Author Topic: Question on Kishu mandarins  (Read 4049 times)

AndrewAZ

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Question on Kishu mandarins
« on: November 20, 2020, 12:09:19 AM »
I have a kishu mandarin in my backyard.  It has not fruited yet and I was curious to see how the fruit tastes.  So, I bought a box of them online.  They looked cool and were the size I expected.  Very easy to peel....but, I was very disappointed in the flavor.  It was sweet, but, besides that fairly bland.
Just wanted to see what other people think of the fruit.  Did I just get a bad batch or is this what I am to expect from the fruit.
If it always this bland, I may take the tree down and plant something better.

Millet

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Re: Question on Kishu mandarins
« Reply #1 on: November 20, 2020, 03:26:42 PM »
I once had a Kishu tree, and as you wrote the fruit was sweet.  The main reason I eventually got rid of the tree was due to the size of the fruit.  By the time the Kishu was peeled there was almost nothing left.

shaneatwell

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Re: Question on Kishu mandarins
« Reply #2 on: November 20, 2020, 03:51:30 PM »
Mine have always been bland. Very easy to peel though.

Had my first Xie Shan this week from grafts last year. Definitely a winner Millet.
Shane

containerman

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Re: Question on Kishu mandarins
« Reply #3 on: November 20, 2020, 04:07:45 PM »
I guess its one of those different strokes for different folks as everyone who tries mine absolutely love them. Mine are always all gone by Thanksgiving. Mine are sweet but also have some complexity and a bit of tartness. I suppose if they lasted into the new year they would sweeten up considerably more.

brian

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Re: Question on Kishu mandarins
« Reply #4 on: November 20, 2020, 07:56:42 PM »
I got my first kishu fruits there year and they were good, sweet and flavorful.

Owari satsuma is still my favorite mandarin that I've grown so far, though.  It is similar to kishu but the fruits are larger.

containerman

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Re: Question on Kishu mandarins
« Reply #5 on: November 20, 2020, 10:38:48 PM »
I got my first kishu fruits there year and they were good, sweet and flavorful.

Owari satsuma is still my favorite mandarin that I've grown so far, though.  It is similar to kishu but the fruits are larger.

Agreed I have both and its a toss up.

AndrewAZ

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Re: Question on Kishu mandarins
« Reply #6 on: November 20, 2020, 10:57:14 PM »
Ok, that is good to know.  This one had no complex flavor. No tartness.  Just sweet and orange flavor.  The rest tasted like water. 
The fruit i bought doesn't sound typical, so I'll let my tree grow and try it's fruits.

EricSC

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Re: Question on Kishu mandarins
« Reply #7 on: November 21, 2020, 01:40:55 AM »
I agree with all of above comments.

First, those you  bought are probably not representative to the ones from your own tree, which should be far better.

My Kishu is sweet, but not super sweet.  It has a clean flavor.  The problem I have is that the fruits are small.  You spend more time to peel it than to eat it.   I also prefer Satsuma.

But, kids love them.  So keep it for grandkids, yours or others.

Laaz

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Re: Question on Kishu mandarins
« Reply #8 on: November 21, 2020, 08:10:57 AM »
Mine have always been excellent. They taste like orange Lifesavers.

containerman

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Re: Question on Kishu mandarins
« Reply #9 on: November 21, 2020, 10:53:51 AM »
Mine have always been excellent. They taste like orange Lifesavers.

I like your description :)

Next season I will try and keep them on the tree until January. Mine are always gone by Thanksgiving.

containerman

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Re: Question on Kishu mandarins
« Reply #10 on: November 21, 2020, 11:32:55 AM »
As a side note I have Owari , Okitsu and Miyagawa mandarins this season. I'm not impressed with the flavor of the Miyagawa but this is its first year fruiting so hopefully it develops better flavor as the years go by.

I'm looking forward to my Xie Shan, Lee x Nova producing over the next couple of seasons.

