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Wanted: Prunus Mume

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Oolie:
I was interested in Ume if anyone grows it. Mainly for umeboshi and umeshu.

shaneatwell:
I'm curious about this one too. I did fine one nursery with a good selection. Forestfarm.

SoCal2warm:

--- Quote from: Oolie on February 26, 2019, 01:51:14 PM ---Mainly for umeboshi and umeshu.

--- End quote ---
You might try Marukai market. If the one in San Diego doesn't have it, the one in Costa Mesa would have Choya Umeshu.

It has an intriguing deep flavor, like plum or apricot, a little bit deeply pungent like cough syrup, but overall it can be hard to enjoy more than a small amount continuously. More like an occasional delicacy, otherwise it's easy to grow sick of it, it's kind of borderline sickly sweet too.

The fruits in the bottom of the drink (preserved in alcohol) are very reminiscent of sour underripe apricots but with a little bit more flavor.

The pickled plums in a Japanese market also come from the same fruits, although they are salty.

Prunus mume is like a subspecies of apricot and is commonly used as an ornamental flowering tree. In fact "flowering plum" is more popular in China than flowering cherry is. The Prunus mume harvested for culinary use is closely related to the ornamental type, but is a special line of cultivars that were bred for their fruit. Using the fruits from the ornamental type of Prunus mume is probably possible but likely going to be inferior (fruit size/flavor) to the culinary type of Prunus mume, which can be very difficult to find outside of Japan.

I suspect that just using slightly underripe apricots is going to give a good approximation of what the culinary type of Prunus mume is like.

Oolie:

--- Quote from: SoCal2warm on March 18, 2019, 05:11:18 PM ---
--- Quote from: Oolie on February 26, 2019, 01:51:14 PM ---Mainly for umeboshi and umeshu.

--- End quote ---
You might try Marukai market. If the one in San Diego doesn't have it, the one in Costa Mesa would have Choya Umeshu.

It has an intriguing deep flavor, like plum or apricot, a little bit deeply pungent like cough syrup, but overall it can be hard to enjoy more than a small amount continuously. More like an occasional delicacy, otherwise it's easy to grow sick of it, it's kind of borderline sickly sweet too.

The fruits in the bottom of the drink (preserved in alcohol) are very reminiscent of sour underripe apricots but with a little bit more flavor.

The pickled plums in a Japanese market also come from the same fruits, although they are salty.

Prunus mume is like a subspecies of apricot and is commonly used as an ornamental flowering tree. In fact "flowering plum" is more popular in China than flowering cherry is. The Prunus mume harvested for culinary use is closely related to the ornamental type, but is a special line of cultivars that were bred for their fruit. Using the fruits from the ornamental type of Prunus mume is probably possible but likely going to be inferior (fruit size/flavor) to the culinary type of Prunus mume, which can be very difficult to find outside of Japan.

I suspect that just using slightly underripe apricots is going to give a good approximation of what the culinary type of Prunus mume is like.

--- End quote ---

Of the domestically available Umeshu, I do enjoy Choya on occasion, but like you mentioned, it is a bit cloying, syrupy. In Japan I have sampled varieties with much more desirable qualities, floral and sharp, ones that really make you savor the flavor. I was hoping to find varieties with these qualities here, but I may have to make a return trip.

Apricot spirits or Anzushu are also quite popular in Japan, but they are distinct. I like them as well, but there are really good Ume out there that are worth hunting in my opinion.

I can buy really good Umeboshi at the local market, but I would like to grow my own.
Finding my favorite Umeboshi cultivar in Japan was easy, trees are sold at big box stores, but I have not been able to find Nanko here.

Shane:
Have you ever sampled the fruit from either of the varieties available from ForestFarm?

I'm interested in any unique qualities they possess.

shaneatwell:
Not yet. Planning to buy a couple trees this spring.

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