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Flavor Tripping - The taste altering Miracle Fruit

Posted 31 July, 2009 at 11:54pm by Michael Chu
(Filed under: Food)

Tina and I were invited to a "Flavor Tripping" Party by Jennie Wang. At this party, the participants are granted one miracle berry which, after chewing and sloshing around the tongue for a minute or two, alters the way your taste buds react to sour/acidic foods for a little while (about 15-30 minutes). Instead of registering as sour, they register as sweet.
Miracle Fruit

We popped the fruit into our mouths.
Miracle Fruit

Then we chewed it into a pulp and swirled it around for about two minutes. It tasted slightly tart, like a really mild cranberry.
Working the miracle food around in my mouth

Then I spat out the seed and went to the table of food and grabbed a lime. It tasted slightly sweet and quite sour. The lemon was about the same. I was a tad disappointed, was it not working for me?
Limes and Lemons

After sampling a variety of different foods and not noticing a significant difference between my taste memory of the food and what I was experiencing, I was starting to be pretty sure that either the fruit had no affect on my taste buds or that it had a really mild effect. It did seem implausible that all the fruits would be decently sweet (I usually find most strawberries aren't sweet enough - but these were fine) but how was I to know if they weren't just exceptionally tasty fruit? I wish I had tasted everything before using my miracle fruit.
Sample Foods

After tasting the Greek yogurt and thinking it didn't taste sweet at all and just like Greek yogurt, I mentioned my predicament to a couple gentlemen set up to sell miracle berries in concentrated tablet form. The handed me a tablet that was made of concentrated miracle berry juice (from three berries) and corn starch and molded into a tablet. I followed their directions and crushed it with my molars, spread it over my tongue, and waited for it to dissolve. Since the chemical found in miracle berries only binds to taste buds, swallowing a pill is ineffective. Also, drinking lots of water or alcohol after eating a berry will quickly diminish the effects.
Miracle Berry Tablet

Once the tablet dissolved, it totally worked. The yogurt that I previously tasted was sweet - like a Yoplait or Dannon sweetened yogurt. The lime was like sugar and lime juice — more like candy or lime syrup than anything else. It still retained some sourness, but was really sweet. For some foods it worked well, and for some it did nothing (raw ginger still tasted exactly like raw ginger).
Flavor Tripping Party

It was a great event - we met a bunch of people who also enjoy food and got to experience a side of food that I've only previously seen on TV or read about.

5 comments to Flavor Tripping - The taste altering Miracle Fruit

Alex, August 1st, 2009 at 4:50 am:

  • I perfer pills from fresh fruits becouse they last longer in terms of going bad (you know as fruit quickly does). Miracle Frooties work great for me!

Kay, August 1st, 2009 at 7:26 pm:

  • It was great fun! The balsamic-infused strawberries were incredibly sweet, bursting with flavor.

Peter Tsai, August 12th, 2009 at 9:24 pm:

Sue Glashow, May 31st, 2010 at 10:29 pm:

  • Miracle Fruit trees are hard to grow, so tablets are handy I guess. I have some trees see my site…

Lisa Nowak, June 27th, 2010 at 2:44 pm:

  • Hi Michael,

    If any of your readers are looking to try the experience, we offer free samples on our website - there are two servings per tablet and one tablet per sample pack. http://www.theworldsbestfruit.com

    Thanks!
    Lisa

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