Top Tier Mango Reviews

[Julie]

Hi everyone,

Thank you all so much for the great advice I've received on this forum!  I'm going to post reviews on all of the mangoes from my list as useful information for the forum.  I was planning on ordering all of them from Tropical Acres Farm but unfortunately that seems like it will be out of my price range to try ALL of these through them since they changed their policy so you can't select individual varieties (I still plan on buying as many variety boxes as I can).  I'm also going to try and do a road trip to West Palm Beach to pick up some of these varieties.  I will be picking up my first PPK mango this weekend.

Phoenix
Cotton Candy
Pineapple Pleasure
Lemon Meringue/Po Pu Kalay(PPK)
Sugarloaf
O-15
M-4
Sweet Tart
Pina Colada
Juicy Peach
Butter Cream
Creme Brulee
Fruit Cocktail
Sunrise
Sunset
Honey Kiss
Peach Cobbler
Fruit Punch
Super Alphonso
Guava
Zinc (Zill Indochinese)
Kathy
Seacrest
Orange Essence
White Piri

[simon_grow]

A review if the listed varieties would be awesome. It would be great if you could get Brix readings for these varieties as well. You guys/gals in Florida are so lucky to have so many top tier mango varieties just a drive away or you can even have them shipped to you.

I’m dying for some top tier Florida mangos right now!

Simon

[johnb51]

A review if the listed varieties would be awesome. It would be great if you could get Brix readings for these varieties as well. You guys/gals in Florida are so lucky to have so many top tier mango varieties just a drive away or you can even have them shipped to you.

I’m dying for some top tier Florida mangos right now!

Simon

Brix readings, too?  Eye-yigh!

[Oolie]

If you happen to open up the seed husks, there's a few which have conflicting reports from your list. A report of Poly or mono could help increase the knowledge base.

[skhan]

I really should start doing this...need to get my act together first.
Any reasonably accurate Brix meters under $50

@oolie, whats the easiest to open the seed husk. I'm always too close to cutting my self

[bsbullie]

I really should start doing this...need to get my act together first.
Any reasonably accurate Brix meters under $50

@oolie, whats the easiest to open the seed husk. I'm always too close to cutting my self

Pkease forget the brix meter issue.  The meter reading aside, a lot of opinion can vary to each person's taste and balanced by the fruit's acidity.

Butter or oyster knife to open husk.

[Julie]

A review if the listed varieties would be awesome. It would be great if you could get Brix readings for these varieties as well. You guys/gals in Florida are so lucky to have so many top tier mango varieties just a drive away or you can even have them shipped to you.

I’m dying for some top tier Florida mangos right now!

Simon

Right now I don’t have the Brix machine but I can give you a description of how sweet it is. I feel your pain really I come from a state where it’s freezing cold for most of the year and tropical fruit was only available as Tommy Atkins mangoes at discount grocery stores.

[Julie]

If you happen to open up the seed husks, there's a few which have conflicting reports from your list. A report of Poly or mono could help increase the knowledge base.

I’ll try to open the seed up to add to the review.

Currently our favorite mangoes are Carrie and Orange Sherbet, but they aren’t on the list since I already have them planted out in my yard.

Just to add the best mangoes are the tree ripened ones from your own yard. So many times I’ve purchased mangoes at the wrong stage from local growers. So if you are able to get a tree of a grafted variety and plant it in your yard you shouldn’t feel bad that the variety isn’t a top tier variety. I have a Glenn tree in my yard and I wait until the fruit falls and go and collect it twice a day and the flavor is very good.

Also yes anyone else can contribute to this thread not just me. I’ll try to get as many as I can from my list but I might not have deep enough pockets to obtain all of these 😂

[Julie]

Here is my lemon meringue/Ppk review:

Flavor: average sweetness for a mango, it had a light refreshing flavor with a hint of lemon, it does truly taste like lemon meringue because of the lightness/fluffy texture, hint of lemon combined with the sweetness.

Other comments: seems to be one of the earliest ripening mangoes and doesn’t have any disease or production issues that I’ve been told.

Overall it’s not one for my yard since I’m looking for one that truly amazes me and I already have 2 early season varieties but it’s definitely a good mango. For me I’m not as interested in lemon desserts so maybe that’s playing into my decision, I like lemon more in savory applications. Obviously taste is super subjective so anyone else can post their reviews/opinions too.

