The impossible burger was not nearly as impossible to identify as the name suggests.

When 13 Pascack Valley faculty and students tasted the Impossible Whopper burger for the first time, most were quick to recognize the difference between that Whopper and the original Whopper. Even though they could tell the difference, everyone seemed to like it. 

Twelve out of the 13 participants guessed correctly in a Burger King Impossible Whopper taste test. The participants had to blindly taste and tell the difference between an original Whopper and the Impossible Whopper. The event was hosted by The Smoke Signal during lunch on Sept. 12.

“The only tell tale difference is the way that the animal fat oozes out of the regular burger,” PV science teacher Anthony Judilla said. “[The Impossible Whopper] had a small tang that was very subtle.”  

The Impossible Whopper is a burger that consists of a flame-grilled patty made from plants, while the original Whopper burger is made with 100% beef, according to the Burger King website. Both burgers contain pickles, tomatoes, lettuce, mayonnaise, ketchup, and sliced white onions, while the Impossible Whopper is 630 calories and the original Whopper is 660 calories. 

“The Impossible Whopper had some tang to it, so I knew that it was the vegetable burger while the regular burger didn’t really have that tang,” PV freshman Vivian Westerkon said. “Both of them were really good. I had to take two to actually figure out which one it was.” 

PV English teacher and Smoke Signal adviser Bill Rawson wanted to give everyone an opportunity to try both burgers, so he purchased the burgers from Burger King in Park Ridge. They prepared a total of 18 Whopper and the Impossible Whopper burgers for the taste test. Each Impossible Whopper costs $5.59, while a regular Whopper burger costs $4.18, according to the Burger King website. 

“When I first tasted the Impossible Whopper, I thought it tasted a lot like a regular burger, but the more you eat it the more you notice that it’s definitely not real meat,” PV freshman Emily Moy said. “Differentiating the taste was harder than I thought it would be.” 

In order to keep the type of burger unknown to the participants, the two trays were marked with an A or B. Each participant ate a quarter of a burger from Tray A and Tray B and then guessed the difference. At the end of the event, Rawson revealed that Tray A contained the Impossible Whopper.

“I thought [the Impossible Whopper] was B because there was more coarseness in A, so I thought was more real meat,” PV history teacher Ken Sarajian said. “ I even took the lettuce and pickles off at one point because I wanted to taste just the burger itself.”