Overrated Tropical Fruits

[Gone tropo]

So I read these forums and read various other "reviews" etc on the tastes of various more "exotic" fruits.  I have come to the conclusion that i cannot trust for a second other peoples endoresment of various fruits.  Luckily I have for the most part being trying fruits before planting trees.  I live in a tropical area where all the exotic fruits can be found at local farmers markets so im not relying on fruit being shipped from overseas etc which could influence things.  Here is a few that i have tried that lots rave about but i thought were mostly terrible.

Black sapote
yellow sapote (cantisel)
Soursop
bulls heart
Jabotica (these were better than the above)

Probably a few i have missed as well.  i think the real test is what do my kids like as they have no bias and they all screw there nose up at the above.  Give them a red papya, lychee or rambutan and its a different story.

I grew up eating the more common tropical fruits, papaya, lychees, rambutan etc and nothing i have tried yet on my journey into exotic fruits could even be mentioned in the same sentence as a lychee or rambutan.  Are most "exotic" fruits overrated or is it just me and my familys taste buds??

Can someone reccomend exotic fruit that will match a lychee and rambutan? I broke my own rule with pulasan and mangosteen having trees without trying the fruits based on the near 100% endoresment these 2 seem to get.

thoughts?

[johnb51]

If you don't like soursop, that puts the bar pretty high in my book.  You probably wouldn't like sapodilla either.

[Mike T]

This will be a long list and I have found many that have not lived up to expectations and descriptions. However I will say the ones on your list are probably not the best examples. Black sapotes are not like chocolate and are mild but ok if you have better varieties but sure no taste sensation. Canistels are alright if you like sweet potato, egg yolk and condensed milk. Milder fruits and those not super sweet like avocado take time and you grow into them.
Soursops can be alright but Cuban fibreless is too cottony and not sweet enough and that is the standard. Bullocks hearts are often gritty and bland with too many seeds. They don't outshine good atemoyas of course but there are good sweet grit free types like one I recently posted.
What is wrong with jaboticabas? They are sweet and trees get loaded. Just get in the groove of biting, sucking out contents and spitting out seeds.
Try capauasu,pitangatuba,vexator,macambo,, E.pyriformis,, E.stipitata, E.victoriana, V.monoica and see if you are disappointed or pleasantly surprised.

[Jaboticaba45]

Yeah...I was excited to try cacao, bacupari, wampee...was dissapointed. Cacao has too little flesh, bacupari has that wierd rind taste that makes me gag, wampee was to sour/acidic. I guess the best way to know what you like is to taste the fruit before you buy the tree...exactly what I don't do   makes me mad that I didn't try june plum before I bought the tree as I dislike the taste. I can see how you don't like the jaboticaba as it doesn't have much flesh, but nothing would be wrong if you have multiple fruits.

[Mike T]

If you are fickle with jabs Grimals with big fruit, small seeds and a good taste might bring you back from the ranks of the disappointed.

[Gone tropo]

This will be a long list and I have found many that have not lived up to expectations and descriptions. However I will say the ones on your list are probably not the best examples. Black sapotes are not like chocolate and are mild but ok if you have better varieties but sure no taste sensation. Canistels are alright if you like sweet potato, egg yolk and condensed milk. Milder fruits and those not super sweet like avocado take time and you grow into them.
Soursops can be alright but Cuban fibreless is too cottony and not sweet enough and that is the standard. Bullocks hearts are often gritty and bland with too many seeds. They don't outshine good atemoyas of course but there are good sweet grit free types like one I recently posted.
What is wrong with jaboticabas? They are sweet and trees get loaded. Just get in the groove of biting, sucking out contents and spitting out seeds.
Try capauasu,pitangatuba,vexator,macambo,, E.pyriformis,, E.stipitata, E.victoriana, V.monoica and see if you are disappointed or pleasantly surprised.

Mike thanks for the list i will have to look those up as i dont know scientific names lol.  The jabotica was ok certainly better than the others mentioned (grown in the daintree).  It has a nice sweet taste when you bite into them, they loose points however for the seeds and the slight bit of flesh that sticks to the seeds.  They skin also seems to have a very slight aftertaste of bitterness.  I actually have a red hybrid jabotica tree that i will plant as i think they just pass the test.

[Gone tropo]

Yeah...I was excited to try cacao, bacupari, wampee...was dissapointed. Cacao has too little flesh, bacupari has that wierd rind taste that makes me gag, wampee was to sour/acidic. I guess the best way to know what you like is to taste the fruit before you buy the tree...exactly what I don't do   makes me mad that I didn't try june plum before I bought the tree as I dislike the taste. I can see how you don't like the jaboticaba as it doesn't have much flesh, but nothing would be wrong if you have multiple fruits.

yep i have certainly learnt not to buy any more trees until things pass the offical taste test and that includes my kids taste test.

[Mike T]

Red hybrid and scarlets are very good like grimal. Just let them go really ripe so the skin is thin. Sabara can have a little skin after taste but again just let them ripen a bit more even if they are black.

