What's in a name?

Why isn’t the brightly berried Chilean guava plant more popular? Toby thinks the answer might lie in the moniker

- Toby Buckland

IN 1893, when Caleb Bradham blended a new drink made from sugar, water, caramel, lemon oil, nutmeg and cola nuts, he hoped it would make him rich. It tasted like the real thing, after all, but few would give it a try because its name – Brad’s Drink – even put off people called Brad. Then, in a moment of genius, he relaunched the brew under the perkier moniker of Pepsi Cola, and his fizzy-drink fortune was made.

I’ve been thinking of this story because I recently discovered an Ugni molinae, aka Chilean guava, in a friend’s garden. I walk past the shrub every week, never giving it a second glance, but this winter it’s come on to my radar, as its branches are laden with fruit.

With their characteristic rosehip shape and morello-red skins, there’s no mistaking them, and they taste delicious – a combo of pear and vanilla with a passionfruit zing.