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The original was posted on /r/tifu by /u/nebula_42 on 2026-05-25 02:18:43+00:00.
Rosehips are the fruit of rose plants. They are tasty fresh, but usually sold dried because they don't keep very well.
Well today I was in a shop (the kind of shop that is mostly a hobby for the owner with a little of everything--- it sold mostly antiques, but also local honey and jam, a few things of yarn, etc.) And they had a basket of very reasonably priced dried rosehips. I got excited because I love interesting ingredients and I like eating rosehips straight from the bush. I hadn't used dried ones before and I thought they might be good as part of a cheesecake. Rosehips can sometimes be mealy, so just like you might try one grape before buying a bag, I took one rosehip, popped it in my mouth and bit it. I was expecting the texture of a big raisin-- dried but still chewy with some moisture.
Instead it crunched into pieces in my mouth like I had bitten a cinnamon stick. Instantly I was overpowered with the chemical, oily taste of perfume--- the rosehip wasn't food. I spat the shards of fruit into my hand (gross) but the horrible taste coated my entire mouth and I could smell it up the back of my nose.
Turns out there is something called "potpourri" where people put dried scented items (like spices, flowers, citrus slices) just in a basket with the idea that it makes your house smell nice. Items for potpourri have to be very dry so they don't spoil, then have perfume added to them so they smell good. These rosehips were intended for that craft and the perfume added was certainly not food safe (because again, they weren't food).
At my car I swished and gargled water, but I could still taste it. Even after I got home and brushed my teeth and used mouthwash, the taste and smell lingered. It was probably the worse thing I have ever put in my mouth.
TL:DR: I sampled a dried rosehip because I thought it was a fruit for eating. It turned out to be a perfumed (non-food) rosehip just for smelling nice. It tasted terrible and the taste lingered for a long time.