Author Topic: 2019 SoCal Mango tasting  (Read 14084 times)

simon_grow

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Re: 2019 SoCal Mango tasting
« Reply #50 on: October 14, 2019, 10:15:09 PM »
I just cut open this Sweet Tart Mango grown on my Double Stone grafted tree and it was fantastic! It has a Brix of 26% and had excellent sugar acid balance. It was still fairly firm when I cut it because I like my STs with some acid balance. If I let it ripen another day or two, it would be mostly sweet with just a bit of tart. The Indochinese flavor is really strong in this variety and this fruit was good size at just over a pound.


Here are pictures of the ST cut open. Pictures taken with and without flash







Simon

simon_grow

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Re: 2019 SoCal Mango tasting
« Reply #51 on: October 14, 2019, 10:19:36 PM »
Kris,

I believe the Cotton Candy grape is patented. Probably the best thing to do is to go to a grape tasting and find something that maybe you and your wife will like as much, if not more than the CC grape.

You know, there a Cotton Candy Mango as well and Bsbullie said it did taste like cotton candy.

Simon

zephian

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Re: 2019 SoCal Mango tasting
« Reply #52 on: October 14, 2019, 10:25:07 PM »
Kris,

I believe the Cotton Candy grape is patented. Probably the best thing to do is to go to a grape tasting and find something that maybe you and your wife will like as much, if not more than the CC grape.

You know, there a Cotton Candy Mango as well and Bsbullie said it did taste like cotton candy.

Simon
It is, but I have heard of people growing it themselves.
Personally, I don't care for them but I gotta keep the wife happy with this hobby of mine... :)
-Kris

JF

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Re: 2019 SoCal Mango tasting
« Reply #53 on: October 15, 2019, 02:40:17 PM »













Both excellent sweet, full flavor coconuty ripen on counter

spaugh

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Re: 2019 SoCal Mango tasting
« Reply #54 on: October 15, 2019, 02:43:10 PM »
Hey Frank thanks for letting me join the party.  Pretty awesome all the mangos and the snacks were also much appreciated.  Nice to meet everyone else too, you guys are welcome to come down and visit any time.
Brad Spaugh

JF

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Re: 2019 SoCal Mango tasting
« Reply #55 on: October 17, 2019, 12:30:35 AM »
Hey Frank thanks for letting me join the party.  Pretty awesome all the mangos and the snacks were also much appreciated.  Nice to meet everyone else too, you guys are welcome to come down and visit any time.

Hi Brad
You are welcome and we enjoyed having you. Thanks for the invite and we will pass by yr place when we are in SD.

behlgarden

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Re: 2019 SoCal Mango tasting
« Reply #56 on: October 17, 2019, 08:36:47 PM »
Was not in tasting but here is guava mango just had from my yard. Must grow top tier.







simon_grow

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Re: 2019 SoCal Mango tasting
« Reply #57 on: October 17, 2019, 09:51:57 PM »
The Guava mango sounds really good. Behl, was the Brix reading beyond the range of your refractometer? I don’t see a reading. On a side note, the Indian Rajapuri mango has a super delicious Guava flavor.

Simon

simon_grow

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Re: 2019 SoCal Mango tasting
« Reply #58 on: October 17, 2019, 10:31:44 PM »
heres an Angie I just cut open. It looks wrinkly on the outside but the inside was very good. It had a Brix of 20% and tasted sweet with notes of Kesar resin which I don’t recall detecting in this variety before. This fruit had an aborted seed which alters the shape of the fruit and can also change the flavor of the fruit. Nubbin fruit, in SoCal, often have higher Brix compared to normal sized fruit.

Pictures with and without flash





Simon

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Re: 2019 SoCal Mango tasting
« Reply #59 on: October 17, 2019, 11:13:45 PM »
Quote
Nubbin fruit, in SoCal, often have higher Brix compared to normal sized fruit.

It’s like that here too.

simon_grow

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Re: 2019 SoCal Mango tasting
« Reply #60 on: October 17, 2019, 11:56:30 PM »
Here’s the amazing Sweet Tart



This fruit is absolutely amazing! As you can see in the pictures, this fruit was allowed to get wrinkly before I cut it open.

A little background regarding this variety helps to know when to pick the fruit. Sweet Tart is a Zill Indochinese seedling(ZIC/ZINC) and like it’s parent, it can get cracks in the skin. In order to avoid this issue, you pick it mature green with a blush of yellow or with yellow streaks going down the side. You can also look for sap beads. I got this information from the excellent videos that Chris from Truly Tropical posted.

ZIC
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EMtn8sMwmXA
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=a1TaIWAD4ZQ

Sweet Tart
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=99bv-KJ8wkE

Here in SoCal, you often see the lenticels getting dark and the sap beads are also very obvious. When picked mature green as described above, they are often still rock hard and can take from as little as a few days to ripen or up to about three weeks.

