Do you find blueberry flavor very distinctive?

[Qadgop the Mercotan]

I picked up a quart of fresh blueberries yesterday, and the Mrs. and I already finished them off.

Upon reflection however, both of us decided that while blueberries did have a certain recognizable flavor, it was not nearly so distinct as that of most other fruits, such as bananas, oranges, grapes, strawberries, etc.

I went so far as to say that I wasn't sure I could identify them on a blind taste testing, save that the best ones were both sweet and tart, like the candy. The Mrs. disagreed, saying she could identify a discrete flavor that she associated only with that particular fruit.

What say you, dopers? Are you able to identify the 'blueberry' flavor?

[kaylasdad99]

Always I can identify the flavor that is blueberry. And the food chemists are pretty good at fooling me when they mix up a batch of esters and purple food coloring and apply them to tiny chunks of apple, too.

[Leaffan]

I don't know. I was just about to click yes, but after reading your "blind taste testing" comment I thought about it further. Blindfolded, I think I might actually have a hard time determining any distinct flavour if the size and texture were removed from the equation.

So I guess I'm an "Other."

[pepperlandgirl]

I can always identify blueberry. It has a very distinctive, unpleasant flavor to me.

[kaylasdad99]

I actually like them, but kaylasmom usually identifies them by the aftertaste that shows up about half an hour later.

[Chronos]

I can recognize the flavor.

What I wonder about, though... At a local festival a few years back, I bought a bottle of huckleberry-flavored pop (for those not familiar with them, huckleberries are basically wild blueberries). Looking at the ingredients, it was entirely artificially-flavored. So I have to ask: Is there really any difference between artificial huckleberry flavor and artificial blueberry flavor?

[Left Hand of Dorkness]

Domesticated blueberries, not so much; I actually find them unpleasant and mushy most of the time and don't eat them.

But wild blueberries are another matter. They've got a very particular, strong flavor that I love.

And when they're baked into a pie, they're absolutely unmistakable.

A friend of mine thought he hated blueberries. But he was over at my house once when I made a pie from berries I'd picked up along the Blue Ridge Parkway. One bite was enough to convert him: now, like me, he just hates domesticated blueberries.

[Heffalump and Roo]

I"m glad I found this thread. I just ate my first fresh blueberry in a really long while. And I thought, "this doesn't taste like anything." So I asked a friend, and she said that she puts sugar on them so they taste like sugar.

But other than some pulpiness on the inside and some tart on the outside, it doesn't have much taste to me.

Blueberry flavoring (the fake stuff) has a distinctive flavor, but fresh blueberries themselves don't taste like that to me. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who feels like that.

[needscoffee]

Yes, but more so when they're cooked.

[Markxxx]

I think you hit it on the nail. It CAN be distinctive but not always. I think blueberries can be overpowered, a bit like pears. One of my favourite things is to mix raspberries and blueberries and you need about 2/3 blueberries to every 1/3 of raspberries to get a decent flavour mix

[toodlepip]

Domesticated blueberries, not so much; I actually find them unpleasant and mushy most of the time and don't eat them.

But wild blueberries are another matter. They've got a very particular, strong flavor that I love.



Second this. Wild blueberries are yummy, with a distinctive flavour. Cultivated blueberries have very little flavour, no acidity, and just taste watery. The same goes for raspberries.

[pravnik]

Blueberries definitely have a very distinctive flavor to me. My usual breakfast is fresh blueberries in plain unflavored yogurt, and it's very, very different from the taste of plain yogurt alone.

[california jobcase]

Blueberries taste like serviceberries or vice-versa. They're good. The most distinctively flavored fruit to me are black raspberries. They don't taste like red raspberries or blackberries at all. The lack of black raspberries 'round here almost makes me want to move back to Hoosierland!

[Superhal]

Blueberries have a mild flavor. I think I would be hard pressed, if the color were removed, to identify a generic flavor as blueberry.

[pravnik]

I wouldn't have thought so many people found blueberries so tasteless. Is it like a PTC paper thing?

[tr0psn4j]

Yeah I think it is distinctive. With that said, I don't really like it too much and prefer the artificial blueberry flavor instead.