And I cannot wait to taste my Dekopon which has 6 fruit on it  :)

EricSC

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Re: Question on Kishu mandarins
« Reply #11 on: November 21, 2020, 11:14:10 PM »
As a side note I have Owari , Okitsu and Miyagawa mandarins this season. I'm not impressed with the flavor of the Miyagawa but this is its first year fruiting so hopefully it develops better flavor as the years go by.

I'm looking forward to my Xie Shan, Lee x Nova producing over the next couple of seasons.

And I cannot wait to taste my Dekopon which has 6 fruit on it  :)

 What difference do you see between Owari and Okitsu?  Or they are pretty much the same taste?

AndrewAZ

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Re: Question on Kishu mandarins
« Reply #12 on: November 22, 2020, 12:35:45 AM »
I think the problem with the ones I bought are maybe that they are overripe.

Laaz

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Re: Question on Kishu mandarins
« Reply #13 on: November 22, 2020, 10:33:21 AM »
Most citrus you buy in the store is harvested too early & then gassed & waxed before being shipped to the store. Fresh tree ripened citrus is always 100% better.

containerman

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Re: Question on Kishu mandarins
« Reply #14 on: November 22, 2020, 11:22:26 AM »
As a side note I have Owari , Okitsu and Miyagawa mandarins this season. I'm not impressed with the flavor of the Miyagawa but this is its first year fruiting so hopefully it develops better flavor as the years go by.

I'm looking forward to my Xie Shan, Lee x Nova producing over the next couple of seasons.

And I cannot wait to taste my Dekopon which has 6 fruit on it  :)

 What difference do you see between Owari and Okitsu?  Or they are pretty much the same taste?
very similar to me so far if I had to give an edge it would be my okitsu but that might be because its more mature and has been producing longer than the owari has been producing.

EricSC

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Re: Question on Kishu mandarins
« Reply #15 on: November 22, 2020, 06:35:51 PM »
As a side note I have Owari , Okitsu and Miyagawa mandarins this season. I'm not impressed with the flavor of the Miyagawa but this is its first year fruiting so hopefully it develops better flavor as the years go by.

I'm looking forward to my Xie Shan, Lee x Nova producing over the next couple of seasons.

And I cannot wait to taste my Dekopon which has 6 fruit on it  :)
What difference do you see between Owari and Okitsu?  Or they are pretty much the same taste?
very similar to me so far if I had to give an edge it would be my okitsu but that might be because its more mature and has been producing longer than the owari has been producing.

 I have two giant fruits on my small Okitsu tree.  They are still mostly green.   I guess the fruits on the small tree are not the same as those from big tree.

JJROSS54

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Re: Question on Kishu mandarins
« Reply #16 on: December 06, 2020, 09:27:06 AM »
Andrew
I am in San Tan just south of you and I tried one of mine this morning, and its still at the bland stage, I think its a little early for them, we need some more of these cool nights to bring the sugars up in them.
I have had some in years past and they were really good, just be patient.

sc4001992

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Re: Question on Kishu mandarins
« Reply #17 on: December 06, 2020, 10:22:58 PM »
AndrewZ, I have Kishu and its about 7yrs old. The fruits tastes very good, sweet with a little acid taste (tangy), just the way I like it.
It's a very good fruit to have, always seems to be seedless (0), and good fruit production. Keep your tree, fruits are very good, even though size is small.

Shaneatwell, I think your fruit may be bland because your tree is not old enough or if it is, then you should leave the fruits on the tree until the color is bright orange (they will get sweet). My fruits were just sweet for the first 3yrs, but now it tastes better to me since it has the same sweetness with a little bit of tartness as containerman mentions. I also have the Miyagawa and was not impressed with the taste of this big fruit (no taste, watery). If my fruits on the Miyagawa doesn't taste good this season I will cut off my grafts.

I picked some of my fruits this month for sample taste tests and since EricSC asked about the comparison taste test, I just did one today and here's my rating of the Kishu, Ponkan, and Kiyomi. Ponkan was the best of the three.

