Dragon Fruit Taste Reports

[scashaggy]

Is there site that lists DF taste reports or ranks them?  I know it's subjective but I just wanted to know what is preferred by people "in the know".  Also wanted to know what to stay away from when I am in the nursery picking out DF plants.

I currently have a Halley's Comet plant which I planted a month or so ago.  I also have other unknown DF's and different cuttings.

[savemejebus]

For the many varieties I have tried, this is an accurate description...

Take a glass of water. Carefully pour 1 teaspoon of poppy seeds into the glass of water. Now place glass into the freezer, allow water to cool to slush. Now eat your slushy poppy seed mix.

Voila! Dragon fruit.

[bradflorida]

And which varieties have been the exception?

[Marsbars]

Is there site that lists DF taste reports or ranks them?  I know it's subjective but I just wanted to know what is preferred by people "in the know".  Also wanted to know what to stay away from when I am in the nursery picking out DF plants.

I currently have a Halley's Comet plant which I planted a month or so ago.  I also have other unknown DF's and different cuttings.

http://www.tropicalfruitnursery.com/dragon/

[ricshaw]

Is there site that lists DF taste reports or ranks them?  I know it's subjective but I just wanted to know what is preferred by people "in the know".  Also wanted to know what to stay away from when I am in the nursery picking out DF plants.

I currently have a Halley's Comet plant which I planted a month or so ago.  I also have other unknown DF's and different cuttings.

I have tasted several Dragon Fruit varieties.  Halley's Comet is one of my favorites.

[bsbullie]

For the many varieties I have tried, this is an accurate description...

Take a glass of water. Carefully pour 1 teaspoon of poppy seeds into the glass of water. Now place glass into the freezer, allow water to cool to slush. Now eat your slushy poppy seed mix.

Voila! Dragon fruit.

tell us how you really feel...oh wait, never mind, i agree with you.

[bangkok]

For the many varieties I have tried, this is an accurate description...

Take a glass of water. Carefully pour 1 teaspoon of poppy seeds into the glass of water. Now place glass into the freezer, allow water to cool to slush. Now eat your slushy poppy seed mix.

Voila! Dragon fruit.

For the Thai/vietnamese dragonfruits i agree with you. But are those top-variety's who win the contests in the USA not any better?

I read that the yellow ones have a brix of around 20, that's the same as a mango.

[ricshaw]

For the many varieties I have tried, this is an accurate description...
Take a glass of water. Carefully pour 1 teaspoon of poppy seeds into the glass of water. Now place glass into the freezer, allow water to cool to slush. Now eat your slushy poppy seed mix.
Voila! Dragon fruit.

tell us how you really feel...  oh wait, never mind, you have already told us many times before

[ricshaw]

For the Thai/vietnamese dragonfruits i agree with you. But are those top-variety's who win the contests in the USA not any better?

When I was in Vietnam in 2013, every hotel served white flesh Dragon Fruit every morning.  I ate it and enjoyed it.

[simon_grow]

Halleys Comet is great. My favorite variety is an unnamed  purple fleshed variety that I call Simons purple just so people can track it. The purple fleshed varieties including Simons purple can get Brix of 20+. The Yellow S Megalanthus is nice because it is sweet and also has a nice slightly acid component in its flavor profile that is not berry like, as in the case of the purple fleshed DF varieties. The Yellow DFs acid flavor profile is more reminiscent of Mangosteen or Jaboticaba in a very minor way. I still prefer the Simons Purple over the Yellow.

The Yellow can be so intensely sweet it's like taking down a mouthful of Agave nectar.

Simon

[ricshaw]

http://www.tropicalfruitnursery.com/dragon/

Pine Island Nursery was my first exposure to "named" Dragon Fruit varieties...

Is there a Dragon Fruit variety that Pine Island does not think taste good?

[bangkok]

For the Thai/vietnamese dragonfruits i agree with you. But are those top-variety's who win the contests in the USA not any better?

When I was in Vietnam in 2013, every hotel served white flesh Dragon Fruit every morning.  I ate it and enjoyed it.

Yes most tourists like them because they look great and they have never eaten them before. They are sure not awfull but compared to a mango to are tasteless. But after eating a few of them the hype is over and most people wished they were more sweet.

It is like bland rose-apples, they are not bad but after eating a few we go searching for sweeter ones. Dragonfruit looks better then a rose-apple in my opinion.

But i believe the reviews written here on the forum that some dragonfruits are much better then Thai/Vietnamese variety's.  I don't believe the info that american nursery's give because they want to sell, but plenty independant people here have written that the american variety's are far better then the asian variety's so i believe them. I will get them soon so i hope to eat them next year or so.

