Tastes triumphant, dreams dashed: the mango season so far

[mangomandan]

I'm curious which mangos have tasted the best (or the worst) for mangophiles so far this season.

I've had some fine ones this year, mostly through forum members and local vendors of good repute.
Also, some blah ones, including an Edgar that was kind of blah compared to the sparkling Pineapple Pleasure I ate at the same sitting. Accidentally gave away all of the PPKs I bought, so I can't comment on them so far.

Had some great Edwards, and some nasty Duncans.

Although my Dot tree produced poorly this year, the best mango I've had this season was a grungy little Dot fresh from the tree.  It didn't look great, but happened to be at the peak of its flavor.   

Still hoping to taste for the first time LZ, Coco Cream, Angie, and Maha,  so I can revise my list.

[mangomanic12]

Dan for me it has been
Zill  Indo  or  ZINC
Dupois Saigon
Edward
Pin saen mung
Carrie
Fairchild

Zinc and Edward tied for first. Maybe Edward first cause it was so delicious i even devoured the skin
Thanks to Alex.
That's my take

[mangomanic12]

Oh i forgot suprisingly some of the stringies  / turpentine i tasted from Truly Tropical were just as good taste wise as the named cultivars.
Only drawback were the size (small)  and the fiber which was barely noticeable to me
Taste was awesome on some of these. !

[Patrick]

Edward, Edgar, Pineapple Pleasure, PPK, Zill, Sweet Tart, Dupuis Saigon

Those above in that order are most desired in my house.

We've consumed about 200lbs so far this season.  We've made multiple trips to Squam, Walter Zill, and Truly Tropical.  Only about 20 lbs originated from our own trees so far.  We still have about 40 mangoes ripening on our trees!

[bsbullie]

I have had the following so far this year:

Best of the best: sweet tart, lemon zest, pineapple pleasure, pickering, 40-36, fruit punch, valcarrie, carrie (yes, I admit it...I have eaten a carrie grown near the ocean in a different climate and soil ytpe and was extremely good), ppk, 34-21, gary, pina colada

I have had the following that were either good but not great or inconsistent: edgar (very inco sistent), psm, dupius (also inconsistent), ndm, edward (inconsistent)

The following were very disappoi ting: florigon, glenn, philippine, duncan, julie, vp

I have also had a fiew gary zill projects that no number was supplied...overall, I have probably given Patrick a run for his money in poundage consumed.

[mikesid]

Favorites this year in no order:
Sweet Tart
ZINC
PPK
Pineapple Pleasure
PSM
Dupuis
Edgar (much better after I allowed it to ripen for about a week on counter)
First time eating a Dwarf Hawaiian and I really enjoyed that too...

Disappointing:
Duncan
Edward
Glenn
 Pickering
Ice Cream
My only sources Ive purchased from were Zill and Truly Tropical

[SWRancher]

Best tasting ones so far at my place this year have been Carrie and PPK. Last season my Carrie's fruit were at best fair and this year they are just about perfect, glad that it didn't get the ax. I'm still patiently waiting on a bunch of late bloomers in my yard.

These types have been inconsistent with some very good tasting fruit and some so-so fruit, Florigon, Angie and Edward.

Also would like to give an honorable mention to my 9 foot tall "workhorse" Rosigold tree. This spring it produced several hundred tasty fruit providing many, many mango care packages to friends and family.   

[mangomandan]

I got to taste Sweet Tart for the first time this afternoon.  Very nice. I can't say that it was more tart than other mangos (which I wouldn't have liked).  It was very ripe, which may have concealed the acidity.

Also got to buy some Zincs, and looking forward to trying them. 

Update: Today I tried another Sweet Tart, from the fridge. It was still quite firm and I worried I had chilled it a day or two too soon.  But it was excellent, the perfect blend of rich sweetness and subacid. Possibly the best mango I've had this year.

The Pineapple Pleasure I ate today was a bit too tart, though very tasty. I suspect another couple days of ripening would have made it better for my palate.  But PPs are great for sharing, since it's not impossible to have two ripe ones on the same day, enough for 3-4 people.

[Sleepdoc]

Best this year so far for me have been:

Valcarrie ( from Walter Zill's)
PPK ( Harry's)
Maha Chanok ( Harry's)
Dot ( F&S Park)
Dupuis Saigon ( F&S Park)
40-36 ( Walter Zill's)
Spirit of 76 ( F&S Park)

[zands]

Just on my property--
Carrie -- taste very good from the first bloom and lots of second bloom mangoes coming along. My best tree this year, and good production
Glenn  --washed out, not that sweet but tree was quite productive. Last year tasted much better. Many fruits given away. The last fruits from this tree were sweet and full taste, not washed out
Nam Doc Mai-- mixed from very good to washed out
I had other mangoes from off my property but was not paying attention to varieties as I ate them

[BENDERSGROVE]

My list:
Edward
PPK
Cushman
Angie
Maha Chanok
Jaqueline
 My favorites this year in no particular order!

[mangomandan]

Also would like to give an honorable mention to my 9 foot tall "workhorse" Rosigold tree. This spring it produced several hundred tasty fruit providing many, many mango care packages to friends and family.   

You saved a life today, SWRancher.  I was going to ax Rosigold to make room for Duprey,  aka Dupuis.   Rosi disappointed me as far as both performance and flavor this year.

Instead I cut her back, and still planted Dupuis close by.  I'll use performance-based testing over the next couple years to decide which one gets to live life to the fullest.    Mallika is also too close by,  but it has shrunk down to a tiny tree since I planted it.  It is very close to the road and I keep hoping someone will steal it.

