The flavor of our galaxy … raspberries and rum?

Does this Torani syrup capture the flavor of our galaxy? And what exactly does that taste like? Watch Kelly Kizer Whitt taste test the Torani galaxy syrup.

The flavor of our galaxy

In 2009, astronomers analyzing a gas cloud near the center of our Milky Way galaxy discovered ethyl formate. On Earth, ethyl formate smells like rum and is responsible for the flavor of raspberries. The Torani syrup company took inspiration from this discovery for their 2024 flavor of the year: Galaxy. When I found out there was a syrup mimicking the flavor of our galaxy, I knew I had to give it a try.

Torani didn’t pay me to sample the syrup. I ordered it online and eagerly awaited for it to arrive. Torani syrups are often used to make Starbucks-like coffees at home. I’m not a coffee drinker, but the company also recommends using it in energy drinks or matcha drinks. Of course, I wanted to try the pure flavor of our galaxy, so I sipped it straight. It’s obviously much sweeter that way, but it was quite tasty. I may have to create my own signature drink with the galaxy syrup as an ingredient. Did it taste like raspberries and rum? Maybe a little. Torani describes it this way:

… an out-of-this-world, fantastical flavor that brings to life the molecular structure of dust clouds in space – which share the taste of juicy raspberries and dark rum – in a delightfully natural way.

To be clear, the syrup is nonalcoholic. One reviewer called it grape Kool-Aid on steroids, while another said it had a berry flavor with a hint of rum. Personally, I think it tasted like huckleberry. But I’m just going to think of it as galaxy-flavored.

The original study

In 2009, astronomers were looking for amino acids – the building blocks of life – in a cloud of gas and dust near the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Their target was Sagittarius B2. Sagittarius B2 is the largest star-forming cloud near our galaxy’s center. The scientists didn’t end up detecting amino acids there, but they did find ethyl formate.

Ethyl formate smells like rum and is part of what gives raspberries their flavor. It also has many uses in industry, for example, in the manufacture of safety glass.

But ethyl formate is not the only thing the researchers found in Sagittarius B2. They also found the lethal chemical propyl cyanide. Quite the combination. These are some of the largest molecules scientists have yet found in space.

Bottom line: What is the flavor of our galaxy? A 2009 study found a gas cloud near the Milky Way’s center with a molecule that smells like rum and tastes like raspberries. Torani syrups used this as inspiration for their 2024 flavor of the year: Galaxy.