Author Topic: Mango Reviews  (Read 283593 times)

bsbullie

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Re: Mango Reviews
« Reply #450 on: June 17, 2015, 04:16:24 PM »
Val Carrie needs to get super ripe to be at its best.  Kind of like a Pickering.

I'll take the contrary position on this one. I vastly prefer pickering at the earlier stage of ripeness vs. super ripe. Not green and chalky like some people here love, but when it first has a bit of give to it. I find pickering at this stage to have a certain tartness/balance that I much prefer to the flavor on softer ones.

Given that Val Carrie has "Carrie" in the name, I likely won't be trying it anytime soon.

Pickering are not supposed to be tart...to each their own.   Lol

Val Carrie is far better than Carrie.   No comparison.

+1, but even though valcarrie is an appropriate spelling, I prefer valkyre, both because it looks cool, but more importantly, it doesn't remind me that this mango is related to carrie.  Like Jebus and Bullie, I am also a card-carrying member of the Carrie Haters club.

Thought it was quite good though, and I didn't let it get really ripe as advised above....will have to try it again at a riper stage, if they are still available next time I head up there.

But that is not the correct spelling, Gef.  Hahahahaha
- Rob

gunnar429

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Re: Mango Reviews
« Reply #451 on: June 17, 2015, 04:40:48 PM »
touche!  It has been fixed  :P

editing my posts for spelling now, Rob--now that's the pot calling the kettle black--haha!  ;) ;D ;D
~Jeff

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bsbullie

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Re: Mango Reviews
« Reply #452 on: June 17, 2015, 04:50:14 PM »
touche!  It has been fixed  :P

editing my posts for spelling now, Rob--now that's the pot calling the kettle black--haha!  ;) ;D ;D

But mine are usually due to typing on a dumbass phone or a tablet, yours was intentional.   :P :o 8) :P ::) :o 8) :P
- Rob

simon_grow

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Re: Mango Reviews
« Reply #453 on: June 17, 2015, 06:12:10 PM »
Harry,

To clarify, I found Emerald to have an excellent flavor, not a superlative or inspiring flavor (e.g., Fruit Punch http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=6398.msg207108#msg207108)

my perspective:

Was it better than most of the mangos I tried at Fruit and Spice park? Yes, definitely.

Did I enjoy Emerald's taste more than some of the mangos at Gary Zill's tasting last Friday? Yes. If it had been included in the dozen or so mangoes there, I would have ranked it in the top 5.

I thought its best feature was the resin taste, which was bold like Bombay.

---

Simon,

Thanks for the tip on refractometers. A quick google search brings up some that are under $30? Do these work?

Hey Brett, those simple hand held refractometer a work really well. I believe the range on my unit is from 0-30% Brix, this is the one you want for Mangos. I got my refractometer for around $30-60.

Simon

BrettBorders

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Re: Mango Reviews
« Reply #454 on: June 18, 2015, 01:21:27 PM »
K-3



This mango is said to be a seedling of ZINC (Zill Indo Chinese), a older cultivar with chalky taste. A more well-known seedling of ZINC is Sweet Tart, a top tier mango that hits the extremes of both sweetnesss & tartness. But Sweet Tart's bold flavors might be considered "over the top" to certain normal, non-mango-crazed individuals.

K-3 is Sweet Tart's more conservative & modest -- but still hot -- sister.

She's "good mango sweet," not candy sweet. She's teasingly tart, not "powdered lemonade crystals" tart. With the sweet and sours mixed down, the resin shines through and dominates. K-3's got an invigorating, tastebud tingling zing from a well refined "turpentine" flavor.  In addition, there's a generous splash of the 'cola syrup' flavor I love :D. Wikipedia describes it like this:

Quote
The primary modern flavoring ingredients in a cola drink are sugar, citrus oils (from oranges, limes, or lemon fruit peel), cinnamon, vanilla, and an acidic flavorant. Trace flavorings may include nutmeg and a wide variety of ingredients, but the base flavorings that most people identify with a cola taste remain vanilla and cinnamon.

My guess at the ZINC / Sweet Tart / K-3's "cola formula" is: sweet + acidic + spicy (very subtle cinnamon, vanilla & nutmeg-like flavors).

The flesh of the mango was a deeper orange, it not have fiber that I can remember... and I  don't remember seeing a whole fruit next to the tasting tray.  I really liked this mango.  It's something I would enjoy tasting every summer, and I sure hope it gets released.

Does anyone know more about this mango... its story, the tree or any plans for it?


