Mini mango tasting, SoCal grown

[Bush2Beach]

Less than 100 people.

[simon_grow]

Hey Roblack,

I can’t remember exactly but I think it ends around January or February for the latest varieties.

 Because of the annual mango tastings that Frank and a few others have held over the last ten to 15 years, I have tasted many of the same varieties grown in SoCal and Florida. The quality of a particular variety of mango is highly dependent on the grower and environmental conditions. I’ve had excellent and horrible tasting varieties grow in both San Diego and Florida.

Simon

[simon_grow]

The nights have been getting much cooler so it is taking longer to ripen these mangos.

I’ve already posted pictures and taste profiles for most of Leos mangos so I’ll focus on the Indian Resin flavored mangos from my other friend.

Today, I found the Dr. Noris Ledesma Kesar was soft enough to cut open. Unfortunately, it had jellyseed and/or internal breakdown. The fruit was going bad from the inside out. The flesh around the seed was the only edible part. It had a Brix of20% and was absolutely fantastic and tasted like the best of the India grown Kesars. I just wish the whole fruit was edible because the parts that were edible were absolutely fantastic with a very sweet taste and strong Indian resin flavor. The seed is very small and should be viable.

We need to keep track of the Kesar to see if there are persistent issues with Jellyseed and/or internal breakdown.




The next mango up is the Mallika. This Mallika had a bad odor before cutting open and when I cut it open, the odor was even worse. It had a Brix of 15%. With the scent so foul, I really didn’t even want to bite into it but what the heck. It had a bitter taste that I’ve never experienced with Mallika before and it tasted much like it smelled, horrible. I threw it into the trash. The seed was tiny, aborted, non viable.


The last mango of the day is Sunrise. This was a runt and I wasn’t expecting much after the first two mangos but at least this one smelled pleasantly sweet before cutting open. When I cut it open, it had a nice orange color and I noticed that the seed was tiny. I tested the Brix and was surprised it had a Brix reading of 23%. It tasted very sweet and had a delicious Indian resin flavor close to the skin. This mango is top notch if you like Indian resin flavored mangos.

I’m debating if this Sunrise is better than the best Carrie, Angie and even Kesar I’ve ever had. I think it is better but it’s unfair because I’m not tasting them side by side. Comparing the best of the best Indian resin flavored mangos I’ve ever eaten, I would rate Sunrise as #1 and Kesar as#2.

This fruit had an aborted embryo as often occurs with SoCal grown mangos and I’ve noticed that this tends to increase the Brix. I need to taste more Sunrise and do a side by side with Kesar.




Simon

[roblack]

Hey Roblack,

I can’t remember exactly but I think it ends around January or February for the latest varieties.

 Because of the annual mango tastings that Frank and a few others have held over the last ten to 15 years, I have tasted many of the same varieties grown in SoCal and Florida. The quality of a particular variety of mango is highly dependent on the grower and environmental conditions. I’ve had excellent and horrible tasting varieties grow in both San Diego and Florida.

Simon

thanks for your answer. that makes sense.

I've seen a bit of variation locally with the same cultivars, and sometimes with fruit from my own trees. The best Glenn I've ever had was one of the best mangoes in recollection. Most are quite good, and sometimes they are bland. All from the same tree, sometimes the same year.

[simon_grow]

I just ate this Sweet Tart and, it is the best mango I’ve had this year. Sweet Tart is just one of the best all around mangos in my book.

When I cut it open, it was a deep orange color and I could smell the Indochinese scent. I took a Brix reading from the tip of the fruit and it had a reading of 26%. I was curious so I decided to also take a Brix reading from the stem end of the fruit and it had a reading of 29%.

The tip of the fruit was more ripe and juicier. The stem end was lighter in color and more firm. The stem end had much more acid balance and the tip was mostly sweet with a bit of acidity. I just love eating Sweet Tart mangos and this fruit in particular had the perfect sugar acid balance for me.

This fruit had such a dynamic range of flavor that it was like eating three different mangos. My daughters preferred the tip end with less acidity even though it had a lower Brix. I definitely preferred the stem end with much more acidity and sweetness.

When I asked my daughters which end tasted sweeter, they said the tip with lower Brix tasted sweeter. This just shows how acid balance can alter overall taste perception.









The seed was very small and the individual embryos are super tiny and very likely won’t produce strong plants if they even germinate.