[JF]

I have had about 20-25 pounds of excellent tasting mangos so far. Some of the varieties I have tried this year:

Manilita
Pais
Paraiso
Manguita
Ataulfo
Manila
Globo

And many more that I can't recall.

[Cookie Monster]

One really important thing to keep in mind is that mango flavor is often variable.

A mango that tastes outstanding one year may taste mediocre the next, likely due to climatic conditions.

A mango that tastes insipid or bland in May, may be incredibly delicious when picked in June.

A mango that's awesome when eaten at a particular stage of ripeness may be insipid, tart, mediocre, or downright gross when eaten at a different stage.

A mango that made you do backflips in 2007 may become boring by 2013.

A mango that is out of this world when grown in deep sand may taste wretched when grown in muck (or vice versa).

That's probably why there are hundreds of mango cultivars :-). I kinda like the way that Walter does it -- he topworks his trees every 5 to 10 years when he gets bored of yesteryear's mangos ;-).

At any rate, this year the Carrie and Edward were my two favorites.

[JF]

pics of some of the mangos and other stuff














here is a pic of a pana tree 50X50!

[TnTrobbie]

Top of the "never tried before, I want a tree" thus far:

Hawaiian Dwarf (TT)   wow
Bailey's Marvel (TT)  wow
Dupuis Saigon (TT) sweet
Chocanon (TT) texture
PSM (TT and Excalibur)
Keo Savoy (Excalibur) texture
East Indian (my uncle's tree) sweet, juicy and fiber. yummm
Esis (Excalibur) juicy and sweet.
Edward (Bender's)
Philippine (Bender's. Sweeter's than TT's) texture

Confused:
PPk (TT). While sweet and enjoyable, I can't get over what I percieve to be a "bitterness" about it.
I'd plant one becasue I've never encountered anything like it in a mango.

From my tree's thus far:

Julie's has been outstanding with bigger mangoes this year.
105 mangoes this season (3-4 a day) from my 6-7 yr old tree with the next two weeks being the end of Julie season .

Regular Nam Doc Mais are not as sweet like last years. Not to mention only 1/4 of the tree flowered.
76 mangoes and approaching peak season in my yard right now.


Pending: Pickering, Neelam, Cushman, Mallika, Dot, Rosigold.

[bsbullie]

I will add the following to my "consumed" list:

Dot - in top tier

Southern Blush - in middle tier, it was a drop, one of only a half dozen the 30+ tree set this year

Baileys Marvel  - in bottom tier (again, never been a favorite)

Dwarf Hawaiian - Yuch!!  I have tasted many of these over the last three years and can honestly say, not sure why this is propagated

Cogshall - does not live up to quality of previous years, middle tier

[mangomandan]

Mr. Jeff, I think you summed up the variability  issue nicely.  If I had know this 20 years ago I wouldn't have rejected  some cultivars out of hand, just because I tasted one that wasn't great.

I was trying to think of some fruits that are less variable in quality.  I think bananas might qualify.

[dongeorgio]

My top 5 are undoubtedly

1) Baptiste (I think this mango is as under rated as a mango can get.  I guess people have a difficult time enjoying a hard mango but I loved it enough to buy a tree)

2) PSM

3) Dupuis Saigon

4) Lemon Meringue

5) Chocanon

My least favorite mango of the season thus far is Duncan.  After all of the hype, I found it very bland.

[Cookie Monster]

I second the yay vote for the dwarf hawaiian. I only had a couple this year, but they were phenomenal, reminiscent of a julie. They were a little mushy though, which I guess could turn some folks off.

I think a great way to deal with mango variability is to plant a whole bunch of them. That way you are nearly guaranteed to have some really awesome frewts every single year.

Then when you feel a Tiger Woods coming on (ie, you get the hots for new mangos), you can just top work your mango trees one or two at a time, ensuring a constant supply of great tasting mangos that u never get bored of.

[TnTrobbie]

Jeff, I found that exact similarity in taste/texture/richness/creaminess of the Dwarf Hawaiian to Julie. They were just a bigger mango version of it, but seemed more anthracnose and latex/sap burn prone. I wouldn't  hesitate to plant one. The four I got from TT were excellent.

[jb_fla]

I tried a bunch of mangos on my trip to WPB.  For the top tasters were Dupuis, Spirit of 76 and Pineapple Pleasure.  The biggest disappointment was Pickering.  I have mangos on my Pickering at home, if they taste like they did down south I will be replacing it.  I also really enjoyed pico, baileys marvel, ndm, Edgar, zinc, lm ect...

[TnTrobbie]

I just had my first Pickering off my tree the season. 2nd crop since buying it from da Cookie Monster. It was big, sweet, juicy, with a dense flesh.  While scorfing it down. I kept thinking why does it have to end. A different profile from the other mangoes I had thus far but I just can't quite define it. Kind of sad I promised the other one to someone, but have 5 more waiting to mature up. Best mango thus far.

[johnb51]

I tried a bunch of mangos on my trip to WPB.  For the top tasters were Dupuis, Spirit of 76 and Pineapple Pleasure.  The biggest disappointment was Pickering.  I have mangos on my Pickering at home, if they taste like they did down south I will be replacing it.  I also really enjoyed pico, baileys marvel, ndm, Edgar, zinc, lm ect...

No, No, jb, you definitely have to give Pickering a fair chance.  TnTrobbie is correct--it's superb!

[LEOOEL]

Tastes triumphant: Fairchild (second year fruiting; definitely better taste than last year's first time fruiting)

Dreams dashed: Edward (the squirrels hogged many of them; I wonder what squirrels taste like? Just kidding.)

The mango season so far: Pretty much as expected, other than more fruit-wave-bearings than last year, from more mango cultivars.