Aronia flavor is typically the first inquiry when anyone asks me about aronia (black chokeberry). The short answer is that aronia has a unique, distinctive flavor profile that I describe as a complex tongue puckering combination of a very tart apple, an unsweetened black cherry, and a very dry red wine.
It turns out that it is very hard to describe a complex flavor. I would estimate that the most well known area of expertise in attempting to do this is in wine tasting, who have developed an entire vocabulary to attempt to describe the varied complexities of a flavor. More formal terms for aronia may describe it as a complex flavor incorporating components of dryness, tartness, earthy undertones, and astringency (from the high tannin content, like a dry red wine).
If trying to describe the taste using my own experience with other fruits and berries as I had described in the introduction, I describe the aronia flavor on a functional level as a combination of the essential components of a tart apple, an unsweetened black cherry, and a very dry red wine. Everyone has different subjective interpretation of taste depending on genetics (for example, supertasters), and certainly one’s own history of varied taste experiences is very important in how you interpret a flavor. The degree of ripeness of aronia at the time of harvest also plays a role; if the berry was not quite ripe when picked, it may have less sweetness.
Overall, aronia taste assessment ranges from people who enjoy the taste of fresh ripe aronia berries to those whom the high tannin content causes them to feel far too astringent for their palate. I know people on both ends of this range.
Background of My Aronia Flavor Assessment
I had first been exposed to the aronia berry a few years ago by an agronomist I knew who had incidentally referred to it. I said “What was that again? “ I had him repeat it and spell out the word aronia. I had grown up in the Midwest and thought I had a pretty good knowledge of berries and crops, but had never heard of aronia.
So, since then, I have been doing some background research on aronia and its potential health benefits. Aronia looks quite promising in the areas of health and wellness, as well as in sustainable agriculture. There are no GMO varieties, aronia doesn’t require earth resources for replanting every year, and it grows very well in the Midwest/Great Plains states. I decided to perform my own taste testing for aronia and describe my own experiences and discoveries
My Aronia Taste Test
It seems that every aronia article I see describes a wide variation in their taste experience. Some talk in general about mixing with other items, so I decided to describe my own experiences and experimentation with aronia flavor.
For full disclosure, I had my first sampling of pure aronia juice over a year ago. (not really a spoiler, but it turns out my initial thoughts on the flavor profile of pure aronia have not notably changed). For this test, I did do all 4 tests separately, during the same day.
For my test juice, I used pure aronia juice. The brand I used happens be easily accessible to me since it is sold in the health food section of my local grocery store chain. It seems appropriate to use for testing since is noted as to be “not from concentrate”, and has no other ingredients, preservatives, or sugar. So, this product seems most consistent with just squeezing berries, pasteurizing (Very important. I don’t want any infections of e. coli, salmonella, or brucellosis, any of which would be miserable), and bottling. Therefore, it seems to be as “no other ingredients” as you can get. This juice is in a 32 ounce bottle, and they note that there are approximately 1,400 berries per bottle.
I wondered how many berries a serving would be equal to, so I did some calculations. I presume they efficiently squished all the juice they could in production. Using about 1400 berries per 32 ounces, my rapid math skills would say that one ounce is then approximately 43.75 berries. So, 4 ounces would be approximately 175 berries.
Test 1. Pure Aronia, No Additions.
For test uniformity purposes, I decided to take all 4 oz at one time. Overall, this is definitely a complex flavor to describe. Nothing I have ever had is quite like this. Very tart, drying on the tongue, wouldn’t say was sweet, but wouldn’t describe specifically as bitter or sour either. More of a tartness. I see why some note it as having earthy undertones. Even with the uniqueness, I found it easy to down the 4 oz serving, (or should I maybe say “dose”, since was like 175 berries worth of juice). I assess that it is certainly tolerable and seems like would have characteristics that would develop into an acquired taste and appreciation. It would be very drinkable on a daily or twice daily basis. Don’t get me wrong; it is not sweet like a blueberry or strawberry.
I had heard a description some time ago that essentially aronia is the superfood that tastes like a superfood. I would agree with that characterization.
Test 2. Aronia with Orange Juice
Four ounces aronia juice with 2 ounces of orange juice.
I carefully measured out each amount with the same measuring cup. I used a regular name brand orange juice from the store, not from concentrate.
Overall, I think this combination is more pleasantly flavorful. It seems that the texture and flavor of the orange juice combines well with aronia. The original unique tart/astringent characteristics of the aronia are considerably balanced. This combination I could drink daily with breakfast without any problem.
Test 3. Aronia with Black Cherry
Four ounces aronia juice with 2 ounces of 100%, fresh pressed pure 100% black cherry, not from concentrate, no sweeteners.
I like black cherry flavor in other areas, so I expected this combination to work together, but… wow, this did not work for me at all. It was like I was taking a bigger cup of aronia. No additional beneficial flavoring. No benefit to this combination I can see. I wouldn’t do this combo again.
Test 4 Aronia with Crush Pineapple Soda
Four ounces aronia juice with 2 ounces of Crush Pineapple soda.
Yes this test combination was unusual. Bear with me on this one; here is the background on this test. Ok, so I hadn’t ever seen Crush Pineapple before and it was in the store on sale, so I picked up some last week. (By the way, Crush Pineapple tastes great!) I still had a can in the kitchen, so I thought, why not?
I didn’t have an expectation that this would be any good. Surprise! The combo gave it a very nice punch. It was unusually very refreshing and the carbonation combo was quite tasty. I would definitely drink this again. Crush Pineapple ingredients do not notate that there is any pineapple juice in it, so I have no thoughts that the Crush Pineapple added any nutritional value. I wonder how aronia with pineapple juice would taste?
Conclusions
So, my taste test had some surprising results. By itself, aronia is certainly very doable and does seem like it would become an acquired taste, like a dry wine or any other specialized beverage or health supplement. Aronia combined with orange juice or aronia combined with Crush Pineapple is pretty good. Pure black cherry added was not additionally beneficial in my estimation.
This was very helpful to me to help find out how aronia mixes with other liquids. It was also entertaining, and I ended up drinking 16 ounces of aronia today, so was like I had eaten 700 berries worth of juice. No adverse effects; I felt great.
Good luck and have fun with your own taste testing.