Yesterday, 250,000 people received a gift of “miracle berries” from Cards Against Humanity during their 10 Days or Whatever of Kwanzaa. Being a miracle berry fan for a good amount of years (yes, I’m pulling the Hipster card on miracle berries), I’m thrilled that others are being introduced to this fun activity.
First of all: What are miracle berries? Miracle berries (Synsepalum dulcificum) are a berry native to Africa. The berries coat your taste buds, blocking certain taste receptors (like sour and bitter), making anything you consume taste sweeter than it would without the berry. The effect lasts up to an hour. (I find it lasts around 30 minutes on average.) What you received in the mail is not the berry itself–it’s the berry plus cornstarch, made into a tablet.
While the people who manufacture/sell the berry tablets may tell you this can serve as a daily supplement and a way to live a healthier lifestyle (your vegetables taste sweet and you don’t want to eat as much candy!), I think these are best used for tasting parties. Invite your friends over and have everyone bring a sour or bitter item that they’d like to try on the berries. Then, pop the pill (this sounds way worse than it is), and get tasting! We’ve found that as soon as people try one thing, they start to ravage the spread, wanting to know what everything tastes like. Once the spread is gone, they’ll move onto your pantry and fridge. You’ve been warned.
Below are some of my favorite items to try with miracle berries. These have been tested and approved–they’re musts at your party! But a word of warning: A lot of these foods are acidic or harsh on the stomach, but they won’t taste that way. Although it will be tasty, you’ll still be consuming larger amounts of lemons, limes, vinegar, and other sour/bitter items than you’re used to. Use moderation and keep some Tums/Alka Seltzer nearby!
- Limes and Lemons (These are just amazing, Particularly limes. It’s my go-to favorite with miracle berries.)
- Balsamic Vinegar (It’s sweet and not harsh at all. But that doesn’t mean you should chug large amounts! Read the disclaimer in the paragraph above!)
- Guinness (Tastes like a chocolate shake. Any Porter/Stout will be ridiculously good.)
- Cream Cheese (Tastes like cheesecake.)
- Strawberries (It’s like you dipped them in sugar, but you DIDN’T! Magic.)
The following is a list of other suggested foods to try from various sources, including Cards Against Humanity, Amazon, and blogs/forum posts. I can’t vouch for the deliciousness of all of these, but it’s at least a starting off point for your tasting party!
- BBQ sauce
- Bitter chocolate
- Blackberries
- Celery
- Cherries
- Cottage Cheese
- Cranberries
- Granny Smith apples
- Grapefruit
- Grapes
- Ketchup
- Kiwi
- Mustard
- Oranges
- Pickles (or anything pickled)
- Pineapple
- Pomegranate
- Raspberries
- Rhubarb
- Salt and Vinegar chips
- Sour Candies (warheads, sour patch kids)
- Sour Cream
- Stinky cheese (bleu cheese and goat cheese, specifically)
- Tabasco (or other hot sauces)
- Tea
- Tequila
- Tomatoes
- Tonic water
- Vinegar
- Watermelon
What are your fave foods to have with miracle berries? Let me know in the comments! Didn’t receive the berries from Cards Against Humanity, but still want to try it? You can find them on Amazon
Old School Geeky Hostess tip: Miracle Berries make an excellent addition to any Harry Potter party. Because they’re like magic. (I think they were use in “Potions” class?)
I usually avoid IPA’s because they’re so bitter – I’m curious to try an IPA with these Miracle Berries….
Oh man, grapefruits are the BEST with miracle berries. Just heavenly. The most disappointing things I tried were sort of bland raw vegetables (celery, broccoli, etc). The taste was hardly affected at all :<
Good to know! I haven’t had much vegetable experience with them, so that’s excellent feedback.
Ha, yep! I want to say we used it in the Herbology class, since it’s technically a plant that does magical things.
