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tastes so good, once it hits your lips

Last Wednesday I attended my first ever “flavor-tripping” party, an event where diners coat their tongues in the juice of Miracle Fruit berries before trying combinations of sour or bitter foods that normally would induce gagging, pursing of the lips and general flavor-discomfort. Instead of causing major gross outs, the foods taste sweeter, literally making lemonade out of lemons.

The weird science behind the flavor tripping is that Miracle Fruit is not a sweetener like sugar, but the berries contain certain proteins that bind to taste buds causing bitter or sour foods to taste sweeter. This sweetening affect can last anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours, depending on how you eat the berries.

My host decided to go the cheaper and easier route and order the Miracle Fruit in compressed tablet form, courtesy of Japan. The guests were charged with bringing any and every bitter/sour food combination for everyone to try.

Here’s a rundown of what I ate and what it tasted like:

• lemons and limes – like lemonade, or sugar-coated lemons.
• grapefruit- exactly like how you wished it tasted when you were a kid before you tried it and the taste ruined your dreams that an orange married a grape and had kids.
• goat cheese- sweet cream, almost like frosting.
• cream cheese- cheesecake.
• kiwi and cream cheese on a cracker- what I’m going to serve at my wedding for hors d’ oeuvres.
• smokey hot salsa- mango or fruit salsa.
• hot sauce- tasteless, or slightly sweet fire.
• salt and vinegar chips – fortune cookies.
• guinness- watery chocolate.
• onion- an onion (lame).

Despite the onion disappointment, the party was a success. No one’s life was changed by experiencing a transcendent new flavor combination, but no one got sick eating citrus fruit and soy sauce either.