Two Awesome Party Foods To Try!

Alcohol, mediocre games, and awkward flirting are well known to be the elements that make up a great party. But what if I told you I knew two secret foods to spice up your dull parties? You'd be sending me money in the truckloads because we all know better parties make your chances of finding that perfect someone so much easier. Really, parties are about having fun with your friends and these two food items will take your fun to next level. If you're looking for a new and exciting way to impress your guests, then give these food items a chance!

The first food item I would like to introduce you to is Synsepalum dulcificum. With a name like that, you'd usually be running in the opposite direction. Don't threat, this plant is commonly known as miracle fruit because it produces berries that utterly, but temporarily change your taste perception. These berries are rare to find in their natural state, but can easily be found as tablets on the internet. Armed with these tablets, you can easily create flavor tripping parties to impress your guests.

Miracle berries contain a protein known as miraculin, which temporally binds to taste-receptors. This binding alters one's taste by making sour and bitter items taste sweet. Miraculin alters other flavors, but the change is most pronounced when one consumes sour or bitter foods. Crazy claims such as Guinness beer tasting like chocolate milk and vinegar tasking like sweet water have been made. Please don't be stupid, of course I don't recommend drinking vinegar or any acidic solution because of potential internal damage to your esophagus, but I can attest to the taste-changing abilities of miraculin.

To have the most fun with miracle berries, I suggest setting up cup stations containing various foods such as lemon wedges, bitter beers, pickled foods, sour dairy products, or whatever you can think of. Miracle berries work best with sour and bitter foods, so don't expect spicy foods to taste dramatically different. Give each of your guest one miracle berry tablet to chew and wait a few minutes for the miraculin to bind to their taste-buds. Now prepare yourself for loads of laughs as you watch your guests taste these foods in utter disbelief. Your guests will be pleasantly surprised of the effectiveness of miracle berries!

The second food I would like to introduce you, which also happens to be my favorite of the two, is Acmella oleracea. The flowers of this plant have been nicknamed as "buzz buttons." If your first thought was that these flowers get you drunk, think again. These flowers create a mild euphoric shock in your mouth and throat. This shock can be described as an anesthetic feeling (AKA a loss of sensation). Don't be scared, these flowers are quite the party favors.

According to Wikipedia, Buzz buttons are used worldwide as flavoring agents for foods and even chewing tobacco. Buzz buttons contain a chemical compound known as spilanthol, which is responsible for the crazy fun sensations buzz buttons create. I've also seen buzz button tinctures sold as toothache remedies, but I can't attest to the efficacy of such a remedy. However, I can attest to the fun buzz these flowers create.

The feeling is hard to describe, but for me buzz buttons create a cooling and prickly sensation that feels surprisingly good. You can straight up consume the flowers by themselves, but to have the most fun, I recommend infusing cocktails and other alcoholic beverages with the flowers. You can simply sprinkle ground buzz buttons into drinks, but my favorite option is to infuse the flowers into white rum, gin, or vodka a few weeks prior to use. I've always used a ratio of 8 buzz buttons to about 200ml of alcohol with good results.

You can probably find a large collection of refined cocktail recipes using buzz buttons online if you're looking for a more exciting experience. As far as I know, buzz buttons are safe when not consumed in huge amounts. I doubt you'll be consuming large numbers anyway, because these crazy little party favors are quite expensive. If you're looking for a novel party experience, you can't go wrong with choosing buzz buttons!

As I wrote this article, I realized I've never actually combined these two foods together to see what crazy mouth sensations they'd create. I'm not sure I could handle so much power. Maybe in the future I'll infuse some vodka with miracle berries and buzz buttons to see how it taste. I'm assuming it would simply make a sweeter prickly sensation, but I'm excited to eventually try it. Let me know in the comments if you've tried either one or combined.