Mango Reviews

[gunnar429]

I totally agree, and think the same of the excalibur mango and the tyler premiere. 

[mangomandan]

Joe, I think nearly every mango I have tasted so far this year is not quite as good as the same cultivar in other years.
Possibly my imagination, but none seems to have quite as much "sparkle", i.e. sub-acid undertones.

One mango, a "Guava" mango from Walter Zill, did have that sparkle. My first time tasting it, and it has a nicely balanced flavor and interesting notes that may or may not be like guava. (I've killed a couple guava trees through the years, but never tasted fresh guava.)

Nice meeting you at the F&S Park.   Lots of interesting varieties there; I suspect few samples were prime examples, though.

Dan

edit:  I changed my mind in July. Some of the mid and late-season mangos I tasted have been wonderful.

[JoeP450]

Hey Dan it was also nice meeting you at the fruit and spice park, I think in a way we like similar flavors. One mango I thought was pretty interesting was this paheri

 About the size of a baseball, deep orange flesh, fiberless, richly flavored, nice blushing color on skin. Wish I had a full mango or two to bring home but ultimate chaos ensued once they ordered everyone out of the tent and then back in lol.

-joep450

[JoeP450]

The Coconut Cream Mango

About two years ago, probably three now I bought a coconut cream mango tree and a lemon zest from Jeff Hagen. I bought em "taste unseen." And now finally I can say I have tried the coconut cream "CC" and am totally pleased I have a tree!

In total I have four CC mangos to eat and just for silliness sake a bag of shaved processed coconut as a "coconut" reference point. The longest one pictured measured 4.5in, and the avg weight taken by all four was 352g. The shape was irregularly ovoid with a few random lumps, the color was yellowing-green to amber with some pinkish blush and black dots. The smell was not apparent until placing the mango close to my nose, but when I did a sweet coconut-spice scent was present. When I cut the mango open a bright yellow-orange flesh was exposed with some viscous juice present. The flesh was fiberless, creamy, and melted in my mouth. The flesh to seed ratio is nice as the seed is not overly large and when halved you can get some decent scoops with a spoon. The taste is phenomenal, very sweet with with a spice-like coconut flavor (I say spice-like because it's not resinous), it was like eating 12 pickerings condensed into one mango and combined with and Edward and that is the taste of coconut cream!

Here is a video I had my wife take of the second coconut cream with an ipad, personally I think I sound like a nut and truthfully I was still at a loss of words with this mango, but if you ignore what I'm saying and focus on the mango you can see how crazy good this mango is -> http://youtu.be/x6F7QM99cPo

[Tropicdude]

Funny thing, I came across your video on youtube before seeing your post here,  that CC sure looks juicy and smooth. I wanted a bite so bad.  I think I got my tree around the same time as you, also from Jeff,  my tree is not doing so well, not sure why, I suspect some nutritional problems, or drainage.   I sure want to try this variety,   great review as always.

[MangoFang]

WOW JoeP - you've made mango tasting into a true art form....
I've got ONE coconut cream that made it this year, so I can't
WAIT for the time to taste it!  Great review (even though you
used grams!!!    ) on the CC!

Gary

[DurianLover]

So, and conclusion?? Did CC beat LZ in preference?

[gunnar429]

I concur.  Coconut cream is AMAZING!!  I gave it an elusive 10 out of 10!!!  A supernatural eating experience!  Lookout, LZ.  I am coming for you soon!

[gunnar429]

Hey Dan it was also nice meeting you at the fruit and spice park, I think in a way we like similar flavors. One mango I thought was pretty interesting was this paheri

 About the size of a baseball, deep orange flesh, fiberless, richly flavored, nice blushing color on skin. Wish I had a full mango or two to bring home but ultimate chaos ensued once they ordered everyone out of the tent and then back in lol.

-joep450

I have a paheri that should be ready today or tomorrow.  Thanks for the heads up...looking forward to tasting it

[bsbullie]

A bit of info for those on the fence as to which is better, LZ or CC...