[panache45]

Blueberries are one of my favorite fruits, and definitely have a distinct flavor. But this year they haven't been consistent. I've gotten some that were somewhat tart, and others very sweet.

[Tapioca Dextrin]

Good ones are pretty distinctive, though I might get them confused with Concord grapes in a blind tasting. Maybe I nee taste bud surgery.

[Swords to Plowshares]

I am extremely biased toward blueberries from NJ, which was instilled in me at a young age by my mother (who is from NJ). They're consistently the most sweet and miles better than Florida, North Carolina, or Michigan blueberries, and they make the best pies.

[Qadgop the Mercotan]

Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one whose sense of 'blueberry' flavor is a bit impaired.

Even so, sweet and tart makes for an enjoyable fruit.

[j666]

I wouldn't have thought so many people found blueberries so tasteless. Is it like a PTC paper thing?
I suspect a lot of people don't know what real blueberries taste like.

I remember how tomatoes lost their flavor when I was child; I have watched strawberries lose their flavor as an adult; fruit bred for shipping loses something in taste.

[Qadgop the Mercotan]

fruit bred for shipping loses something in taste.
Yeah, but mine were locally grown and picked a brief time before I ate them.

[Left Hand of Dorkness]

Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one whose sense of 'blueberry' flavor is a bit impaired.If you were around here, I'd convert you with a slice of pie.

[tr0psn4j]

Aren't these pies going to be loaded with sugar? Most things in life taste good covered in sugar.

[Left Hand of Dorkness]

I usually use about 3/4 of the sugar called for in pies, but yeah, they'll have some. Still, there's a huge difference between wild and domesticated blueberries, and IMHO it shows up very strongly in pie.

[j666]

Yeah, but mine were locally grown and picked a brief time before I ate them.But were they grown on heritage or wild plants and picked ripe?

Most fruits are grown on plants bred for durability, not taste, and picked well before they are ripe.

I find frozen fruits and vegetables more reliable than fresh, even locally grown. But there is nothing so sweet as fruit picked yourself.

[Chronos]

Pies are good, but the best way to prepare blueberries is to freeze a big Ziplock bag of them, then break off a chunk and eat it straight.

The best way to eat them, of course, is while you're gathering them. No more than half of the berries you pick should ever make it into the bucket you're carrying.

[carnut]

Domesticated blueberries, not so much; I actually find them unpleasant and mushy most of the time and don't eat them.

But wild blueberries are another matter. They've got a very particular, strong flavor that I love.

And when they're baked into a pie, they're absolutely unmistakable.



I, too, think there is a huge difference between wild and domesticated blueberries. Love the wild stuff and am positive that the flavor is distinct from other fruit (except for saskatoons and huckleberries, which are kissing cousins.

Look for the tiny, tiny blueberries on low bushes. They are a pain to pick but the flavor packs a huge punch.

[Left Hand of Dorkness]

I, too, think there is a huge difference between wild and domesticated blueberries. Love the wild stuff and am positive that the flavor is distinct from other fruit (except for saskatoons and huckleberries, which are kissing cousins.

Look for the tiny, tiny blueberries on low bushes. They are a pain to pick but the flavor packs a huge punch.
As near as I can tell, the flavor can vary from bush to bush, even in the same species. (I'm no expert at identifying blueberry species, mind you, but the bushes still look the same). One bush might have relatively insipid berries, or berries full of seeds, or berries that just don't have much flesh, while an identical-looking bush that's twenty feet away will knock your socks off with its deliciousness. I wonder if it's just genetic variation.

[amarone]

I find blueberries to be bland and much prefer more tart berries such as raspberries and blackcurrants. And gooseberries, if made into a pie or crumble.

[picunurse]

Blueberries are (were) my favorite fruit, that is until I suddenly became allergic to them. :( I can recognize them by smell or taste.

[katythepig]

I have never been able to taste blueberries. They taste like nothing to me. I have a friend who claims that some people are born unable to taste the taste of blueberries, but I have never seen any scientific confirmation of this assertion. If I want to eat blueberries for the health advantages, I mix them with other berries (raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, etc.) that I can taste and enjoy, but blueberries alone taste pretty much like wet cardboard to me.

