What Gives Cotton Candy Grapes Their Signature Sweet Flavor

There are some truly fantastic fruits out there, from intensely-scented durians to uniquely sweet kiwano melons. Unfortunately, many fruits aren't available at a typical American grocery store. So, in order to push the boundaries of fruit flavor, humans have developed some incredible science to turn ordinary fruit into something a bit more interesting. If you're a fan of novelty fruit like tayberries (a raspberry and blackberry hybrid), Grapples (apples that taste like grapes), and rangpur (a mandarin-lemon combo), you already know the fascinating sensation of biting into something that tastes nothing like you expect. For those who have never had this experience, and who like their fruit on the sweeter side, there's no better place to start than Cotton Candy grapes.

At first glance, these special grapes look like regular green grapes, but as soon as you take a bite, you're met by a burst of sweet flavor that tastes almost exactly like cotton candy. Cotton Candy grapes first hit the market in 2011, and since then, they've become a hit with people of all ages. Incredibly, Cotton Candy grapes don't contain any artificial flavors. Instead, they are the result of years of combining different grape species to create the perfect treat.

Cotton Candy grapes were first developed by horticulturalist David Cain, who wanted to bring a greater variety of grapes to the consumer. In order to do so, Cain and his colleagues had to find qualities they enjoyed in certain grape species, and mix those genes into their plants. Cotton Candy grapes are a hybrid of different grape species, including Vitis vinifera and a variety similar to Concord grapes. Concord grapes are extremely rich and flavorful, and are used to make grape juices and jams, but they are usually very mushy and full of seeds, which makes them less than ideal for casual snacking. Vitis vinifera, on the other hand, is your run-of-the-mill table grape. The exact process is top secret, but it essentially combines the best traits of the two, capturing the sweet taste of the former with the crisp crunch of the latter. This process can take up to 15 years, so these are still quite a rare treat; if you're able to get your hands on a bag of Cotton Candy grapes, you should know how to keep those grapes fresh.

The flavor result of this experimentation is a grape with a hint of vanilla and almost no sourness to counteract the sweet. These novelty grapes have all the nutrients of other grapes, but they do have a bit more natural sugar. Cotton Candy grapes are only available for a few months every year, so be sure to plan ahead so you can try this magical fruit for yourself.