Floridian sources than anywhere else in the country! Check out this list...