[bovine421]

Yeah...I was excited to try cacao, bacupari, wampee...was dissapointed. Cacao has too little flesh, bacupari has that wierd rind taste that makes me gag, wampee was to sour/acidic. I guess the best way to know what you like is to taste the fruit before you buy the tree...exactly what I don't do   makes me mad that I didn't try june plum before I bought the tree as I dislike the taste. I can see how you don't like the jaboticaba as it doesn't have much flesh, but nothing would be wrong if you have multiple fruits.

I actually like green June Plum juice. My kids say it tastes like grass but my wife makes it very good. That's why I planted a second tree.

A glass of green June Plum juice in February is very satisfying

[Gone tropo]

Im guessing mike the reason things like lychees, rambutan, mango, papaya are some of the more common commerical stuff grown here is because it tastes best!!!! Maybe that is the simple reason a lot of these rare fruits dont make the commercial cut?? What do you think

[Mike T]

That is definitely part of it but there are overlooked gems all over the place. It that were true completely then popular fruits in Asia would be the same as those in say Brazil. It is more true of temperate fruits I think. There are many species that should be way more popular in western countries and many examples where poorer varieties still dominate when improved types are somewhere else. Sometimes they just have to be brought into the light.

[bovine421]

I think John is right about soursop.If you make the juice properly or make ice lollies or block. I'm sure your kids will be tickled.

[joe_OC]

I've never been one to get into something without trying it first.  After that, it's all about personal preferences...

[spaugh]

Agree black sapote and canistel are not good.  Just my personal opinion.  I tried several very nice and ripe fruit and a ross and they just are not enjoyable to me. 

Mangos, lychee, mangosteen are all excellent.  Cherimoyas also but they may not grow well where you live. 

A lot of the eugenias are over rated too IMO.  They are ok but temperate cherries and other stone fruit are better. 

Papaya even good tasting hawaiian ones are mediocre at best to my taste.  A proper watermelon or dragonfeuit is much better IMO.

Its all subjective...

[spaugh]

I want to add pineapple and banana to the worth growing list.  They are easy and delicious. 

[bovine421]

I've tried my best to like papaya but it just is not happening one-time my wife mix papaya with guava and Barbados cherries to make juice not too bad. Mango juice and pineapple juice are the best and I cannot say that one is better than the other. I'm actually drinking some Myers lemon juice right now that's tasting really good. But I've been inspired by the pineapple thread and my next project is to grow pineapples and some cantaloupe

[murahilin]

Black sapote
yellow sapote (cantisel)
Soursop
bulls heart
Jabotica (these were better than the above)

Soursop is the only fruit on your list I enjoy by itself. On the other hand, canistel ice cream is one of my favorite ice cream flavors.

Canistel tastes much better in a milkshake or ice cream form for some reason.

Soursop also makes excellent ice cream and milkshakes.

[sclateria]

Like some of the others above, I'd say that there are quite a few tropical fruits that are excellent for juices, milkshakes, mousses, and jams, but that I wouldn't eat by themselves. Examples include araça-boi (Eugenia stipitata), soursop, cupuaçu, and some of the uvaias. Things like cacau and the Inga spp. are nice to have around to grab off the tree now and again, but they aren't fruits I'd sit down to eat.

[skhan]

Black Sapote - never could live up to the chocolate pudding name
Pitangatuba - the one i fruited tasted like sulfured dried fruits with some sour notes
Jaboticabas - I think they are fine and grown to appreciate them but I don't think they compare to a normal seedless grape
Soursop - I mostly eat fruit out of hand, so if I have to do anything extra it better be a revelation
Mamey Sapote - same reason as soursop and I don't really care for the filling nature of it.
Sugar Apple - I only had normal purples and greens, maybe a Na dai a few times. Once I had local atemoyas it was game over for these guys. Also, whiteflies and leafhoppers seem to destroy sugar apples in particular out here.

[bsbullie]

Black sapote
Wax jambu
Jabos
Dragon fruit (for their taste, not superfood status)
Miracle fruit
Many types of guavas

[sclateria]

I've never tried achachairu but have been thinking about getting one or two trees. Anyone think it's over-rated? I quite like bacupari (G. gardneriana or brasiliensis, not sure which I've had), so I think I'd like achacha, too... would like to try growing mangosteen but I think it'd suffer during our dry seasons.

[murahilin]

Black sapote
Wax jambu
Jabos
Dragon fruit (for their taste, not superfood status)
Miracle fruit
Many types of guavas

You better take that back about guavas.

[brian]

I have only had a few canistel, black sapote, and jaboticaba, but I really liked them and am craving more.

Soursop (too sour) and sapodilla (too sweet) are really the only fruits I don’t like.  Maybe papaya also.  And durian for sure but that is known to be controversial

[johnb51]

The best soursop is a perfect balance of sweet and acidic, and the flavor is intensely tropical.  Maybe it's too much work for some, but I've always put the pulp through a strainer to remove the cottony fiber, which I don't enjoy.  I know sapodilla is very sweet, but what other fruit has a caramel/butterscotch flavor?  It blends well with other fruits in smoothies, too.

[bsbullie]

The best soursop is a perfect balance of sweet and acidic, and the flavor is intensely tropical.  Maybe it's too much work for some, but I've always put the pulp through a strainer to remove the cottony fiber, which I don't enjoy.  I know sapodilla is very sweet, but what other fruit has a caramel/butterscotch flavor?  It blends well with other fruits in smoothies, too.

Mamey Sapote