[johnb51]

Keep in mind Satya's disclaimer when he made his video reviews last year:

We all know that different mango varieties have different flavors; some have a classic mango taste, some have citrusy sweetness, some - tones of peach, some pineapple, some guava, some a cocktail of many tropical fruits and some have floral small and flavor tones, so they cannot compete or be compared. Nor can they be given points like 1-10, as taste is very personal and subjective, varies from person to person, culture to culture. Also, the same mango variety grown in different parts of Florida will taste different depending on changes in microclimate, annual rainfall, soil health, mineral and salt content, fertigation regimen (irrigation+fertilization), etc. Lastly, mango picked early / not fully mature vs picked after maturity changes how they ripen off of tree; often mangoes picked green, hard & immature eventually will change color and look nice but will not get optimal sweetness (brix) or the complexity of flavor that makes mango such a unique and tasty fruit.

[Julie]

100% agree... do you guys still find this helpful?

[JoeP450]

A tip I can offer when opening up the husks is to let the seeds sit out on a plate in the kitchen for 3 to 5 days, the outer husk dries out and becomes somewhat brittle, while the embryo stays viable inside. After 3 to 5 days of drying out I take kitchen shears and trim along the thin edge and slide a spoon in and shuck that baby. If you attempt when seed husk is fresh you are risking an ER visit lol.

Just a thought but would be a good idea to add the posts under the current thread “ mango reviews” to keep the info centrally consolidated. Brix is a great option but weight, length, high res pictures and seed mono/poly are objective info and very helpful, subjective taste reviews a bonus.

-Joe

[Orkine]

100% agree... do you guys still find this helpful?

So long as you enjoy doing it, carry on.
We all know taste is subjective and all reviews are opinions but we like to know what people think about different varieties.
Eventually you will review enough for some people to get a comparison and determine if your preferences are similar to theirs or not.

Cant wait until you review Carrie or Malika and see the reaction of the "usual suspects"

[bsbullie]

100% agree... do you guys still find this helpful?

So long as you enjoy doing it, carry on.
We all know taste is subjective and all reviews are opinions but we like to know what people think about different varieties.
Eventually you will review enough for some people to get a comparison and determine if your preferences are similar to theirs or not.

Cant wait until you review Carrie or Malika and see the reaction of the "usual suspects"

The "taste is subjectice" issue notwithstanding,  for a lot of varieties , it will depend on the stage they are picked and ripeness when consumed which could skew the representative accurateness of the taste profile.

[JulianoGS]

Hi everyone,

Thank you all so much for the great advice I've received on this forum!  I'm going to post reviews on all of the mangoes from my list as useful information for the forum.  I was planning on ordering all of them from Tropical Acres Farm but unfortunately that seems like it will be out of my price range to try ALL of these through them since they changed their policy so you can't select individual varieties (I still plan on buying as many variety boxes as I can).  I'm also going to try and do a road trip to West Palm Beach to pick up some of these varieties.  I will be picking up my first PPK mango this weekend.

Phoenix
Cotton Candy
Pineapple Pleasure
Lemon Meringue/Po Pu Kalay(PPK)
Sugarloaf
O-15
M-4
Sweet Tart
Pina Colada
Juicy Peach
Butter Cream
Creme Brulee
Fruit Cocktail
Sunrise
Sunset
Honey Kiss
Peach Cobbler
Fruit Punch
Super Alphonso
Guava
Zinc (Zill Indochinese)
Kathy
Seacrest
Orange Essence
White Piri

See if you can try out carrie and ugly betty mango. Very nice flavor on both fruits.

[Jabba The Hutt]

Hi everyone,

Thank you all so much for the great advice I've received on this forum!  I'm going to post reviews on all of the mangoes from my list as useful information for the forum.  I was planning on ordering all of them from Tropical Acres Farm but unfortunately that seems like it will be out of my price range to try ALL of these through them since they changed their policy so you can't select individual varieties (I still plan on buying as many variety boxes as I can).  I'm also going to try and do a road trip to West Palm Beach to pick up some of these varieties.  I will be picking up my first PPK mango this weekend.

Phoenix
Cotton Candy
Pineapple Pleasure
Lemon Meringue/Po Pu Kalay(PPK)
Sugarloaf
O-15
M-4
Sweet Tart
Pina Colada
Juicy Peach
Butter Cream
Creme Brulee
Fruit Cocktail
Sunrise
Sunset
Honey Kiss
Peach Cobbler
Fruit Punch
Super Alphonso
Guava
Zinc (Zill Indochinese)
Kathy
Seacrest
Orange Essence
White Piri

See if you can try out carrie and ugly betty mango. Very nice flavor on both fruits.

Mmmmm Ugly Betty!! Also PPK is amazing, the citrus profile in mangos is definitely my favorite. Had an picked way too early Sugarloaf as my only test of that variety but it made us buy a tree. It was still one of the sweetest mangos I have tasted.

