EXPLAINER: The Truth Behind the Blue Raspberry
Let's face it. When was the last time you saw an actual blue raspberry?
The overhead industrial lighting sears above me. It’s somewhere near eight o’clock, and I’m standing in the middle of a Buc-ee’s with an empty ICEE cup. The machine, two feet away from me, rings out a deep hum as I contemplate the flavors. Cherry…Dr. Pepper…Blue Raspberry. Despite the obvious pressing dilemma at hand, my mind decides to wander instead. Are blue raspberries actually real? Can I…buy some?
Well, for starters, “blue raspberries” do actually exist, although they are known as whitebark raspberries, often come in darker hues of navy and black, and have little to do with the flavoring we know today. As for purchasing your own package of whitebark raspberries, you absolutely can! Although they aren’t readily available in most chain grocery stores, Walmart does carry whitebark raspberry seeds and ripe berries can be purchased from specialty farms.
As for the taste, the flavor profile we’re all so familiar with is, instead, modeled with “mostly esters of the banana, cherry, and pineapple variety,” according to Executive Director of the Flavor & Extract Manufacturers Association of the United States Jerry Bowman. The blue raspberry flavoring we know today originates from Red No. 2 food dye scare of the late 20th century, but later gained a life of its own when the frozen beverage company that lead me down this rabbit hole in the first place, ICEE, launched the blue raspberry flavor nationwide in the early 1970s. At the time, ICEE’s most popular flavor remained cherry, and in an attempt to distinguish the new flavor from not only its iconic counterpart, but also most other flavors (think about it–how many are red? Cherry, strawberry, watermelon, red apple…) ICEE made the decision to incorporate Blue No. 1–the dye that would go on to stain millions of tongues worldwide. While the true origins of the blue raspberry flavoring are still largely unknown, it’s generally agreed upon that ICEE is responsible for the popularization of the flavor.
In a return to reality, the lights burn above me again. After much contemplation and a quick scroll on my phone, I walk over to another ICEE machine in the next aisle and press the Buc-ee’s Classic Cola button.
