Why is prune juice the favorite drink of Star Trek's Worf (Michael Dorn)? The Klingon is first exposed to the Earth drink in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 3, episode 15, "Yesterday's Enterprise", when Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) casually suggests that Lieutenant Worf should try a glass. Surprisingly, Worf enjoys Guinan's recommendation, and declares that prune juice is "a warrior's drink". From that moment on, prune juice remains Worf's drink of choice throughout Star Trek: The Next Generation and Worf's arrival in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, topping more potent Klingon culinary staples.
Klingon and human palates are generally incompatible, though Klingon dishes are often presented as an acquired taste for non-Klingons. Popular worm-based dishes like gagh and racht are intentionally served alive, with their movement considered a feature, and DS9's Klingon Raktajino is described as much stronger than Earth coffee. Conversely, Worf enjoys foods that humans don't, like Commander William Riker's (Jonathan Frakes) 'Owon eggs in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 2, episode 13, "Time Squared", or the pasta that Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) says "tastes like liquid polymer" in TNG season 6, episode 16, "Birthright, Part I".
Why Star Trek’s Worf Loves Prune Juice
Prune Juice May Resemble Klingon Food After All
The simple answer is that Worf likes prune juice because Klingons—or at least Worf—actually like sweet things. Amid a sea of protein in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 2, episode 6, "Melora", the Klingon zilm'kach is a stone fruit, like the Earth plums that become prunes. In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 6, episode 16, "Change of Heart", Worf prefers Klingon bloodwine that's "very young and very sweet", and in Star Trek: Picard, Worf compares Château Picard's wine to "sour mead", which suggests Worf prefers sweeter flavor profiles. But sweetness alone doesn't make a warrior's drink.
While it's unlikely that Star Trek 's universal translators would mix up prune, meaning dried plum, with its homonym meaning " to cut back ", the idea of giving a Klingon a beverage with such a violent name absolutely fits with Guinan's subtle sense of humor.
On a deeper level, Klingon culture views everything as a battle, so Klingon cuisine frames diners as warriors. Besides being sweet, prune juice is thick, tart, and earthy, so it's usually tough to drink. Someone who's had to drink prune juice as a natural laxative might say it's as much of a fight as Riker choking down fresh gagh in TNG season 2, episode 8, "A Matter of Honor". Add in prune juice's benefits of maintaining a complex Klingon digestive system with redundant organs, and Worf could easily compare finishing an extra large prune juice to a warrior's decisive victory.
Prune Juice Is An Example Of Why Worf Is A Very Different Klingon
Worf Has A Foot In Both Federation And Klingon Cultures
Liking prune juice is just one example of why Worf is a very different kind of Klingon. Originally intended as a minor character in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Worf grew from being merely the first Klingon in Starfleet into a complex Star Trek character caught between his Klingon heritage and Starfleet loyalty. Despite yearning for acceptance from the Klingon Empire, Worf's decisions generally reflect his Federation upbringing, such as when Worf accepts discommendation from the Klingon High Council instead of letting his brother Kurn (Tony Todd) die in TNG season 3, episode 17, "Sins of the Father".
Worf's Federation values come from being raised on Earth by a human family, the Rozhenkos. Worf rejected most human foods as a child, and even asked his adoptive mother, Helena (Georgia Brown), to make Rokeg blood pie. That strict adherence to all things Klingon means one might assume that Worf's drink of choice would be Klingon bloodwine; even DS9's Quark (Armin Shimerman) pointed out that's all Klingons ever drink on the station. Worf is more than what he appears to be, though, and bucks the Star Trek stereotype with his love for battling prune juice: a warrior's drink, indeed.