[JulianoGS]

Sugarloaf mango is my favorite!!!

I have yet to try an M4.  In the coconut flavored profile coconut cream is good as well but not better than SL.

[skhan]

A tip I can offer when opening up the husks is to let the seeds sit out on a plate in the kitchen for 3 to 5 days, the outer husk dries out and becomes somewhat brittle, while the embryo stays viable inside. After 3 to 5 days of drying out I take kitchen shears and trim along the thin edge and slide a spoon in and shuck that baby. If you attempt when seed husk is fresh you are risking an ER visit lol.

Just a thought but would be a good idea to add the posts under the current thread “ mango reviews” to keep the info centrally consolidated. Brix is a great option but weight, length, high res pictures and seed mono/poly are objective info and very helpful, subjective taste reviews a bonus.

-Joe

I forgot we have a whole 30 page plus thread devoted to that.
I just updated it with a recent tasting of a seedling mango...along with the usual suspects

[Julie]

I bought a 10 lb mixed box of mangoes just for the chance to try sugarloaf! And yes I agree Carrie is amazing! If I have a chance to try I ugly Betty I will!

[johnb51]

I bought a 10 lb mixed box of mangoes just for the chance to try sugarloaf! And yes I agree Carrie is amazing! If I have a chance to try I ugly Betty I will!

You can always review your mangos here if we want to keep them all in one place.
https://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=6398.825

[weiss613]

There is some truth in Julies Lemon Zest review BUT for example I live near her and not a single one of my many Lemon Zest fruit have even shown signs of ripening. Not a single one has fallen off a tree in over 3 weeks and LZ’s are not supposed to be ready to eat till the end of June into July so most likely the one Julie tested had not met it’s fabulous potential. Of course we all know “The Disclaimer” but I thought I’d mention my experience with this incredible variety so far this season to protect those who could be influenced by a mango review on a spectacular mango variety whose proper maturation time had not arrived.

[zands]

I bought a 10 lb mixed box of mangoes just for the chance to try sugarloaf! And yes I agree Carrie is amazing! If I have a chance to try I ugly Betty I will!

I have a number of mango trees and the favorite among my eaters/customers is Carrie. No lie, I have to ration them out even though there is a good crop this year and most years. One eater/yob came by yesterday. I told him all Carrie were rock hard but he managed to find one on tree that was one day from being ripe. As soon as he pointed it out I agreed that it was worth picking. Then he picked two rock hard Carries that had some decent amount of yellow coloration. I wanted them to stay on the tree longer but he is a Carrie fanatic. Family too. Bangladeshi if anyone cares. Wife is teacher at Alazhar School in Tamarac.

I have said before.... In Florida Carrie has a reputation for people from The Subcontinent.

[zands]

There is some truth in Julies Lemon Zest review BUT for example I live near her and not a single one of my many Lemon Zest fruit have even shown signs of ripening. Not a single one has fallen off a tree in over 3 weeks and LZ’s are not supposed to be ready to eat till the end of June into July so most likely the one Julie tested had not met it’s fabulous potential. Of course we all know “The Disclaimer” but I thought I’d mention my experience with this incredible variety so far this season to protect those who could be influenced by a mango review on a spectacular mango variety whose proper maturation time had not arrived.

Due to multiple blooms I got one early LZ 10 days ago. But the rest are on the tree maybe 4 weeks from being ripe.

[Tommyng]

There is some truth in Julies Lemon Zest review BUT for example I live near her and not a single one of my many Lemon Zest fruit have even shown signs of ripening. Not a single one has fallen off a tree in over 3 weeks and LZ’s are not supposed to be ready to eat till the end of June into July so most likely the one Julie tested had not met it’s fabulous potential. Of course we all know “The Disclaimer” but I thought I’d mention my experience with this incredible variety so far this season to protect those who could be influenced by a mango review on a spectacular mango variety whose proper maturation time had not arrived.

The cold winter up here gave some of us an early crop. I have some LZ ready, but I thought it was a review of ppk.

[Julie]

Yes Weiss I was reviewing Lemon Merengue (PPK) and not Lemon Zest. I think Lemon Merengue is good but I'm looking to plant 2 more mangoes, maybe 3.  I have to be practical too since I don't have endless time to freeze mangoes and only 1 adult and 1 child eating them.  So, I'm looking for one that really stands out in terms of our individual taste as the very best.  Most mangoes are very good and everyone has a different taste preference.  Also thank you John for the link!  And yes unfortunately most mangoes from farms are picked too early, unfortunately, I hope to get some that ripen up decently so I can get the accurate taste of the mango.