What Does Soursop Taste Like? The Fruit, the Leaf, and the Tea

By Suhail Rivera, JD, founder of Alkaline Herb Shop

Soursop is one plant with three very different tastes attached to its name, and they get mixed up constantly. Here is what the fresh fruit actually tastes like, what dried soursop leaf tea tastes like, and what soursop leaf powder tastes like, described plainly and separately so you know what to expect from each before you try one.

The plant behind all three

Soursop is Annona muricata, a tropical tree that produces a large, spiky green fruit. In Spanish it is guanabana; in Brazil, graviola. The fruit is eaten fresh where it grows. The leaves, harvested and dried separately, are what we sell, brewed as tea, ground into powder, or taken in capsules. The fruit and the leaf do not taste alike, and neither tastes like the other, which is the confusion this article is meant to clear up.

What the fresh fruit tastes like

Ripe soursop pulp is tart and sweet together, most often compared to a cross between pineapple and strawberry with a sour, citrus like note underneath. Some people also pick up a faint banana or coconut quality in the background. The texture carries a lot of the experience: soft, custard like, and a little stringy, closer to a very ripe banana than a crisp apple. It is a bright, assertive flavor, not a background one, and it is rarely eaten plain off a spoon for long, since the tartness is strong. That is why it usually ends up blended into juice, a smoothie, or a frozen dessert, where the sourness gets rounded out by something sweeter.

What dried soursop leaf tea tastes like

Nothing like the fruit. Steeped soursop leaf makes a mild, earthy tea with a light tang, closer to a green herbal infusion than to anything fruity. It is not bitter, and most people do not feel the need to sweeten it, though honey, ginger, or a squeeze of lemon rounds it out well if you want that. It is naturally caffeine free, so an evening cup works as well as a morning one. Our guide to soursop leaf tea covers the steep time and amount.

What soursop leaf powder tastes like

Powder is the same dried leaf, milled fine, and it tastes green, earthy, and lightly tangy, the closest comparison being matcha or moringa rather than anything fruity. It is not bitter and, like the tea, does not need sweetening, though honey, ginger, or mint suit it if you want it milder. Stirred straight into water it is more direct than a strained tea, since none of the leaf gets filtered out, which is why most people blend it into a smoothie or stir it into juice instead, where the green edge softens into the background. Our guide to soursop leaf powder covers a few ways to take it, including a chamomile and soursop leaf tea recipe with video.

Why the fruit and the leaf taste so different

The fruit's sugars and acids live in the pulp. The leaf carries none of that sweetness, because it is a different part of the plant entirely, harvested and dried on its own. Comparing them is a bit like comparing an apple to apple leaf tea: related plant, unrelated flavor. If you bought soursop leaf tea expecting the fruit's tropical sweetness, that mismatch is the most common reason people are surprised by their first cup.

Where to get it

We sell the leaf, not the fresh fruit. Soursop Leaves, 2 oz and Soursop Leaf Tea Bags, 24 count are for brewing; Soursop Leaf Powder, 4 oz is for blending or stirring into a liquid.

Who should ask first

• Anyone pregnant or nursing should talk to a doctor before drinking soursop leaf tea or using soursop leaf powder.
• Anyone taking medication or managing a health condition should ask a doctor or pharmacist first, since dried leaf preparations are more concentrated than the fresh fruit.
• Start with a short steep or a small amount of powder and adjust from there, the way you would with any tea or powder that is new to you.
• Anyone with Parkinson's disease or another neurological condition, or with a family history of one, should raise it with a doctor before starting, since soursop belongs to a plant family that has drawn research attention on this point. Soursop is not meant for continuous long term use.

Suhail Rivera, JD, is the founder of Alkaline Herb Shop. She has spent years sourcing, handling, and selling the herbs she writes about, working directly with growers and third party testing labs. She holds a Juris Doctor. She is not a medical professional, and her articles are for general information, not medical advice. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist before starting any herb, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication or managing a health condition. Read more about her and the store on the About page.