« Last Edit: June 18, 2015, 08:28:35 PM by BrettBorders »

bsbullie

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Re: Mango Reviews
« Reply #455 on: June 18, 2015, 01:57:30 PM »
K-3 is a ZINC seedling.  Has promise but no immeadiate or definite plans for release.  What you tasted at the RFC meeting, as with many of those pieces, were not fully ripe and who knows when they were cut (that day or the day before).  I do remember eating this a few years ago and it is a very very good fruit.
- Rob

DurianLover

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Re: Mango Reviews
« Reply #456 on: June 18, 2015, 03:45:58 PM »
Emerald

I picked up this up at Tropical Acres mango stand next to Dreher Park in WPB. It was dark, emerald green and kinda looked like an avocado. I had to let it ripen to a bit softer than I'd have guessed to get the correct, balanced flavor - sampling it too early was shockingly tart. It stays emerald green when ripe.

The flesh was orange and fiberless. The first taste was both acidity and sweetness: a bit like orange juice or sour apple. Beneath that were an array of mellow raspberry (slightly musky) & grape flavors. Sometimes at the very end... and on other bites right alongside all the flavors... there was a superior Indo-chinese resin taste.  Afterwards there was acidic aftertaste like I'd been drinking OJ. Overall I found Emerald to be a complex mango with "excellent" flavor - the only minus point was for the aftertaste.


I cannot believe how your taste buds can go into so many details. To me Emerald taste very straightforward. Nice spicy Indian/Caribbean flavor without many details.  It immediately reminded me of Grahams from last year. Taste identical. Perhaps relationship between two?


DurianLover

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Re: Mango Reviews
« Reply #457 on: June 18, 2015, 03:53:17 PM »
Thanks for all the great reviews Joe and Brett! Have you guys considered purchasing a refractometer? You guys already give wonderful detailed reviews and Brix readings would be awesome information to have! I'd share mine with you but alas, I'm in California.

Simon

Simon, I think you are way too obsessed with brix. Flavor intensity and complexity is what makes good mango. Brix is secondary issue. I'll try to describe Okrung flavor profile (some say sweetest mango known). Pour some sugar into water, add heavy dose of thickener, take it out of the dish, cut it into slices and serve. One accomplished grower here called it food for certain animals. Ouch!!

HMHausman

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Re: Mango Reviews
« Reply #458 on: June 18, 2015, 05:15:08 PM »
To me Emerald taste very straightforward. Nice spicy Indian/Caribbean flavor without many details.  It immediately reminded me of Grahams from last year. Taste identical. Perhaps relationship between two?

I know of no relationship between the two, but I tend to agree with your flavor description in comparing it to Graham.
Harry
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fruitlovers

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Re: Mango Reviews
« Reply #459 on: June 18, 2015, 06:00:03 PM »
Thanks for all the great reviews Joe and Brett! Have you guys considered purchasing a refractometer? You guys already give wonderful detailed reviews and Brix readings would be awesome information to have! I'd share mine with you but alas, I'm in California.

Simon

Simon, I think you are way too obsessed with brix. Flavor intensity and complexity is what makes good mango. Brix is secondary issue. I'll try to describe Okrung flavor profile (some say sweetest mango known). Pour some sugar into water, add heavy dose of thickener, take it out of the dish, cut it into slices and serve. One accomplished grower here called it food for certain animals. Ouch!!

Scientist types like brix readings because it is something you can objectively measure and hang a number to. I think main advantage of brix readings is finding out when a fruit is perfectly ripe. I just ordered a refractomer to test different cultivars of lychee and compare them. Might use it later on mangoes as well. Mainly i want to see how brix readings change as a fruit is stored for extended period.
Oscar

WGphil

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Re: Mango Reviews
« Reply #460 on: June 19, 2015, 08:59:01 AM »
First year getting to try some of these mango's.  So far the Dupius is the one I have liked best.

« Last Edit: June 22, 2015, 08:39:59 PM by WGphil »

johnb51

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Re: Mango Reviews
« Reply #461 on: June 21, 2015, 05:08:18 PM »
I ate my first Dot a few days ago and tasted my first Edward today.  Dot was just about the sweetest and juiciest mango I've ever eaten.  The flesh was deep orange, and the flavor to me was peach-y, like canned peaches.  An excellent mango.

For me the flavor of Edward was identical to Kent.  I've always loved Kent, my favorite mango back in my earliest mango days (1970's) buying boxes of Mexican mangos at the Central Market in Los Angeles, so I'll pronounce Edward an excellent mango as well.
John

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Re: Mango Reviews
« Reply #462 on: June 21, 2015, 05:22:24 PM »
VP is excellent this year. So much better than it was last year. Goes to show you how variable taste is from year to year.

