Thanks to BrettBorders for starting one of my favorite threads from 2015.
http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=16992.0I just wanted to start the same topic going for the 2016 season while Mangos are still fresh in our minds. Please post taste reports and pictures of your favorite Mangos this year.
My favorites so far this year have been
1) Kesar- medium sized fruit that has a perfume that will attract strong Indian resin flavored mango lovers from all around. This mango has everything going for it. It grows great, seems resistant to disease and grows well on several rootstocks that I've tested so far. You can even pick it mature green and it will still reach 20% Brix with an excellent sugar acid balance that is well refined. The sweetness of this mango is not sickening like some of the ultra sweet varieties and I have eaten 6 of these mangos at one sitting on several occasions. I've even left several mangos that were firm ripe in the refrigerator for 2 weeks and they still came out perfect. After eating many varieties of Mangos at a recent mango tasting, the extremely complex Indian resin, slightly piney terpene flavor still stood out in my mind above all others except perhaps DOT. It was too close to call so I'm going to say it was a tie for first place.
1) DOT- good sized, good looking mango with exceptional flavor. It has the classic tropical mango taste x10 with the perfect balance of sweetness and acidity.
2) Sweet Tart- small mango that packs a punch. I felt that Sweet Tart was a notch below DOT in terms of complexity of the acidic notes. ST was one dimensional sour like sour patch gummies with excellent sweetness but DOT had more of a broad of range of acidic notes and turpenes.
3) Lemon Zest- the early fruit was bland and low in Brix, around 18%, but the mid season fruit was amazing with Brix of 26%! The fruit at this level of sweetness was almost too much and I don't recommend eating them on an empty stomach. To be honest, I now understand why people say it's not just about the sweetness of a mango but that was never the point with my Brix readings. I wouldn't be able to eat more than a couple LZ at 26% Brix, perhaps if they were a little less sweet, let's say around 20-24%, I could eat more of them in one day. At 26% Brix, I actually wish the fruit was more acidic.
4) Xaoi CAC/COC- a large mango that was a pleasure to eat because of the different flavor profile compared to the typical tropical mango flavor of many of the varieties of mangos out there. It was fiberless and had more complexity to it than NDM. I don't know exactly how to explain it but this mango had a bit of savory flavor to it, an earthy taste that was extremely subtle, not like guava but in that realm. This is maybe the second or third time Ive tasted this variety and it's definitely growing on me. The fruit I ate was slightly fermented on one side otherwise it may have ranked even higher.
Please share your favorites and pictures are greatly appreciated!
Simon
