Acai Berry TASTE TEST

The following Acai Berry taste test was posted by one of our reporters/researchers. See how this new "superfood" stacks up in a real-world taste test ...

I was keen to finally taste the acai berry juice that was hyped on the Oprah show and, also more recently, on the Rachel Ray show. Sadly, my first experience with the wonders of acai berry was underwhelming. I was hot and thirsty and eager to indulge in the health benefits acai berry has to offer. At my neighbourhood health food store I had a choice of a few acai berry blends…none cheap! I grabbed a few tetra boxes and ran home to toast to our new found healthy lifestyle. The juice poured thickly and looked more mauve than purple. I split the contents of one tetra box into 2 thick bottomed Mexican water glasses and handed one to my partner and grinned expectantly for her reaction.

“Bleck”, she squeaked. I was puzzled, “ Bleck! What do you mean bleck? What does bleck mean?” She screwed up her mouth and said “bleck, it tastes blecky”.

Crestfallen, I took a sip and understood immediately what she meant. Not to be discouraged, I took another sip. I then returned the glasses to my fridge thinking perhaps acai berry juice is an acquired taste I could master. I was, after all, committed to my new healthy lifestyle and perhaps the “no pain, no gain” mantra could also be applied to juice. After 5 further sips on 5 consecutive days I can confirm: bleck. What on earth are Oprah and Rachel Ray thinking?

I let my disappointment stew for a few days before realizing that Oprah and Rachel can’t be touting something that tastes downright awful and that maybe I simply chose the wrong brand. I did, in fact, choose the cheapest brand (which at $2.39 for 250ml/8oz is still pretty pricey). Determined to join the ranks of Oprah and Rachel and other enlightened acai berry devotees I decided to commence an acai berry investigation and conduct a formal taste test. The tasters would be myself, my already biased partner and my unwitting mother who had the (good) (mis)fortune of visiting on official taste testing day. I visited the 3 health food/nutritional supplement stores that were within walking distance of my house determined to buy every variety of acai juice I could find.

The first thing I found was that real acai berry juice is 80 BUCKS per 1000ml/32 oz bottle and that you are only meant to take 2 tablespoons at a time and it’s bitter. Not very thirst quenching, I told the owner of the largest health food store. Ignoring my comment, she went on to dismiss the other juices as just “blends” and that I could mix the real acai berry juice with apple juice to cut the bitter taste. As I left her store empty handed, I muddled through the differences between pre-purchase blends and post purchase blends and congratulated myself on leaving empty handed. At the next health food store I was able to find 5 different acai berry blended juices, two directly from Brazil, two from Canada, and one from the deepest, darkest rainforest in Sweden!

The acai berry taste tester juices

The participant juices are as follows:

1. Nova Acai made in Brazil. Cost: $2.39 for 250ml/8.4oz. The ingredients listed are purified water, naturally organic acai puree, organic evaporated cane juice, citric acid. Nutritionally 120 calories per container, 3.6g of fat 1.3 of which are saturated (6% of your rec. daily intake) and 39% of rec. daily intake of Vitamin C.

2. O.N.E Amazon Acai made in Brazil. Cost: $3.99 for 330ml/11oz. (Note: I think I saw this exact brand at another store for $2.99) The ingredients listed are 100% natural acai, 100% natural acerola, organic evaporated cane juice, citric acid, guarana extract, xantham gum, and lecithine de soya. Nutritionally 157 calories per container, 3g of fat 1 of which are saturated (5% of your rec. daily intake) and 167% of rec. daily intake of Vitamin C.

3. mySmoothie Superfruit Acai made in Sweden. Cost $2.79 for 250ml/8.4oz. The ingredients listed are apple juice, crushed banana, 11% acai berry, raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. Nutritionally 150 calories per container, 2.25g of fat .03 of which are saturated (< 1 % of your rec. daily intake) and 39% of rec. daily intake of Vitamin C.

4. Happy Planet extreme purple made in Canada. Cost: $2.99 for 325ml/11 oz. The ingredients listed are pure apple juice, banana puree, peach puree, acai berry puree, blackberry puree, orange bioflavanoids, green tea powder extract, ascorbic acid and beta carotene. Nutritionally 130 calories per container, 0g of fat .0 of which are saturated (< 1 % of your rec. daily intake) and 150% of rec. daily intake of Vitamin C.

5. Arthur’s Acai plus made in Canada. Cost $3.29 for 325ml/11oz. The ingredients listed are berry puree blend (acai, blueberry, blackberry, boysenberry, cherry) apple juice, banana puree, pear juice, lemon juice. Nutritionally 230 calories per container, 4.5g of fat, 1g of which are saturated (5 % of your rec. daily intake) and 40% of rec. daily intake of Vitamin C.

Each juice was allowed to chill for 24 hours at exactly the temperature of the average refrigerator, assuming I have an average refrigerator which I think I do. The testing process started by pouring a few ounces of each juice into similar tumblers numbered 1 through 5. I knew the country of origin and nutritional information about the individual juices but my co-tasters did not. Each taster had a note pad and we agreed not to communicate until we had each tasted and made notes on all 5 juices. My tasters were reminded that exaggerated facial expressions would be considered non-verbal communication and were taboo. Not unexpectedly, given that the tasting followed dinner with wine, my partner needed to make a number of exaggerated facial expressions which were confirmed to be “illegal communication”.

The test results were remarkable in their consistency. We all seemed to like 3 and we all seemed to dislike 2.

The 2 juices that were unanimously disliked were both from Brazil (Nova Acai and O.N.E. Amazon Acai) AND appeared to contain the highest content of acai berry (although Arthur’s Acai plus might also have the same content). The comments on these 2 Brazilian juices ranged from “bitter weird taste I can’t swallow” to “tastes like mud” to “almost a woodsy aroma but not as pleasant” to “yucky taste and smells awful”. There was nothing equivocal about these comments! Although later, a judge cut one of these juices with half orange juice and we all agreed that it was much more palatable.

Of the remaining juices it was agreed that all were tasty and palatable. Two judges thought Happy Planet extreme purple was the best in taste, aroma and texture while mySmoothie superfruit acai got the first place nod from one judge. Interestingly, Arthurs’s Acai plus was ranked 2nd best by all 3 judges.

the results?

So what to make of these results? The Brazilian juices tested simply can’t be drunk without being mixed with another juice and frankly, who needs saturated fat in their juice! Arthur’s Acai plus has an excellent flavor but gets a thumbs down for also having saturated fat. I would have to say that Happy Planet extreme purple is the winner of this tasting session with mySmoothie superfruit acai coming in a respectable 2nd place.

****

Publishing note: this article has been published to ezine articles, where our reviewers often submit interesting and informative articles on diet pills and related diet resources.