From the sea

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Re: Mango Reviews
« Reply #463 on: June 22, 2015, 08:47:22 AM »
I'll pronounce Edward an excellent mango as well.

I agree, also down here the birds don't pick at them like some of the more red colored ones.

simon_grow

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Re: Mango Reviews
« Reply #464 on: June 22, 2015, 03:03:25 PM »
Thanks for all the great reviews Joe and Brett! Have you guys considered purchasing a refractometer? You guys already give wonderful detailed reviews and Brix readings would be awesome information to have! I'd share mine with you but alas, I'm in California.

Simon

Simon, I think you are way too obsessed with brix. Flavor intensity and complexity is what makes good mango. Brix is secondary issue. I'll try to describe Okrung flavor profile (some say sweetest mango known). Pour some sugar into water, add heavy dose of thickener, take it out of the dish, cut it into slices and serve. One accomplished grower here called it food for certain animals. Ouch!!

Durianlover, you are right that I am quite obsessed with Brix. It is easily obtained and has a definite value that is unbiased assuming you know how to take the readings properly. The Brix values are extremely valuable to me especially because I love sweet mangos and it is difficult for me to acquire many of the same varieties that are available in Florida.

Maybe this is just me but if there are two mangos of the same variety, say an Edwards, I would prefer to eat the mango with 21% Brix as opposed to the one with 18% Brix assuming they are both the same in all other aspects. The higher Brix tells me that the fruit was picked after hanging on the tree for a longer period of time and the fruit with the higher Brix probably came from a tree that was better taken care of or perhaps from an older tree.

Durianlover, the flavor profile is very important to me but just look at all the different threads, this one for example, that already talk about flavor profiles of many of the varieties of mango out there. How many threads describing mango flavors have info on Brix? Not many.

Many of the descriptions of the taste of the different Mango varieties say this mango was really sweet but how sweet was it really? What is sweet for one person may not necessarily be sweet for someone else. Sweetness is much to subjective without a Brix reading.

I am trying to further the hobby by encouraging others to provide additional information if possible. The more Brix readings we get, the more accurate the data set. After we get enough data points, perhaps we can say things like Kent Mango is not at full flavor unless it is harvested at 18% Brix. Or perhaps we can say that as Nam Doc Mi Mangos are sweeter when grown in Thailand vs California. This information could also be very valuable for the Agriculture industry when they finally decide to replace the Tommy Atkins mango.

Simon

bsbullie

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Re: Mango Reviews
« Reply #465 on: June 22, 2015, 04:10:27 PM »
Simon - one flaw is that while brix reading may be accurate on your meter, sweetness perception from tasting can vary based on other variable charcteristics of the fruit, for example the amount of acidity...
- Rob

DurianLover

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Re: Mango Reviews
« Reply #466 on: June 22, 2015, 04:52:03 PM »
Just to be clear, I was simply puzzled by your obsession, no other sentiment implied.
This will have to be multi-year process before any conclusions drawn.  The same varieties grown in California are likely to be sweeter. Also even from the same location you will have to keep testing. For example, I felt Sweet Tart was less sweet and intense than last year (it may be corrected with second bloom crop soon), and Keshars from India were way off this year.


This information could also be very valuable for the Agriculture industry when they finally decide to replace the Tommy Atkins mango.

You are very optimistic dreamer -:)  Does not look like it will happen anytime soon. It will have to start with orchards in Mexico I presume to see large scale shift.

bsbullie

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Re: Mango Reviews
« Reply #467 on: June 22, 2015, 05:12:56 PM »
Just to be clear, I was simply puzzled by your obsession, no other sentiment implied.
This will have to be multi-year process before any conclusions drawn.  The same varieties grown in California are likely to be sweeter. Also even from the same location you will have to keep testing. For example, I felt Sweet Tart was less sweet and intense than last year (it may be corrected with second bloom crop soon), and Keshars from India were way off this year.


The first couple Sweet Tarts I had back in mid May were just average.  All others I have had since, and there has been a very god sampling, have been exceptional, every bit as good or better than last year (last year's crop was light and I didn't feel they were as good as the year before that).  One key to the sweet Tart, picked too green and the fruit is junk.  That has been evident every year going back to when it was C-1, well before it ever got a name.



- Rob

simon_grow

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Re: Mango Reviews
« Reply #468 on: June 22, 2015, 06:06:14 PM »
Rob and Durianlover, both good points. I recently posted about the Banganpalli Mango and even though it had a relatively low Brix of , 17% I think, it tasted as sweet as a 20% Brix Kent. In the Rare Fruit Growers circle, the % Brix and Acid are very important for evaluating fruit quality. The ratio of these two gives a lot of information but quality of fruit based on these values are cultivar specific due to individual flavor components of each cultivar.