I tried these with some friends, I wasn’t at all wowed by the experience. Most things tasted normal, lemons and limes were the only thing dramatically different but I still didn’t think they tasted good. Seems two very different experience by people. Many people on youtube seem totally amazed and others like myself not wowed. Read this post this morning before reading yours… http://rulesforrebels.blogspot.com/2015/03/mberry-or-miracle-berry-my-experience.html
Interesting! I wonder if there’s a correlation between people’s experiences and the way they taste/other foods they enjoy. Maybe some people are more sensitive to that flavor and have a stronger experience? I smell a science experiment brewing…
(Sorry you didn’t have a great experience, by the way!)
I take sliced fruit and saute with chicken and hot sauce and serve over rice, taste like a heavy syrup from Chinese dishes with no added sugar added. Oh so good.
Limes and Lemons are great but I can’t say I have ever tried Strawberries, that sounds like one for the next tripping party!
Can confirm. Had to make sure the lemons were real lemons. Strawberries are very sweet. Pickled hot peppers are a trip. Try mustard, vinegar, grapefruit, sweet baby Ray’s. Honestly, just experement
I’m on a low carb diet and I hate artificial sweeteners so when I’m having a dyer craving for sweets, I pop a miracle berry tablet. The best results have been easily the lemons and limes. Pickles are good too. They taste just like bread and butter pickles. The miracle berry is a real life saver!
I would like a taste test with the berries vs. most vegetables. I loathe most all veggies and if maybe that berry could change the taste of most of them – maybe I would eat more veggies.
Gummy Snacks, Caprisons, Ketchup, Pikles, Dark Chocolate, Caramel, Apple and Ramen all changed flavors for me
Whoa, I’ve gotta try ramen!
My mom opened these when she found them in my brother’s pockets. She thinks they’re drugs.
Ha!
This is a MUCH more comprehensive list than I’m used to – I’m looking forward to the next time I’m able to get a tasting together!
Wine coolers are also awesome with miracle berry – they taste like fruit punch
I bought a 10 pack 2 days ago off of amazon prime. And I’m very happy with how fast they showed up. But I let one tablet dissolve and waited forty five seconds for it to really take effect. But I’m sad to say it didn’t really work. I tried pickles, lime yogurt, pees, cheese, and ketchup, but the most that happened was the pickles tasted like sweet pickles (which I do not prefer at all). I don’t think it was worth the $15.
I tried this list with my family and it was so much fun but out absolute favorites where the limes and strawberries they are truly magical!! If it where up to me they would taste like that ALL the time. We also tried sour cream, 3 kinds of vinegar, pickles, and hot sauce and while they are all sweeter they are definitely NOT better so feel free to skip these. We also tried beer because we had heard from others that it tasted like chocolate milk. LIES I TELL YOU LIES!! although it does change taste it’s more like champagne than beer. I plan on trying it again with other foods this weekend so I’ll post again if there are any improvements.
I did a taste test today, and lemons tasted like they were covered in sugar!! So delicious! Celery tasted like celery but very muted. Not necessarily sweeter. Hot sauce is crazy!! Taste like sweet peppers, no heat what so ever !! Beer i agree taste like champagne.
SALT AND
VINEGAR
FREAKING
CHIPS
About five years ago my daughter was in plant biology in school and got a Miracle Berry plant.
Just an hour ago I picked over 200 ripe berries off the plant. I have fun just watching people reaction to how it affects the taste items.
I’m on a search to find the best way to store the berries, when I got here
You must be sure to roll it around your complete tongue not just let the tablets dissolve in one spot. The more you coat your mouth the more they seem to work. Funnies we tried is tequila. It made good taste horrible, bad tequila tasted top shelf.
sauer kraut tastes sweet too
seems to work best with bitter or acidic foods I ate 2 lemons, Celery and Tea taste no different to me.
The best thing I tried were those little tomatoes like you get on a salad. It changed from “meh vegetable” to “OMG! I love life!” tomato.