I have eaten wild blueberries, picked off the bush (lowberries in the woods of NY State), and they taste the same as commercial blueberries to me.

[Chefguy]

Domesticated blueberries, not so much; I actually find them unpleasant and mushy most of the time and don't eat them.

But wild blueberries are another matter. They've got a very particular, strong flavor that I love.

And when they're baked into a pie, they're absolutely unmistakable.

A friend of mine thought he hated blueberries. But he was over at my house once when I made a pie from berries I'd picked up along the Blue Ridge Parkway. One bite was enough to convert him: now, like me, he just hates domesticated blueberries.

Me too, also. The one thing I really miss about Alaska is picking wild blueberries in the fall. The flavor is intense; there's nothing better than wild blueberry pancakes. Farmed or hothouse berries don't even come close, although we eat them for the health benefit.

[Arrogance Ex Machina]

The wild berries here in Finland are very good and certainly have a distinctive taste - I'm just not sure if they are bilberries or blueberries in English. They are tiny compared to some of the cultivated berries I saw in US, but I never ate those so I have no idea if there's a taste difference.

Anyways, I remember doing some basic training in the army in the forest and coming back with my mouth all purple. :D

[Chronos]

The wild berries here in Finland are very good and certainly have a distinctive taste - I'm just not sure if they are bilberries or blueberries in English.Never heard of bilberries, but blueberries are spheres about the size of the tip of your little finger (for the cultivated ones, at least: Wild are smaller), dark blue in color, and with the end opposite the stem split open into a star shape (which I think is the remnant of the flower).

Actually, on looking them up, it looks like bilberries match that description, too, but they're the same genus, anyway.

[carnut]

Bilberries are smaller and have a purple tinged color inside. Blueberries tend to be green or white inside. They are very closely-related.

[Unauthorized Cinnamon]

I ate some today in an effort to be a good role model, and I was reflecting on how blueberries have such an overpowering flavor, and I don't care for it much. They're the fruit analog to green peppers for me.

[Alan Smithee]

I've only ever had commercially harvested grocery-store blueberries, and I find they have a very distinct and pleasant flavor. I love fresh blueberries. (I really want to try some wild ones now!)

[johnpost]

they do have a stronger after flavor than a flavor to me. flavor is more intense when cooked.

[jsgoddess]

I ate some today in an effort to be a good role model, and I was reflecting on how blueberries have such an overpowering flavor, and I don't care for it much. They're the fruit analog to green peppers for me.

Yep. Blueberries have a flavor that contaminates everything, for me. I really don't like them, or raspberries, or blackberries, for that matter.

[panache45]

Offhand, I can't think of any fruit or vegetable that doesn't have its own distinctive flavor . . . except for the very few I don't like, like turnips and parsnips.

Blueberries are among the ones I love the most . . . and they're very nutritious too.

[Kolak of Twilo]

I have to say for me they have a distinct flavor in the extreme. I love them but it is a very strong flavor. Particularly when cooked. Huckleberries are even more so. I haven't had bilberries in a long time but I remember them being very distinctly flavored as well, quite similar to blueberries.

[devilsknew]

Oh... nothing btter than a blueberry coulee', blueberries and wild blueberries especially need and can take an amp of fructose, Sucrose, or Honey... preferablty a Rosemary and Oregano honey lemon blossom.

[ShibbOleth]

I can always identify blueberry. It has a very distinctive, unpleasant flavor to me.

This, although maybe not so much unpleasant as unfavorable as compared to other fruits. I can eat bluberries*, I just prefer not to.


*This is how they're pronounced in our home.

[BigT]

Well, I voted "yes", but I was thinking about them in muffins. I have some raw ones in the fridge, so I'll see.

They taste good and distinctive if I let them ripen to the almost too mushy consistency where they are sweet. But if I just eat the unripe ones, the sour overpowers most of the other flavor, and it is hard to tasted.

I've often thought that most people eat unripe blueberries. I mean, if I didn't know what they tasted like, I would assume the ones I called ripe were rotten.

[akrako1]

tasty! as long as they're REAL! (http://www.naturalnews.tv/v.asp?v=7EC06D27B1A945BE85E7DA8483025962)