(no subject)
Flavor-tripping party Nov 28, 2008
One hour after dinner
Objects - 1. to explore the effects of the "Miracle Berry"; 2. to determine its utility in helping me eat my veggies
Hypothesis - sour and bitter things will taste sweeter
Experimental details and observations:
Pre-tablet "control" tasting 19:00
1. Icebreaker sours - taste both sweet and tart
2. Granny Smith apple - tart, sweet, not as tart as I remember from childhood
3. Baking chocolate - waxy and somewhat bitter
4. lime - sour, limey
5. lemon - very sour, lemony
6. cranberry - sour, astringent
7. sour cream - mildly sour
Dissolved one Miracle Berry tablet (from Thinkgeek.com) on tongue - a bit tart, slightly sweet, slightly chalky
19:05
Experimental tasting
1. Cranberry - delicious -sweet and tangy, like cran-apple
2. baking chocolate - still nasty and bitter. No sweetness.
3. lime still really tart, but now really, really sweet. Like limeade concentrate.
4. Apple - like apple-flavored candy
5. lemon - like perfect, slightly too strong lemonade. The tartness hits hard, more as a perception in the throat and the sinuses than as an actual flavor
6. sour cream - tastes like sweet, bland yogurt. Dad and Nonwicked-stepmom say it tastes like cheesecake
7. absinthe - still disgusting!
Had another cranberry - seemed more sour - so I had another half-tablet of miracle berry at 19:20
8. broccoli - yuk! Still tastes like broccoli. Too bad, I've always hated broccoli and was looking for a way to improve it
Had another cranberry - tastes sweet again, but the *sensation* of sourness is very strong.
9. Unsweetened rice vinegar - super-sweet and super-tangy on the throat
10. Brussell sprout - UGH! Still a sprout.
11. Icebreaker sour - just tastes sweet and fruity
12. red wine vinegar - sweet and tart and very, very strong
13. red wine (Malbec, nominally dry) - astringent yet slightly sweet. Weird. Not like Manischevitz.
14. tabasco sauce - hot, but oh-so-sweet
Cranberry again - tastes sweet and slightly tangy, but I feel the "sour" reactions in my head without experiencing much sour taste. So weird!
19:40 I feel a bit congested/drunk. Kid-brother feels nauseated. Gosh, I wonder why.
Lemon still sweet, sour cream tastes less sweet than before.
19:50 Lemon still sweet, but the tartness is becoming more perceptible.
20:00 Lemon has some sweetness still, but tartness is now stronger than sweetness
Analysis and results:
1. Bitter foods are unaffected.
2. Sour foods are made to taste sweet. There is some evidence that the sweetness is in proportion to the acidity and not the original sugar content.
3. The effect lasts at least 15 minutes, with some lingering effect at least 40 minutes later.
4. The throat is lined with sensitive tissue that does not like being coated with acids.
Conclusions:
1. This will not help me eat my veggies
2. I am a giant nerd
3. This was fun and I will probably do it again.
One hour after dinner
Objects - 1. to explore the effects of the "Miracle Berry"; 2. to determine its utility in helping me eat my veggies
Hypothesis - sour and bitter things will taste sweeter
Experimental details and observations:
Pre-tablet "control" tasting 19:00
1. Icebreaker sours - taste both sweet and tart
2. Granny Smith apple - tart, sweet, not as tart as I remember from childhood
3. Baking chocolate - waxy and somewhat bitter
4. lime - sour, limey
5. lemon - very sour, lemony
6. cranberry - sour, astringent
7. sour cream - mildly sour
Dissolved one Miracle Berry tablet (from Thinkgeek.com) on tongue - a bit tart, slightly sweet, slightly chalky
19:05
Experimental tasting
1. Cranberry - delicious -sweet and tangy, like cran-apple
2. baking chocolate - still nasty and bitter. No sweetness.
3. lime still really tart, but now really, really sweet. Like limeade concentrate.
4. Apple - like apple-flavored candy
5. lemon - like perfect, slightly too strong lemonade. The tartness hits hard, more as a perception in the throat and the sinuses than as an actual flavor
6. sour cream - tastes like sweet, bland yogurt. Dad and Nonwicked-stepmom say it tastes like cheesecake
7. absinthe - still disgusting!
Had another cranberry - seemed more sour - so I had another half-tablet of miracle berry at 19:20
8. broccoli - yuk! Still tastes like broccoli. Too bad, I've always hated broccoli and was looking for a way to improve it
Had another cranberry - tastes sweet again, but the *sensation* of sourness is very strong.
9. Unsweetened rice vinegar - super-sweet and super-tangy on the throat
10. Brussell sprout - UGH! Still a sprout.
11. Icebreaker sour - just tastes sweet and fruity
12. red wine vinegar - sweet and tart and very, very strong
13. red wine (Malbec, nominally dry) - astringent yet slightly sweet. Weird. Not like Manischevitz.
14. tabasco sauce - hot, but oh-so-sweet
Cranberry again - tastes sweet and slightly tangy, but I feel the "sour" reactions in my head without experiencing much sour taste. So weird!
19:40 I feel a bit congested/drunk. Kid-brother feels nauseated. Gosh, I wonder why.
Lemon still sweet, sour cream tastes less sweet than before.
19:50 Lemon still sweet, but the tartness is becoming more perceptible.
20:00 Lemon has some sweetness still, but tartness is now stronger than sweetness
Analysis and results:
1. Bitter foods are unaffected.
2. Sour foods are made to taste sweet. There is some evidence that the sweetness is in proportion to the acidity and not the original sugar content.
3. The effect lasts at least 15 minutes, with some lingering effect at least 40 minutes later.
4. The throat is lined with sensitive tissue that does not like being coated with acids.
Conclusions:
1. This will not help me eat my veggies
2. I am a giant nerd
3. This was fun and I will probably do it again.