Tried it tonight, let it dissolve properly over time (takes a long time!) alone. Gf and others will be involved during Holiday festivities. I was a tester. Straight up fresh pressed lemon juice was the best test I had. smelled like it usually does, tasted the same on my lips, but it was like sugar water after that. So weird. Didn’t drink much since it’s so acid. Had a Lemon Drop Martini and it was basically a Sugar Martini! Bourbon and Coke tasted near identical to usual at first but later in the evening was way too sweet, maybe an hour in. I know it says 30 mins but it was more 1h30 for me. The other weird thing was salty things being WAY more salty, to the point of inedible. That’s my bad. Should have eaten before. Next time I’ll do limes, cherry tomatoes, etc. I did let it dissolve slowly and all over. Proof was the lemon juice. I could drink a 500ml straight lemon juice with no issues.. other than massive tummy aches etc later =P
Interesting stuff.
I tried appple cider vinegar and it tasted SO bad! Do not suggest for people to try! Hot sauce tasted pretty good! Lime was my favorite! It tasted so good!
I’ve been eating way too much candy lately, especially when I have the munchies, so I was looking to into trying miracle berry tablets to use simultaneously, hoping I could scarf down some veggies instead of so much refined sugar. I had planned on trying it with celery, but all the comments here seem to indicate it isn’t much affected — probably because it isn’t very acidic? Does anyone have any vegetables to recommend? I know tomatoes are technically a fruit and it sounds like those work well, but I was hoping for some other options, the healthier the better. Also, has anyone tried carrots?
Ok, I know this is unexpected, but the groups favorite combination of food was granny smith apples dipped in spicy mustard….it was magical!
Kara, that sounds strangely amazing!
And Amanda, I bet carrots would be delicious.
Sounds as though most of the reviews here are experimenting with acidic and bitter foods. I’m in the middle of chemo treatments and any foods are so horrible I just can’t put it in my mouth long enough to swallow. Was wondering/hoping that Miracle berries might change things a little. What about other foods? How do they taste? Pizza, fish, Chinese? These are a few of the foods I’ve been craving since my last decent meal in over three weeks. Any feed back?
Hi David,
Yes, miraculin should help those undergoing chemotherapy!
Here is an article where they did a pilot study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23022943
You may also want to read about Homaru Cantu, celebrity chef, who experimented with miraculin initially to help those undergoing chemotherapy.
I hope it works for you and you are able to enjoy eating again.
I had about 15 miracle fruit that I picked in one hit and enjoyed the minimal flesh. Then gave it no further thought. About 30 minutes later I grabbed a cold beer – Big mistake.
The beer tasted absolutely dreadful.
Did anyone try Diet Coke? If it tasted like regular coke it would be life changing for mw
I have a tree and it works well but the tablets aren’t the same… When I ate the fruit straight from the tree it works right away. I can have my daily grape fruit and enjoy it too
I need smoothie recipes
Want to try these!
How can I see the comments?
Tomatoes are awesome, blackberries, blueberries, and strawberries
It’s important to note that the more acid the food has, the more it sends a sweet signal to your brian. That’s the only thing that will cause the effect. All other things such as bitter and sweet are not affected. So, if you want to taste a difference, choose the most acidic foods such as citrus and sour foods like pickles. You can always check the pH of a food and look for low numbers closer to 2 or 1.
Agreed that lemon & strawberries are amazing!
I’d also highly recommend you try tomatoes – they are delicious as well 🙂
I recently did a tasting party too with miracle berries and share my experiences below
https://brendantrinh.com/blog/what-to-eat-with-miracle-berries-food-tasting-notes/
Did anyone try it with coffee with cream
Miracle berries and Guinness transforming into a chocolate shake sound amazing! After my gastric sleeve surgery, finding enjoyable yet low-calorie treats has been a mission. These berries could be a game-changer for those of us who are fitness enthusiasts. How do you see these fitting into a balanced diet for someone focused on maintaining weight loss? Also, regarding supplements, have you explored the benefits of Bariatric Multivitamins in conjunction with such unique dietary experiences?