The more under ripe they are when picked, the longer it seems to take for it to ripen and the more wrinkly they get but even in that wrinkly state, they reach high Brix levels, the flesh is still firm and there is no funky over ripe taste.

Here’s that same wrinkly skinned Sweet Tart cut open.




Even though this fruit was wrinkly, the stem end was not fully soft ripe. There was a gradient of flavor profiles and textures with the nose being perfectly soft ripe, very sweet with a little acidity. The middle of this fruit was medium firm ripe and very sweet with excellent acidity, perfect for my liking. About the last 20%, the stem or Butt end of the fruit was still relatively firm with slight chalkiness and a more in your face Tart like a sour patch kid candy. The flesh also stuck tenaciously to the skin.

If the fruit were allowed to ripen on the tree for perhaps another week or so, it would have probably ripened earlier and more consistently. I just wanted to bring up this point to show how forgiving this exceptional variety is.

You can accidentally pick it a little too early and still have it ripen up. Not only that, by picking it mature green, you may be able to avoid theft and animals from getting to the fruit before you’re able to harvest it.

Picking aside, Sweet Tart is also very forgiving in regards to counter ripening. If you eat it while still firm, it will have a spritely sour kick along with that greener Indochinese flavor. Let it hang out on the counter for a few more days to soften a bit more and you get that perfect sweet and tart balance. Accidentally or purposely let it get soft and wrinkly and you get mostly sweet with very little tart with the exception of prematurely harvested fruit sometimes displaying a gradient of flavors and textures and perhaps more tart than would otherwise be expected.

All this and the tree is Vigorous and disease resistant! This is a dream come true for SoCal mango growers. And, just when you thought things couldn’t get any better, you come to find that Sweet Tart has two hot sisters(Venus and Kathy) that might be tastier than her. Not only that but, mom ZIC can still pull her own weight and is a good producer, at least in Florida.

Based on preliminary results, it appears that ZIC, Sweet Tart, Venus and Kathy are all productive in SoCal. Here’s another Sweet Tart that was ready a couple days ago but hey, it’s Sweet Tart, it’ll still be fine in another day or two.



Simon

simon_grow

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Re: 2019 SoCal Mango tasting
« Reply #61 on: October 18, 2019, 12:01:59 AM »
Quote
Nubbin fruit, in SoCal, often have higher Brix compared to normal sized fruit.

It’s like that here too.

That’s good to know, thanks Alex!

Simon

BestDay

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Re: 2019 SoCal Mango tasting
« Reply #62 on: October 19, 2019, 02:05:53 AM »
Well said Simon.

Bill

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Re: 2019 SoCal Mango tasting
« Reply #63 on: October 20, 2019, 09:50:56 PM »
Parson




NDM






Mangos started to sweeten in mid fall.

simon_grow

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Re: 2019 SoCal Mango tasting
« Reply #64 on: October 20, 2019, 11:36:43 PM »
Frank, that’s a great reading on the Parson and NDM. I just got back from Leo’s place and his Mangos are just starting to ripen up. Mangos seem to be ripening late for Leo this year.

I just cut open this Sweet Tart that was gifted to me 10 days ago at the mango tasting. It was completely green and rock hard when I first received it and it ripened up with a blush of yellow but stayed mostly green.

This fruit isn’t wrinkly like the last Sweet Tart but it was giving to some slight pressure so I cut it open. It had a Brix of 27% and was fantastic. Like the previous Sweet Tart, this one had excellent sugar acid balance with a wonderful Indochinese flavor. The flesh next to the skin is especially enjoyable because it is extremely sweet and I seem to pick up more complex Indochinese turpene components in the flavor profile.







Notice the dark lenticels

Orange colored flesh, with and without flash







Simon

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Re: 2019 SoCal Mango tasting
« Reply #65 on: October 21, 2019, 11:34:13 AM »
Simon
Sweet tart is just an incredible fruit. We are few weeks late this season so the ripening time was pushed back. As I mention the best way to ripen mangos are in a fruit bowl in your kitchen......provided they are harvest properly. LZ are sweeting up nearing the 30 brix mark they've reached in the past. 






behlgarden

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Re: 2019 SoCal Mango tasting
« Reply #66 on: October 21, 2019, 12:52:24 PM »
The Guava mango sounds really good. Behl, was the Brix reading beyond the range of your refractometer? I don’t see a reading. On a side note, the Indian Rajapuri mango has a super delicious Guava flavor.

