When did blue raspberry become a thing?
I have personally never seen a real life blue raspberry, but they seem to be showing up all over the place these days.
With several delectable exceptions — blueberries, potatoes and perhaps corn, food should not be blue — I have read on the internet (so it must be true) that the artificial “blue” raspberry flavor was developed so one could distinguish the raspberry from the strawberry flavor in a box of Popsicles.
What?
Has confusing our berries become such an atrocity that we have been forced to add all that fake colour into an otherwise harmless frozen treat?
All I can say is it’s a darn good thing no one makes a huckleberry Popsicle, what would happen then?
Truth be told, blue raspberry popsicles always looked like frozen Windex to me, holding no appeal whatsoever. I generally avoid them.
Most recently at a party I was offered a blue raspberry martini, and after some consideration, my second cocktail thought process was ‘why, when given an option to have a red raspberry martini would an adult chose a blue one?’
Neither was coloured — vodka is clear.
It was really just the name on the bottle and apparently the “flavours” infused into the vodka.
I don’t get it. What is more appealing about a “blue raspberry” martini over a “raspberry” martini?
If you think about if for just a second, the latter sounds fresh, summery, refreshing and natural.
It actually sounds quite delicious, but the former sounds like it will result in an instant headache and a blue tongue, which honestly still holds less than zero appeal now that I am older than 12 and at a cocktail party chatting with friends.
I think it’s hard to take someone seriously when their tongue and lips are blue, but maybe that’s just me.
Maybe the manufacturers are actually targeting 12-year-olds with their blue raspberry vodka, or just maybe we have become so conditioned to associating blue with raspberry that it actually seems natural to us.
Please say it isn’t so.
Blue raspberry should be nail polish, the name of a smurf or perhaps the colour of a bicycle or car, but it should not have anything to do with something we consume.
If it is true and people become so incredibly confused and disorientated when faced with the “is it strawberry or is it raspberry?” dilemma I would suggest we just stop packaging them together.
Make it a law: no more mixed fruit boxes of popsicles, freezies, gum balls or jolly ranchers.
Problem solved.
Oh, and let’s just forget about cherry altogether.
Angie Quaale is a local foodie and owner of Well Seasoned Gourmet Food Store.