Pineapple has joined the long list of foods the internet couldn’t leave alone.
Kool-Aid pineapples are the internet’s current summer snack obsession because apparently, regular fruit was getting cocky. The idea is simple and pulls on nostalgia strings. Take pineapple spears or chunks, dump them into a jar with Kool-Aid, sugar, and juice, shake it vigorously, then let it sit in the fridge until the fruit turns a color that doesn’t exist in nature.
The finished product looks like pineapple that spent the weekend at a rave and came home with a fake ID. Red, blue, green, purple. It’s juicy. It’s aggressively sweet. It looks a little radioactive under normal kitchen lighting. Here’s how to make it.
A Kool-Aid Pineapples Recipe
- 1 pineapple, chopped
- 1 packet of Kool-Aid
- 1 3/4 cups water
- 2 1/3 cups pineapple juice
- 2 T sugar
Put everything in an airtight container (or two or three) and shake well. Let it sit for a day or two, and you’ve got yourself a sugar high in a jar.
Where Did The Idea Even Come From?
The trend traces back to Willie Reynolds, a Florida vendor known online as Silly Willie, who started selling Kool-Aid pineapples for $20 out of his truck in Pompano Beach. From there, the jars started popping up at Florida flea markets, pop-ups, and all over social media, because nothing travels faster online than fruit that looks like it was marinated in a highlighter.
The snack borrows from Kool-ickles, the Southern favorite made by soaking pickles in Kool-Aid. That version I can’t really get behind. Pineapple, at least, makes a little sense. It’s tart. It’s sweet. It can handle a sugar bath without fully losing its dignity.
People making it at home have used flavors like Cherry, Blue Raspberry, Tropical Punch, and Watermelon. Some add lemon juice or salt. Others add rum or vodka to make it “dirty.”
The reviews are split, as they should be. One Reddit user defended the snack, writing, “I don’t understand the hate on these. It sounds fun and would probably taste incredible.” Critics in comment sections went in the other direction, with lines like “Straight red 40” and “What are people in America even consuming?” Both sides have a point.
The $20 price tag for Silly Willie’s pineapple was something people couldn’t get past, though. One TikTokker called it “a 10/10,” then added, “Is it worth $20? No. I could probably make this at home, but I respect the hustle.”
Kool-Aid pineapple is ridiculous, photogenic, sticky, and probably super yummy straight out of the fridge when it’s 94 degrees outside. We don’t need to pretend it’s “healthy.” Sometimes summer calls for a jar of cold, sugary nonsense and a little respect for the guy who figured out how to sell it from the back of a truck.
The post Kool-Aid Pineapples Look Toxic and Taste Amazing. Here’s How to Make Them. appeared first on VICE.
