What Makes a Shower Orange So aPEELing?

A few weeks ago, a member of the Nebia team stumbled upon the subreddit /r/ShowerOrange/. Apparently, no sensory experience compares to eating an orange in the shower. Prior to this discovery, none of us had ever tried eating an orange in the shower, but we were intrigued — Are oranges really better when eaten in the shower?

The method:

We each tried this out a little differently. I myself selected a tangelo, mainly because I find them easiest to peel and was looking for something low effort. I paired this with my morning Nebia shower before heading in to the office.

Gabe, our CTO, tried out a Naval Orange using the Nebia in our Show•er Room.

Our customer experience manager, Tyler, prefers grapefruits, so he tested whether this positive effect applied to all citrus fruits.

David, one of our product design engineers, opted to eat the orange in the shower without turning the water on. We’ll say David’s test shows us whether the benefit is simply from being in the shower. (Does that make his orange our control? I’m not totally sure.)

The outcome:

My favorite part was letting the rind fall to my feet as I peeled the orange. There was something so liberating about not worrying about making a mess (even if I knew I’d have to pick those pieces up later) and the orange smell remained through the rest of my shower. It was a great treat to wake me up in the morning. In the end, did the shower orange taste better than a regular orange? No. But did I think my morning routine was improved by that shower orange? Absolutely.

Tyler, too, enjoyed the no mess aspect of the shower citrus. “It was nice because my hands didn’t get all sticky and there’s a strong refreshing grapefruit smell.” (Please note, according to the shower orange subreddit, grapefruits should not be eaten in the shower. Our general consensus was that a shower grapefruit was pretty good, but a shower orange is still better.)

Gabe felt more strongly that eating an orange is simply better in the shower. As he put it, the smell of citrus oils surrounded him in every direction. Between the aroma, feel and taste involved, eating an orange became a totally immersive, multisensory experience.

David found that eating an orange while fully clothed and standing dry in a shower is no better, and perhaps even worse, than just eating an orange the old fashioned way. We feel comfortable dismissing any theory that the shower orange’s appeal comes from something special about eating in the bathroom.

Want to try a shower orange under a Nebia?

You can book an appointment to try the Nebia in our Show•er Room here. We have a rotating selection of oranges on hand.

Stay tuned for our next post about other things you can eat or drink in the shower — And yes, we are looking for recommendations!