There can also be flaws with the actual testing itself. The Brix is higher or lower depending on where the juice is coming from. I've found drastic differences in Brix Values of the same exact piece of Mango depending if the juice used for the reading is from flow to the skin or closer to the seed. An Edward Mango I ate recently had a Brix of 19% near the seed and 17% near the skin. Whenever I encounter a variety with low Brix yet still tastes sweet, I do my best to report it as such.

I now take my Brix readings from juice from near the center of the fruit close to the seed. I also find it very important to thoroughly clean the refractometer in between readings and to dry the equipment, fruit and hands so as not to dilute out the TSS. Fine particles of fruit in the juice may also skew readings but I'm not looking to be that precise nor accurate. My cheap hand held unit has Automatic Temperature Compensation so the temperature of the fruit will not skew the results much.

Simon

BrettBorders

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Re: Mango Reviews
« Reply #469 on: June 22, 2015, 08:51:05 PM »
Venus - Mango Review

Rich sweetness, canned peaches in heavy syrup... with waves of a pleasantly "funky" taste that reminded me of goddess nectar.  A faint touch of chalky and a generous splash of cola syrup. No resin taste.  If you get greedy and scrape, the peel has an astringent flavor. This Zill mango is closer in taste to its ZINC parent than other known seedlings like K-3 or Sweet Tart.... but far superior to ZINC.  Silky smooth flesh texture, but mine had a bit of internal breakdown. A seductive and classy mango, well named and highly recommended. From Tropical Acres farms in West Palm Beach, FL.





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Re: Mango Reviews
« Reply #470 on: June 22, 2015, 10:27:28 PM »
Enjoyed Venus as well! Very sweet, candy like!! Yum!

bsbullie

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Re: Mango Reviews
« Reply #471 on: June 22, 2015, 10:32:50 PM »
Really, goddess nectar???

Since you brought it up,  Sweet Tart and K-3 have very distict tastes snd characteristics to their oarents, ZINC.   I see less of the ZINC characteristics in Venus.  If yoyr Venus had a chalky component,  it was not fully ripe.  Again, being such an early h arvest for this variety would lead me to believe it is not showing what it can.
- Rob

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Re: Mango Reviews
« Reply #472 on: June 22, 2015, 11:41:40 PM »
Venus was mostly rich, sweet, funky and cola syrupy. The chalky taste was very faint, if I tasted it closely comparing it to Zinc it was there, but probably wouldn't notice it unless reviewing. If it gets better when more ripe or later in the year then i am looking forward to the next one.Great tasting mango.

TnTrobbie

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Re: Mango Reviews
« Reply #473 on: June 23, 2015, 07:50:36 PM »
Just enjoyed a room temperature Sweet Tart, Honey Kiss, and a Taralay.
My God. Sweet Tart was amazing. A bit of tart and alot of sweet. I was expecting a jarring first taste effect similair to the likes of Dot, but this was mango was decadent. When fully ripe, it's skin is a bit brittle when trying to peel to enjoy more of the orange flesh goodness, but the little extra work is totally worth it. An excellent mango.
I used to think Chocanon had that "like peaches" flavor and texture, but Taralay took that crown. Bright yellow, fiberless flesh, extremely sweet and rich. The flesh had a nice density to it, seed wasn't SE asian flat but close to it so lots of beautiful flesh to enjoy and it tasted (to me) like sweet peaches. An excellent mango. 
Tough act to flow for the Honey Kiss. Flat seed, nice exterior coloration but it was a watery. I did detect some honey tones, but there was also some from cateloupe. While it was sweet, it wasn't  rich as the other two.
So for this tasting: Sweet Tart > Taralay > Honey Kiss.
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Re: Mango Reviews
« Reply #474 on: June 23, 2015, 09:30:25 PM »
in my limited experience, a well-ripened sweet tart is hard to beat.

Had a Pineapple Pleasure last weekend....It was a large mango with a frozen lemonade taste, mixed with sweet mango, mixed with pineapple.  I waited until it had no green remaining, and didn't find it to be tart at all....I will say it was INTENSE and I like tart flavors in general, but this was balanced out like a sweet tart (not same flavor, but just enough sweet to make it REALLY enjoyable!

It was totally unfair, but I was having a party at my house so I conducted a blind taste test with Fruit punch, pickering, valcarrie, and Pineapple Pleasure.  The majority who sampled responded:  "those two!!"  (pointing to Fruit Punch and Pineapple Pleasure).  Both are in the flavor grenade category!!  That's all I can say.

I want to grow this mango now....even if it means only getting a few of these babies each year! 8)
~Jeff

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