Simon

Simon, take a careful look, it was around 26, that is where you see blue transition from orange. its hard to take pic with cellphone working as eye into the meter LOL

JF

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Re: 2019 SoCal Mango tasting
« Reply #67 on: October 21, 2019, 02:32:00 PM »
Cac






JF

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Re: 2019 SoCal Mango tasting
« Reply #68 on: October 21, 2019, 08:38:59 PM »
As we pile up the heat units ( 98f itoday) the brix elevates. In the tasting Parson was 22 now 26.5







simon_grow

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Re: 2019 SoCal Mango tasting
« Reply #69 on: October 21, 2019, 10:25:44 PM »
Frank and Behl,

Great info. These mid season Mangos are turning out great. My Cotton Candy, Peach Cobbler and lone LZ are still ripening. We’re supposed to get into the 90s tomorrow which should help to sweeten these Mangos up but unfortunately we are getting the Santa Anna conditions so the dry winds may cause some fruit to drop.

Simon

simon_grow

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Re: 2019 SoCal Mango tasting
« Reply #70 on: October 22, 2019, 12:15:56 AM »
I want to take a moment to feature one of Leo Manuel’s selections, his “Keitt Seedling”. Leo’s Keitt Seedling rates very high in our local mango tastings, usually in the top 5. This is quite an achievement considering it is rubbing shoulders with Zill giants like Lemon Zest and Sweet Tart. Picture of Leo’s Keitt seedling


I stopped by Leo’s place yesterday in order to get some more information on this variety. 

This variety is obviously from a Keitt Seedling and Leo mentioned that he planted multiple Keitt seeds but most of them were very slow growing and didn’t amount to anything worth keeping. There was one Keitt seedling, however, that grew fine and produced good sized and extremely tasty fruit.

The fruit averages about a pound in weight and is green in color with a yellow blush towards the stem end as it approaches ripening. This mango has lenticels scattered around the fruit with a higher concentration near the stem end.

The mango is approximately 5-6 inches long and a little over 3 inches wide. Leo’s tree also produces short, fat and rounded fruit(nubbins) although these are much less common.





Picture of the short, round nubbin fruit



Aside from the excellent taste of this mango is the fact that this selection produces a high percentage of ultra thin seeds, similar to NDM. This selection often forms fruit in clusters of 2-4 fruit.
Clusters of fruit, many fruit hiding in the canopy











Rats or squirrels have been eating many of the fruit. Here’s a picture of a half eaten fruit so you can see how thin the seed is








The tree that Leo has growing in his yard is grafted onto a different rootstock although Leo does not recall what rootstock it is. The tree is medium vigor and the consistency of its fruiting seems to keep its growth in check. Leo believes his tree is approximately 10 years old.

This tree is disease resistant and flowers and holds fruit to maturity even in years with high fungal disease pressures.

Looking back at my notes, this mango usually has a high Brix with a low of 23% and a high of 27%. I haven’t eaten one this year, I have one ripening on the counter, but I recall the flavor profile similar to Sweet Tart but without the Indochinese flavor.

This variety is definitely top tier and I will definitely be grafting it onto my trees next year. I wonder how this variety will perform when grown in high fungal disease counties of Florida?
Close up shot of the leaves





Simon

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Re: 2019 SoCal Mango tasting
« Reply #71 on: October 22, 2019, 01:26:10 PM »







Another excellent variety.
Simon I remember going to Leo’s 3-4 years ago w AZ and Behl. Leo told us his keitt seedling barely fruited it had one mango on the tree but no doubt it’s top tier like Juicy Peach



simon_grow

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Re: 2019 SoCal Mango tasting
« Reply #72 on: October 22, 2019, 06:52:33 PM »
I think once every several years, it will have an off year but it generally produces very well. Last year it produced pretty well and I’ll keep track of it in the following years. If it produces well 3 out of 4 years, I’d be very happy with that.

Simon

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Re: 2019 SoCal Mango tasting
« Reply #73 on: October 23, 2019, 12:15:51 PM »
I think once every several years, it will have an off year but it generally produces very well. Last year it produced pretty well and I’ll keep track of it in the following years. If it produces well 3 out of 4 years, I’d be very happy with that.

Simon

Hey Simon
We must have visit Leo on an off year. I’m glad it started producing because Leo told us it had not fruited before that. It’s a seedling and some take a while before they go into full production....anyways, my grafts took thank you Simon looking forward of having this top tier mango in my yard.

sapote

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Re: 2019 SoCal Mango tasting
« Reply #74 on: October 23, 2019, 10:17:18 PM »
Great report and thank you everyone.

Might I have a suggestion: use a non-serrated sharp knife to cut ripe mangoes; serrated knife left a wavy distorted texture. Also it seems the knife  or sword used at the meeting was not very sharp, causing crushed on the cut pieces. Just like eating a great watermelon -- texture is everything.

I have a cheap Kiwi knife like this, and then thinned it down further with a stone wheel then sharpen with flat stone. It is like a razor and before eating any important mangoes I stroked it over the stone a few strokes. No juice running from using a straight thin sharp blade.