Last year, the LZ was hands down better than CC (and OS).  The LZ were what I would call amazing and just about untouchable in terms of quality other than some Sweet Tarts and a variety soon to be known as Amy (I say soon but don't know how soon or what its availability will be).

The year before I would say the OS topped the LZ and CC was on par with LZ but not as good as OS.

This year, I have probably eaten 20 or more LZ and probably an equal amount of CC.  There is NO comparison, the CC have been exceptional...on par with the quality when it was C-20, the year before it was named CC, when all who tasted it were stating it was possibly the best mango, period.  The LZ this year, except for a few that were exceptional, have been sub-standard.  Besides eating the 20, I have cut into many and have just tossed them into the garbage.  There seems to be an issue with a rotting around the seed (not jelly seed but a brown rot and off/bad smell, inedible.  The OS have been a little late to ripen and I have only had 3.  They have been very good to excellent (better than LZ but not as good as CC) but do seem to carry the jelly seed issue that its, along with LZ and PPK, are known for.

[gunnar429]

yeah.  I can't imagine anything tasting better than the CCs i have had recently.  They were even better than the mahas i also tried recently (the mahas were quite good, but nothing i have had compares with CC.

[mangomanic12]

I have a tree growing here in Arizona. Is that a true representative of the size of the CC fruit ?
JoeP is that from your tree or was it purchased?

[JoeP450]

One thing I forgot to say in the review of the CC is that the closer the flesh is to the rind, the more coconut spice flavor you get so when eating that mango literally get all that flesh out

Mangomanic12- the CC's I wrote up were not off my tree but purchased from walter zill's place in del ray beach fl, my tree is sadly still in a pot, severely neglected in my father's backyard about an hour away from the house I just bought and has never fruited. I have been renting in a townhouse with virtually no yard until I bought a house like 2 weeks ago, and was forced to keep my plants in pots for when the time came, but I am definitely going to pick up the the CC and plant it out in my new yard very soon.

DurianLover- I agree with what bsbullie said to an extent that mangos can differ from year to year, last year my LZ that I planted at my mother's house produced 2 or 3 mangos, one of which I wrote up in this thread. I still remember it like yesterday, as the best mango I have ever eaten, and the LZ's i ate last year I would slightly prefer over the CC's I just revewied. Personal taste prefences differ for everyone, but I swear that LZ is like beyond "mango" haha. I havn't had an LZ this year yet, my mother's tree did not flower and I think its either because she does not fertilize it EVER or the fact my greedy self forced it to hold fruit last year while it was still very young. Also when I was at Walters buying the CC's his wife was explaining something similar to what BSBullie is saying along the lines that many of them were suffering from some kind of rot and I was only able to two purchase two mangos of which are still not ripe yet and overall they didn't have much of an LZ crop this year. Now the PPK I had from truly tropical this year I thought were very good and I'm looking forward to my first LZ in a few days once its ripe. 

I wish I knew more about the CC and LZ and how well they produce and disease resistance, but I from looking at the trees I have it seems the CC is relatively more slower growing and compact than the LZ.

-Gunnar429 I'm interested in reading what you think of the paheri please post some pics of it with a review, I wish I had some more to try.


-JoeP450
 

[gunnar429]

I am unfortunately having difficulty posting pics from my camera as i have a chromebook.  However, i will take pics and figure out a way to get them up there.

Is paheri a freestone like bombay.  I keep reading they are similar (despite the fact that the paheris look much larger than bombay).  So, should i slice on the equator and twist? 

[zands]

I like those sleek chromebooks! I wish I needed one but am all set.

I am unfortunately having difficulty posting pics from my camera as i have a chromebook.  However, i will take pics and figure out a way to get them up there.

serves you right for going off the windows reservation 

[Cookie Monster]

I mostly agree with bsbullie, and I've noted something very interesting lately -- mango flavor varies dramatically from one year to the next.

Last year, the SweetTart and LZ were insanely delicious, and the CC was slightly bland. This year the sweet tart and LZ are very good but not nearly as good as last year, and it sounds like the CC is off the charts.

The carrie, which were astounding last year are "pretty good" this year, but a little on the bland and watery side. The year before was also a down year for carrie flavor.