[HIfarm]

I see a couple of negative reviews above.  Based on the ones commonly seen at markets here (reddish-pink w/ white flesh), I have to agree that they are not among my favorite fruits -- kind of bland and some have a distinct "vegetal" note.  However I have picked up a half dozen or so select clones and I am hoping that they taste better.  Hopefully I will be a convert once they start bearing.

John

[ricshaw]

Yes most tourists like them because they look great and they have never eaten them before. They are sure not awfull but compared to a mango to are tasteless. But after eating a few of them the hype is over and most people wished they were more sweet.

It is like bland rose-apples, they are not bad but after eating a few we go searching for sweeter ones. Dragonfruit looks better then a rose-apple in my opinion.

But i believe the reviews written here on the forum that some dragonfruits are much better then Thai/Vietnamese variety's.  I don't believe the info that american nursery's give because they want to sell, but plenty independant people here have written that the american variety's are far better then the asian variety's so i believe them. I will get them soon so i hope to eat them next year or so.

I am not sure that most Western tourists visiting Asia like the taste of Dragon Fruit.

I am in total agreement that Mangos are better tasting than Dragon Fruit.

But given the choice of commercially grown watermelon, papaya, oranges, nectarines...  add the persimmons and pomegranate recently friends have given me...  I like Dragon Fruit better.

Maybe part of the problem is that some people think we Dragon Fruit lovers are putting Dragon Fruit on the same taste level as Mangos.

[bangkok]

Yes most tourists like them because they look great and they have never eaten them before. They are sure not awfull but compared to a mango to are tasteless. But after eating a few of them the hype is over and most people wished they were more sweet.

It is like bland rose-apples, they are not bad but after eating a few we go searching for sweeter ones. Dragonfruit looks better then a rose-apple in my opinion.

But i believe the reviews written here on the forum that some dragonfruits are much better then Thai/Vietnamese variety's.  I don't believe the info that american nursery's give because they want to sell, but plenty independant people here have written that the american variety's are far better then the asian variety's so i believe them. I will get them soon so i hope to eat them next year or so.

I am not sure that most Western tourists visiting Asia like the taste of Dragon Fruit.

I am in total agreement that Mangos are better tasting than Dragon Fruit.

But given the choice of commercially grown watermelon, papaya, oranges, nectarines...  add the persimmons and pomegranate recently friends have given me...  I like Dragon Fruit better.

Maybe part of the problem is that some people think we Dragon Fruit lovers are putting Dragon Fruit on the same taste level as Mangos.

For me a Thai commercial watermelon, papaya Holland, Navel orange from Spain, Ripe commercial nectarines (from? bought in Holland) are all much better then any dragonfruit i ate. But for homegrown fruits i have no idea.

I think it is more a women fruit. Also i read many times that Vietnamese dragonfruits are sweeter then Thai ones, i bought a vietnamese one last week but it tasted the same. Also the red ones from Vietnam taste the same as a white one.

[ricshaw]

I think it is more a women fruit.

Thanks!!  You are not scoring points with me!   

I thought that it was women who like sweeter things. 

[Steve in Los Osos]

I've tasted only two varieties, a white-fleshed (pink-skinned) one at a CRFG meeting ("nasty" comes to mind--may have been underripe) and "American Beauty", which I grow myself. I've come to like the AB, although initially I was underwhelmed. It matters whether they are ripe (duh) and at least AB is not an in-your-face fruit (conjures up some interesting images....). But the "berrieness", for lack of a better term, is there and people we've shared them with seem to like them.

Not every fruit that makes for enjoyable eating is a mango.

There is no reason to eat or grow something you don't like.

My $0.02

[ricshaw]

Is there site that lists DF taste reports or ranks them?  I know it's subjective but I just wanted to know what is preferred by people "in the know".  Also wanted to know what to stay away from when I am in the nursery picking out DF plants.
I currently have a Halley's Comet plant which I planted a month or so ago.  I also have other unknown DF's and different cuttings.

Back to the topic and question...

In general, people who like Dragon Fruit (or tolerate its taste) prefer the dark red flesh varieties.  So you might want to stay away from the white flesh varieties.

But wait!  In general, the red flesh varieties are not self pollinating and require another not related (clone) for pollination. In general, the white flesh varieties are better pollen providers.

So, my recommendation, if you can't taste different Dragon Fruit varieties, is to plant one white flesh variety like (Vietnamese Giant) and one or more dark red flesh varieties and your Halley's Comet.

