Do you believe in miracles?

September 16, 2008 4:06 PM

MiracleFilter: Do you know where I can buy some miracle fruit in Portland Oregon?

I'd like to get some miracle fruit for a weekend trip with some friends.

I've heard that there's a restaurant in town that may be serving miracle fruit, but we're heading out of town around noon on Friday - and I'd love to be able to take along enough miracle fruit for about ten people, though I'll buy more if I need to.

I'd prefer to buy locally to avoid extra shipping charges.

Additionally, does anyone have any experience with the miraculin tablets? I've found some at thinkgeek. They seem reasonably priced, even with one-day shipping figured into the cost, but the group of friends I'll be heading out with (and myself) would prefer the actual fruit to a tablet.

posted by terpia to Food & Drink (6 answers total)

Here's a list of farmer's markets in Portland. What I'd recommend is getting a hold of the contact person and finding out if any of them have miracle fruit. I really have no idea where else one might find it, though.
posted by Caduceus at 4:43 PM on September 16, 2008

This guy, who would probably know where to get just about anything food-related in Portland, had to order his from Florida.
posted by dersins at 5:20 PM on September 16, 2008

The tablets definitely work. I got mine from a guy on eBay for way cheaper than ThinkGeek and they came right away.
posted by zsazsa at 6:02 PM on September 16, 2008

I purchased the tablets from thinkgeek last month, and my experience was inconclusive. My friend and I had half a tablet each (which is the recommended serving size). We chewed the tablets and let them coat our tongue and waited a few minutes. While lemon juice was very lemonade-like, tabasco sauce and lime juice were still sour. The effects also were completely gone after about 20 minutes. It might be user error though, because we did not do a "before" tasting to have a basis for comparison, and the lemon and lime juice were not fresh-squeezed. I think next time I'll definitely try it with a full tablet.
posted by Trekoni at 7:48 PM on September 16, 2008

I bought tablets on ebay and they worked just fine. I can look up the guy's name if you want, he had a bunch.
posted by meta_eli at 9:07 PM on September 16, 2008

Response by poster: Thanks for the answers so far!

It appears that I should have planned further ahead for fruit. Every source so far apparently ships from Florida, and only after one to eight weeks of waiting.

I'm glad to hear that the tablets so far passed muster for at least two out of three people, since it looks like my backup plan (tablets) is the one I'll have to put into play.
posted by terpia at 9:39 PM on September 16, 2008