Simon

[SHV]

Completely agree regarding the range of flavors for Sweet Tart. I have been grazing off a family member’s tree for the past month. Early harvest has given some delectable mangos that weren’t overly sweet with just the right amount of sugar/acid for my palate. The more recent picked have been insanely sweet with a range of subtle resin flavors. Very complex mango when allowed to fully tree ripen. It’s neighboring Alphonso tree has also delivered a nice crop with some pretty solid fruit, obviously completely different flavor profile, but Sweet Tart is next level tasty. I picked one Sweet Tart last weekend that has soft ripe nose with a hard crunchy stem part of the fruit. The mix of flavors and firmness from nose to stem was special. Love this variety!

[roblack]

Sweet Tart was the best mango I had this year as well. So good, I bought and planted a tree.

[simon_grow]

Yeah, I just can’t get over how consistently good Sweet Tart is. The tree is such a good producer. The only real issue I’ve seen or heard people complaining about when grown in SoCal is that after a bumper crop year, it can skip a year.

Tonight I cut open an Imam Passand. As soon as I cut it open, I could smell a strong Indian piney resin scent. When I saw the interior flesh, it was a very pale yellow and I thought it wasn’t ripe but my friend that gifted me this mango had warned me that this mango has a very pale color. This fruit had a Brix reading of 18% and tasted sweet with no acidity. The overall flavor was sweet and piney but the flavor was very light.

Unlike Kesar, Alphonso or Carrie, this Imam Passand had no depth of flavor. The other mangos mentioned have overlapping flavor profiles. Alphonso for example has a piney resin flavor but it also has this diesel or gasoline resin flavor combined with the sweetness.






The next mango sampled was the ValCarrie. This fruit has been sitting on the counter for quite some time now and the outside was very wrinkly so I was afraid it was over ripe but it wasn’t. When cut open, this fruit smelled exactly like a Valencia Pride mixed with a Carrie. If you ask me, the ValCarrie is the perfect combination of each parent. The flesh was a nice orange color and the fruit had a Brix reading of 24%.

The taste of this fruit is absolutely delicious! The first thing that hits you is the sweet, rich flavor of the VP and then you get that nice resin flavor from the Carrie. The VP already has a very rich, deep sweet tropical mango flavor that is mellowed by this fantastic creamy coconut flavor that is ever so subtle but for those with a delicate palate, it is definitely noticeable and greatly appreciated.

These layers of flavors give VP a thumbs up by many mango enthusiasts and although many people including myself, won’t put VP in the top tier of mangos, it is a fruit that we won’t turn down.  Combine the traditional rich flavor of VP with the incredible Carrie and the overall body of this mango is taken to the next level.

The Carrie not only adds additional richness, it also adds an Indian resin profile that many mango enthusiasts either cherish or absolutely despise. The Carrie not only lends lends the ValCarrie its sweetness but it also seems to slightly decrease the fiber content of the ValCarrie.





Simon

[simon_grow]

The Alphonso has been sitting around for a while now and it still felt hard but I was afraid of internal breakdown so I decided to cut it open yesterday. There was no internal breakdown so I wish I would have waited another couple days. It was definitely under ripe but the center was just starting to ripen. The pale unripe portions were very sour but the orange flesh that was more ripe was sweet. When I cut open the fruit, there was a strong Indian resin scent that permeated my entire kitchen.

Surprisingly, the ripe portion of this fruit had a Brix reading of 19%!



Simon

[Oolie]

How do you compare the Alphonso to Val-Carrie?

I noticed their sap smells rather similar.

[simon_grow]

I prefer ValCarrie over Alphonso. Alphonso has more layers to its Indian resin flavor component, a mixture of turpentine, pinene and that diesel fuel/gasoline scent and taste. ValCarrie has more layers in terms of that deep rich, tropically VP sweet combined with a more toned down Indian resin that blends very well together.

ValCarrie has a very very mild artificial coconut component that you can taste in the back of your tongue and mouth that gives the overall taste a very rich and creamy flavor. That coconut flavor, for me, tastes like the artificial instant Pina Colada mix at many grocery stores and I mean this in a very good way. The taste is very mild but I can definitely detect it in both ValCarrie and VP.

I still think I prefer Sunrise over ValCarrie but I haven’t had enough of these two varieties in a side by side comparison to make my final decision.

Simon