1. Ponkan - very good, with sweet/tart flavor
2. Kishu- very sweet, good ovreall taste
3. Kiyomi- good taste, lots of juice

I took a few photos when I did the taste comparison and will add a few photos later.











« Last Edit: December 06, 2020, 11:21:28 PM by sc4001992 »

EricSC

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Re: Question on Kishu mandarins
« Reply #18 on: December 06, 2020, 11:42:38 PM »
sc4001992,

Thanks.  Very nice comparison.  I do have a Kiyomi bud grafted but the Ponkan failed.  I need redo the graft for Ponkan in coming spring.

Eric

sc4001992

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Re: Question on Kishu mandarins
« Reply #19 on: December 07, 2020, 05:10:23 PM »
Kiyomi grafts/tree gets lots of big fruits and its a very productive tree. Sometimes the branches have too many fruits and may break from the heavy fruits.



Goyo626

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Re: Question on Kishu mandarins
« Reply #20 on: December 11, 2020, 10:47:08 PM »
I have had a kishu mandarin for 5 or six years, the very first crop was horrible. Every other year has been good to great. This year i have been picking them since early November. The crop was high acid not much sweetness. Once the nights started getting colder the sweetness was increased. Right now the kishus are really good. They have high sweetness with a hint of acid. I started measuring the sweetness
last week and its ranged from 13-17brix with an average being 15. The fruits flavor varies widely depending on the stage of ripeness and how exposed the fruit is to the sun/elements. I ate 7-10 fruits today from different parts of the tree. The flavors range from a straight mild sweet sour flavor, rich pure sweetness, rich sweet and sour Mandarin flavor, and creamsicle flavor.
The biggest downside of the fruit is the size. The peeling doesn't bother me as much as the ratio of fruit to pith and membrane. The fruit cannot be consumed one segment at a time, it has to be eaten by popping the whole thing in your mouth and enjoying it.

SoCal2warm

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Re: Question on Kishu mandarins
« Reply #21 on: December 13, 2020, 08:36:11 PM »
The biggest downside of the fruit is the size. The peeling doesn't bother me as much as the ratio of fruit to pith and membrane. The fruit cannot be consumed one segment at a time, it has to be eaten by popping the whole thing in your mouth and enjoying it.
For me, the small fruit size of Kishu is not an issue since they are effortless to peel. Very loose skin. You can easily snack on them.

I don't know what you mean when you say they cannot be consumed one segment at a time. I usually eat them one segment at a time. They are not difficult to separate. The segments are very small though so maybe it is just your finger size. Definitely would not be difficult for a child to eat.

mbmango

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Re: Question on Kishu mandarins
« Reply #22 on: December 13, 2020, 10:10:38 PM »
I've had a couple years of great tasting kishus, which have had just enough tang to balance the great sweetness.  This year, however, has been noticeably blander.  Also, the membranes are noticeably tougher this year.  Trying to figure out what I may have done wrong.  I usually quarter them so I can spread out the enjoyment a bit.

z_willus_d

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Re: Question on Kishu mandarins
« Reply #23 on: December 13, 2020, 10:55:45 PM »
Mine is on 2nd year fruiting, loads up very well, easy to peal, sweet, insipid and tasteless, lacking acid, like it's watered down in a sense.  I still eat 'em and enjoy what I can.

Goyo626

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Re: Question on Kishu mandarins
« Reply #24 on: December 14, 2020, 12:59:40 AM »
The biggest downside of the fruit is the size. The peeling doesn't bother me as much as the ratio of fruit to pith and membrane. The fruit cannot be consumed one segment at a time, it has to be eaten by popping the whole thing in your mouth and enjoying it.
For me, the small fruit size of Kishu is not an issue since they are effortless to peel. Very loose skin. You can easily snack on them.

I don't know what you mean when you say they cannot be consumed one segment at a time. I usually eat them one segment at a time. They are not difficult to separate. The segments are very small though so maybe it is just your finger size. Definitely would not be difficult for a child to eat.
Of course the fruit can be separated, im saying it shouldnt be for the best eating experience imo.