miracle fruit

“The miracle fruit, Synsepalum dulcificum, is native to West Africa and has been known to Westerners since the 18th century. The cause of the reaction is a protein called miraculin, which binds with the taste buds and acts as a sweetness inducer when it comes in contact with acids…” - “The Miracle Fruit, a Tease for the Tastebuds” by Patrick Farrell and Kassie Bracken, NYT

We had a miracle fruit party this past Saturday at our place and it was a lot of fun!

Here’s Jin (our supplier) and the berries!

Here’s our lineup of foods that we tried:

raspberries
tabasco sauce
extra stout Guinness beer
shiraz wine
grapefruits
limes
100% cacao
balsamic vinaigrette
saint arnold’s divine reserve
harvest moon pumpkin ale
kim chi
salt & vinegar chips
pickles
sour gummies

The berry’s effects weren’t as powerful as advertised — for example, the balsamic vinaigrette did not taste like caramel. But some things were really great. My favorite was the lime. Denver described it as a fruit that tasted like a limeade. It still had the lime flavor but it was sweet enough to where you could bite into it like an orange.

It was really interesting to see something and expect a certain flavor but then taste something very unexpected.

Everyone experienced the effects to a different degree. Some people’s taste buds were altered completely while some people didn’t experience any changes.

Curious about it? Buy your own berries here and host a party or look for a local party to join!

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Comments

So what did the beer taste like? That’s Saint Arnold Divine Reserve No. 6, an American Barleywine in the photo, BTW, not Pumpkin Ale). I’ve heard that one of these parties is planned (or may have already happened) at Saint Arnold Brewery.

Dan Keeney, APR / October 28th, 2008, 9:02 pm

thanks for the correction. we had the saint arnold divine reserve and the harvest moon pumpkin ale.

the guinness extra stout tasted like a really deep/rich brown ale and the other beers tasted gross.

all the things we tried tasted one of two ways:
– great in your mouth and then gross in your throat
– bland and almost flavorless

becky / October 28th, 2008, 9:08 pm

Very cool. My parents grow this in their garden and after eating one, I almost downed a container of lemon juice.

Viv / October 29th, 2008, 7:21 pm

your parents grow this?! that is too awesome. they should sell it, people pay crazy money for it.