So, good flavor years can vary on an alternating pattern.

I think it's best to have a wide variety of mangoes, so that every year there is a group which are exceedingly delicious. It's also super important not to make planting decisions on a single season's crop.

[gunnar429]

I like those sleek chromebooks! I wish I needed one but am all set.

I am unfortunately having difficulty posting pics from my camera as i have a chromebook.  However, i will take pics and figure out a way to get them up there.

serves you right for going off the windows reservation 

haha.  I know.  Microsoft just may be the illuminati

[Tropicdude]

I mostly agree with bsbullie, and I've noted something very interesting lately -- mango flavor varies dramatically from one year to the next.

Last year, the SweetTart and LZ were insanely delicious, and the CC was slightly bland. This year the sweet tart and LZ are very good but not nearly as good as last year, and it sounds like the CC is off the charts.

The carrie, which were astounding last year are "pretty good" this year, but a little on the bland and watery side. The year before was also a down year for carrie flavor.

So, good flavor years can vary on an alternating pattern.

I think it's best to have a wide variety of mangoes, so that every year there is a group which are exceedingly delicious. It's also super important not to make planting decisions on a single season's crop.

Must be a regional thing, most mangoes I have tried this year have been bland for me, watery, or just off, lots of Jellyseed, lots of fruit not ripening right. not sure if I have just had bad luck or the weather made them like that,  our dry season did not start when it usually does. so that may have been a factor.

Have not tried the CC or LZ yet.  nobody here with mature tree, my LZ died and my CC has not done anything, its only 2 years old or so.

[JoeP450]

The Pim Saen Mun Mango "PSM"

This Asian mango I brought home from mango madness but have also purchased them from Excalibur and truly tropical before. The PSM was one of the first non-store bought mangos I had tried and I remember thinking how neat it was that the fruit I was eating was in fact a mango and how it tasted so different than the store bought definition of mango, that was just the beginning of the rabbit hole for me haha.

This mango weighed in at 1.1lbs and was 5.5in long resembling a kidney in shape. The skin was a yellowing green with some dark brown spots at the top. There was not much smell to the outside of the mango, and it was soft and felt ripe to eat. When I cut the mango open I immediately noticed it was nearly absent of mango juice. The flesh was light yellow in color, smooth in texture, and fiberless. The polyembrionic seed is long and thin which provided a nice ratio of edible flesh to seed. The taste was very interesting and has a flavor uniquely it's own resembling the sweetness of sugarcane with nuances of celery and banana.

-joep450

[gunnar429]

I have fallen in love with PSM mangoes this year.  To me (thus far in my tasting journey), I like PSM way better than any other asian mangoes (this season, I have tried ndm, tong dam, Maha Chanok, and others i can't recall).  Don't get me wrong, the Mahas I had were very smooth, orange, and sweet (no parsnip, onion, or pepper), but there's just something about the sweetness of PSM that makes my whole body smile when i eat it.  If it wasn't for CC, it'd probably be my favorite mango tasted this year.

I don't get any celery or banana, but just a rich sweetness.  All hail, PSM!  (If I recall, the trees at TT were pretty productive.  Is that normal?  If so, seems like a must-have for my liking.  Seems fairly resistant to anthracnose as well.  Anyone care to disagree?

[savemejebus]

Anything with a celery taste would make me shudder. That's the one ingredient I cannot tolerate inv the juicer. Can take kale, spinach, sweet potato, etc. - add celery and it's going to take a handful of miracle fruit to tolerate.

[mangomanic12]

I have had a few Pin Saen Muns from TT. No celery taste but agree with  banana and sugarcane and something so pleasant that makes one yearn for more and more of it. Absolutely delicious.. A mango that is not talked about a lot but excellent in  my opinion

. .

[JoeP450]

Here are some pics from gunnar429 on the paheri with his review to come.








-joep450

[puglvr1]

Joe, Great reviews! On your Video there's a pretty nice looking digital food scale...can you please tell me the brand and model # if you don't mind? Thanks!!

[JoeP450]

Brand is Taylor, believe it was 20-25$ from bed bath n beyond.

Joep450