That Time Justin Timberlake Tried To Invent A New Berry (And It Kind Of Worked)
Calling all fruit fans! If you love berries, there's a new one you have to try — and it's all thanks to Justin Timberlake. Although you might not associate the pop icon with produce, he inadvertently created a new berry after a since-deleted Instagram video went viral in 2017. The same video is still on Timberlake's Facebook page, and in the clip, JT snacks on a bowl of mixed berries when he realizes a blueberry fits ever-so-perfectly into a raspberry. Coincidence? "I think not!" says the singer, who immediately names his creation a "braspberry" before popping it into his mouth and exiting the scene.
Was Timberlake the first to think of this clever snack hack? Probably not. The concept is quite simple, and if you played with your fruit as a kid, you may have already discovered the braspberry. After all, raspberries and blueberries make an unexpected but winning food combination that's absolutely delicious. However, the braspberry didn't actually need inventing; it just needed the right marketing campaign. And what better way to spur on some braspberry publicity than through an artist like JT?
Driscoll's added the new fruit to its lineup
After Timberlake popularized the braspberry on social media, the fruit took on a life of its own. In May of 2018, Driscoll's decided to take the braspberry to market, packaging blueberry-stuffed raspberries in boxes of their own. And on the company's Instagram announcement, it gave a well-deserved shoutout to Timberlake. Shortly after the news dropped, the Christian Post reported that braspberries were only available for promotional purposes at that time. We're not surprised seeing how labor-intensive stuffing each braspberry would be, especially with the delicate nature of these berries.
The pre-stuffed braspberry trend may be a thing of the past because we haven't spotted them on store shelves for some time. But more recently, we've stumbled upon Driscoll's Braspberry Kit (a combo box of blueberries and raspberries) in Minneapolis. Truthfully, we may prefer this DIY braspberry version because half the fun is carefully wedging the blueberry into the raspberry yourself. Plus, what could be better than enjoying the fruits of your own labor — quite literally? And if you can't find the handy kits, you can always purchase a box of raspberries and blueberries separately. Read our guide to picking the best fruit at the grocery store so you can create the berry best braspberries at home.
Bai created a braspberry-flavored tea
During braspberry's heyday, fans also enjoyed this new fruit in liquid form. Since Justin Timberlake was an investor and Chief Flavor Officer of Bai, we weren't surprised to see his beloved braspberries in a Bai beverage. Bai's Tennessee Braspberry Supertea combined the powers of both berries into one antioxidant-packed drink. To get people hyped, the company even featured JT in a Bai advertisement. It consisted of a mock-style news report in which Timberlake made braspberries by hand, introduced the new fruit to the masses, and then humorously shoved one in his coanchor's mouth.
Sadly, this tea is no longer available through the company's site, so you'll have to mix and match the brand's raspberry and blueberry teas to achieve that much-desired braspberry flavor. But despite discontinued products, the braspberry itself lives on. Whether in fruit or tea form, raspberries and blueberries are a dynamic duo worth trying.