Fruit sightings in San Diego

[simon_grow]

Hello everyone,

The Indian Mangos are finally showing up in San Diego. Miramar Cash and Carry has Excellent quality Kesar mangos that are in excellent condition. They are mostly yellow with some fruit having some green and they are not overly mature nor wrinkly. I just cut one open and it is insanely delicious, the best Kesar I've had in the last three years with a Brix reading of 21% near the skin. I'm starting to take Brix readings from juice near the skin as someone pointed out that it is the sweetest near the skin which I have found to be true except for unripe fruit.

Trader Joes has excellent Brewster Lychees grown in Mexico and they retain the wonderful Rose/Lychee flavor and aroma. Brix at 19%. TJs also has organic Cotton Candy grapes.

Most places have good Kent's, the smaller cheaper ones have Brix around 18% and the larger ones with filled out shoulders have Brix around 19-20%.

If you happen to see any good quality fruit around, please post here with the information.
Simon

[simon_grow]

Here is a picture of the larger better quality Kents next to a smaller one. The larger ones are full of tropical mango flavor and very sweet. The smaller ones are a bit milder with less sweetness.

[behlgarden]

simon, what is the price on kesar box? and roughly how many lb?

[simon_grow]

Hey Behl, they are $28 for a box of 12 fruit and each fruit weighs approximately 8oz so about 6 lbs total. These are the best Kessrs I've ever had, absolutely amazing! Last year, their Brix was about 19% and many of the boxes had overripe and wrinkly fruit. This shipment is exceptional and it must be the weather in India or something else but the flavor is full throttle this year. Perhaps it's the high Brix but I'm detecting much more complexity and a depth of flavor that I have not experienced with this variety before.

Simon

[simon_grow]

Here is a picture of the fruit in natural sunlight.

[Rtreid]

Thanks for the tip Simon.  I am leaving my office right now to pick up a box if those mangos.

Richard

[simon_grow]

Hey Richard, the Kesars are by the front cashiers away from the Kents and Manillas. Peek through the bottom of the box to ensure they are not wrinkly. They will open the box for inspection at the register. They let you swap out any bad ones. These are super sweet and complex!

Simon

[Rtreid]

Simon,

You are right these are as good a mango as I have ever had ( with my limited mango tasting experience).  It is the complexity that I am most impressed with. So many different flavors and aromas. I will definitely be getting another box on my way to work on Monday.

What Trader Joes had the lychees and grapes?  I stopped by the new one in Pacific Highlands Ranch and they had neither.

Cheers
Richard

[shaneatwell]

I picked up some very good mangosteen from the fruit shop early this week.

[simon_grow]

Hey Richard, it's the Trader Joes in Mira Mesa by Chuckee Cheese. Ask the store clerks if you can't find the Lychees, they are in clam shells and are difficult to spot.

Thanks for the tip Shane!
Simon

[simon_grow]

There are Bosworth 3 Lychees AKA Kwai Mi Pink at the Fruit Shop in San Diego. Some of the skins are brown but the fruit inside is still good. They are sweet with no tart component and a very faint Lychee/Rose flavor with a Brix of 19%. I picked up a 10 lbs box to share with friends and family and I like these better than the green Fei Zhi Siu that's going around.

The real Hak Ips are now available at 99 Ranch Market but I did not buy any so I don't know the quality.

Simon

[behlgarden]

I was able to pick some kesar from Indian store in Artesia. boy what a great mango! it was super sweet with real kesar (saffron in English) flavor. it can easily be counted in the very top mangoes of the world. Impressive!

[simon_grow]

This years Kesars were exceptional. I wish I can taste a Kesar next to a Lemon Zest to see which I like better, hmmm tough call. They were supremely good and super sweet with a very complex Indian resinous flavor!

Simon

[behlgarden]

That resinous flavor in kesar is unique from others due to its taset of saffron. Lemon zest has its own qualities and kesar has its own. Kesar is not complex mango but it's unique saffron flabor makes it very high quality.

[shaneatwell]

Excellent Manila mangoes at Cash and Carry right now. $7 for 16 if I remember right.

[simon_grow]

Indian Mango season has come to an end at most the Indian Supermarkets in San Diego but Kent mango season has started. A box of 9 Kent Mangos are going for $3.99 at Miramar Cash and Carry. These Kent seeds make excellent rootstock as the husk is normally partially open and the seedlings are extremely vigorous.

Costco in Carmel Mountain has good quality Brewster Lychees from Mexico. Almost 100% of the fruit have fully formed large seeds however. Miramar Cash and Carry also has Lychees, the greenish spikey type. I'm not very fond of this variety so I don't even bother with them.

Simon

[Bhkkatemoya]

Thanks for the heads up Simon.  Just got a box of lychee from Costco MV.

[Stan]

You're talking about imported Mangoes right? A friend in San Diego tells me that the city has Mango trees loaded with fruit. He says best year since 2003.

[simon_grow]

Yup, imported mangos. I've never seen local mangos for sale in the supermarkets, only in the farmers market.

Yes, we do have large mango trees loaded with fruit. Leo Manuel has many trees that hold tons of fruit. It appears that this year is not as good as last year for mangos in Leos yard.

Simon

[simon_grow]

There's some excellent fruit around San Diego.

Driscoll's Brand Blackberries are super sweet and I pick mine up at Target or Costco. The Brix averages about 17%, some are a little more Tart and some are Sugar bombs. The super sweet ones have larger individual drupes and can sometimes have some fungus on them but that's how I know they're super sweet. This is the smaller size fruit, some of them are huge. My kids ate all of the larger fruit but I'll take a picture of my next box to show the larger fruit.

Mauritius Lychees are starting to show up at H Mart for 3.99 a pound and they actually taste really good with good sugar acid balance. This Lychee is great for those people that like a bit of acidity with their Lychee. The Brix is 17.5% and I usually don't like Mauritius but this batch is quite good.

[simon_grow]

Here's a picture of the Mauritius

Something seems to be wrong with Postimage so I'll try to post pics later.

I received these Mulberries from Shane and they are fantastic, not sure what variety they are but they are super sweet with a Brix of 20% and have great mulberry flavor. My girls ate the whole bowl after they said they were full from dinner.

Aside from the Alphonso, Kesar and Banganpalli mangos that I posted about here http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=23153.msg281979#msg281979
The local supermarkets have some excellent tasting Haden
Mango's.

Yes, Haden's have a lot of fiber but if you like a tropical tasting mango-y mango, Haden's have great sweetness and flavor. I bought my box from Miramar Cash and Carry and planned on using the seeds for rootstocks but when I bit into the fruit, it was very very sweet with excellent flavor, for a Haden. The fruit were quite large so they likely came from very mature trees and that may be why they tasted so good.

Simon

[simon_grow]

Mauritius


Mulberries



Haden





Simon

[simon_grow]

Cotton Candy grapes are in season again. This fruit s the first time I've seen organic Cotton Candy grapes however. Excellent sugar acid balance and a powerful cotton candy flavor. These organic grapes are a bit smaller in size than the regular CCGs. These grapes are nice and firm with a Brix of 19%. I picked up this box at Trader Joe's and they can usually be found at Sprouts, Whole Foods and Nijiya Market.



Simon

[FruitFool]

Here is the Guatemalan Rambutan I bought today from Trader Joe's at Carmel mountain. Pretty good tasting!



-FruitFool

[simon_grow]

Thanks for the heads up. Excellent quality Rambutans were also available at Lucky Seafood in Mira Mesa. I think it was $25 a box.

Simon