[simon_grow]

The purple fleshed varieties of DragonFruit are absolutely delicious tasting! People that have only tasted the commercial Viet White will have blandness engrained in their mind but I hope they can try a nice purple fleshed variety like Halleys Comet, American Beauty, Simons Purple. When you pick these DF fully ripe from well fertilized trees that weren't overwatered, they can get Brix around 20 and that is when the fruit tastes the best. At certain times of the year, the Brix can be lower, as low as 17% for me and they are not as tasty.

Simon

[bangkok]

The purple fleshed varieties of DragonFruit are absolutely delicious tasting! People that have only tasted the commercial Viet White will have blandness engrained in their mind but I hope they can try a nice purple fleshed variety like Halleys Comet, American Beauty, Simons Purple. When you pick these DF fully ripe from well fertilized trees that weren't overwatered, they can get Brix around 20 and that is when the fruit tastes the best. At certain times of the year, the Brix can be lower, as low as 17% for me and they are not as tasty.

Simon

Is the Vietnamese giant another one then the smaller ones from Vietnam? I saw those last week in a Japanese supermarket and they were sure more then 1 kg = 2lbs.

What do you feed them Simon? I also want to make mine more sweet.

[savemejebus]

For the many varieties I have tried, this is an accurate description...
Take a glass of water. Carefully pour 1 teaspoon of poppy seeds into the glass of water. Now place glass into the freezer, allow water to cool to slush. Now eat your slushy poppy seed mix.
Voila! Dragon fruit.

tell us how you really feel...  oh wait, never mind, you have already told us many times before

My apologies. I was apparently unaware of the forum rule that only positive opinions were allowed when someone asks about how a particular fruit tastes. I will absolutely make sure that in the future I PM you all my posts before I post them so you can review and approve.

[ricshaw]

Is the Vietnamese giant another one then the smaller ones from Vietnam? I saw those last week in a Japanese supermarket and they were sure more then 1 kg = 2lbs.

The "Vietnamese Giant" is a named cloned variety in the U.S.  I do not know the origin or history of this white flesh variety.  I suspect it may have come from a seed from Vietnam.

Edit:  I might add that the UCCE Irvine test field (source for many cuttings in So Cal) got their "Vietnamese Giant" from Florida.

[ricshaw]

The purple fleshed varieties of DragonFruit are absolutely delicious tasting! People that have only tasted the commercial Viet White will have blandness engrained in their mind but I hope they can try a nice purple fleshed variety like Halleys Comet, American Beauty, Simons Purple. When you pick these DF fully ripe from well fertilized trees that weren't overwatered, they can get Brix around 20 and that is when the fruit tastes the best. At certain times of the year, the Brix can be lower, as low as 17% for me and they are not as tasty.
Simon

Simon,  Have you tasted any of the  dark red varieties like Lisa, Valdivia Roja, or El Grullo at the Irvine Pitahaya Festivals?

Like you I prefer the magenta purple hybrid varieties like Physical Graffiti, Halley's Comet, and Delight.

[simon_grow]

I'be been to the DragonFruit festivals and tried the magenta fleshed fruit and although their are one or two magenta/dark red fleshed fruit that were sweet and delicious, most were less tasty to me than the purple fleshed fruit.

Lisa, if I remember is a nice round fruit of dark red color like blood. It's positives are that the flesh was extremely firm and there was a very good amount of acidity. The negative is that it was not very sweet, and my wife said it made her tongue feel strange.

Other red varieties I tried at the festival or that friends grew had some good acidity but again lacked sweetness. Zamorano was in this category. I cannot remember a bad tasting purple fleshed Df that I have tried. Yes there were some purple fleshed varieties that were picked early or overwatered or grown in too much shade or not fertilized properly but most still had decent Brix, the lower Brix was definitely much more bland.

All of the DF that tested around 20% Brix had wonderful flavor. Yes, some may say it's bland like a good watermelon can be but it is also extremely refreshing and cooling. I don't know if anyone else notices but I feel great after eating DF, perhaps it helps regulate blood sugar levels? I hope all those that said DF is Bland can try a 20% Brix purple fleshed fruit on a hot summer day.

Simon

[simon_grow]

Last American beauty of the season, these late fruit are much smaller and Brix only about 17%. One thing to note is where you take the sample for the Brix reading. The center of the fruit is sweetest and the outer parts can be 1-2% lower brix.

This fruit is actually a vegetative branch that turned into a flower so it is shaped weird.

Simon