The battle of the mandarins

[JF]

So what happen when the two best flavored mandarins in the world go head to head? you have to pick a winner. These two mandarin are pure ecstasy to your taste buds.

[HMHausman]

Not sure how the flavor actually was, but the smaller fruit, on the left, looks like it was more intensely flavored.  My money is on that fruit as the winner of the head to head.

[JF]

Not sure how the flavor actually was, but the smaller fruit, on the left, looks like it was more intensely flavored.  My money is on that fruit as the winner of the head to head.

Harry

I've been testing the flavor of these two outstanding seedless mandarins for a couple years. The GN has won the last two taste test with an explosive sweetness and a nice mild aftertaste. This year it was the Sumo who had the more rich and intense flavor. The GG is much easier to peel and the Sumo looks more attractive because of its size but when you peels them you see that GN stay nice and compact. The GN is 3-4 weeks from reaching its optimum flavor but it's still as sweet as honey.

[johnb51]

How about a perfectly ripened (end-of-season) Minneola tangelo?

[zands]

How about a perfectly ripened (end-of-season) Minneola tangelo?

AKA Honeybell. My favorite citrus that beats anything out of California, too dry out there. Some very good ones in the store right now, or at least 10 days ago when I bought some large ugly ones at Doris Market

[bsbullie]

You Floridians need to try a fully ripe King Mandarin, it will easily give a Honeybell/Minneola a run for its money, and then some.  In addition, what makes it great for the Floridians, it can be fruited without problems in Florida.

[ofdsurfer]

Rob,
Does Excalibur have king mandarin fruit?

[zands]

Rob,
Does Excalibur have king mandarin fruit?

I think my neighbor got one there....after talking to Rob (bsbullie) and it was a beautiful green branched out 7 gallon specimen.  Rob can tell you better what the current stock is

[JF]

You Floridians need to try a fully ripe King Mandarin, it will easily give a Honeybell/Minneola a run for its money, and then some.  In addition, what makes it great for the Floridians, it can be fruited without problems in Florida.

Good advice Rob....render to Florida the things that are Florida's
.

[simon_grow]

Hey JF, did you thin your GNs? I believe they thin the Sumos so in order to have a better comparison, it may be a good idea to thin next years harvest. I bet you'll get better size and maybe even better flavor. Gold nugget and the Sumos are two of my favorite citrus.
Simon

[JF]

Hey JF, did you thin your GNs? I believe they thin the Sumos so in order to have a better comparison, it may be a good idea to thin next years harvest. I bet you'll get better size and maybe even better flavor. Gold nugget and the Sumos are two of my favorite citrus.
Simon

Hi Simon, thanks for the tip.

Not I did not thin the tree but I did not harvest them last year until April. I just wanted to try them in Feb. for comparison. I compared the GN in March the year before...it looks like March and April is the best time to harvest them. Where are you buying your Dekopon?

[bsbullie]

Rob,
Does Excalibur have king mandarin fruit?

Excalibur does not sell the fruit but does have some trees in stock.  Currently the only size available are 25 gallon.

[Mike T]

Minneola is a tangello and honey murcott is a tangor so might not be eligible.I copped down my minneola as they develop poorly in a warm wet climate.They don't get good color or flavor and have huge fruit.Murcotts in my yard do really well and taste good.Emperor is my main mandarin with hickson the supporting act and I prefer these to honey murcott.I chopped down an imperial mandarin as it developed poorly and was not as good as when they are grown in cooler climates.

GN and Sumo are not available here and I wonder how similar they are to the varieties I am familiar with.

[fyliu]

Only Gold Nugget and Sumo? Pixie is better than GN most years I've had it. Pixie and GN used to be thought of as the same cultivar. Markets often put them in the same bin labeled Gold Nugget but I buy the fruits with the "Ojai Pixie" labels.

'Tango' tangor is also a good one. Cuties was supposed to be 'Tango' but they substitute different cultivars depending on season and those are not as good.

[Xeno]

Are one of the mandarins a Tango variety?

[fyliu]

No, i don't see a Tango here. Tango is like the perfect mandarin with shiny smooth skin that comes off easily. It has a nice mandarin-orange aroma and is sweet. I'm not sure if it's seedy but probably not. It's actually a tangor that's being marketed as a mandarin.

[JF]

Only Gold Nugget and Sumo? Pixie is better than GN most years I've had it. Pixie and GN used to be thought of as the same cultivar. Markets often put them in the same bin labeled Gold Nugget but I buy the fruits with the "Ojai Pixie" labels.

'Tango' tangor is also a good one. Cuties was supposed to be 'Tango' but they substitute different cultivars depending on season and those are not as good.

I've tried all of those it comes down to GN and  Dekopon.....quote author=zands link=topic=4269.msg58931#msg58931 date=1360557006]

How about a perfectly ripened (end-of-season) Minneola tangelo?

AKA Honeybell. My favorite citrus that beats anything out of California, too dry out there. Some very good ones in the store right now, or at least 10 days ago when I bought some large ugly ones at Doris Market
[/quote]

Pardon moi?? have you had any home grown honeybell from Southern California??I'll show you how they look tomorrow.

[Xeno]

No, i don't see a Tango here. Tango is like the perfect mandarin with shiny smooth skin that comes off easily. It has a nice mandarin-orange aroma and is sweet. I'm not sure if it's seedy but probably not. It's actually a tangor that's being marketed as a mandarin.

If there are no Tango mandarins then it doesn't matter if Sumo or Gold Nugget win because Tango stands above all. Also tango are seedless.

[fyliu]

It varies from year to year. Gold nugget as a cultivar is pretty good. But the first few years I put mine in the ground it was sour like a kumquat. The Sumo I tried last year was also not great.
I can't be sure I've ever had a Tango since I don't have the tree and I can't be sure what I'm getting in the market.

The external difference between Gold Nugget and Pixie seems to be rougher skin on the GN fruit.

My Pixie bud on GN failed 2 years ago. I'll have to try it again.

[JF]

Algerian,Gold Nugget,Page,Honey,Pixie,Tango,Murcott,Clementine and I even threw in Zand's Minneola tangello which is not even in the same category in every way.
. Sorry Xeno Tango is in the middle of the pack. Top five:
1. GN
2.Honey
3.Pixie
4.Algerian
5.Tango 

[simon_grow]

Hey JF,
I haven't purchased any Sumos this year but I saw them on sale at Whole Foods in La Jolla. I didn't see them at Nijiya Market this year. My daughter loves both Gold Nugget and Sumos equally.
Simon

[fyliu]

Very good, JF. I'll look for the GN this year. Btw, Clementine is the marketing name for Algerian. I guess you have an Algerian tree?

I wonder how Sumo compares to Ponkan, which is its parent or a somewhat close relative.

Like Sumo(deskopon) and Cuties, Ponkan is not an actual cultivar but a category for what a good mandarin should be. Sumo has very loose pockmarked skin, sweet, with a conspicuous bump on top. Cuties are flat shaped, small sized, smooth skin, sweet. Ponkan in China means very loose pockmarked skin, medium sized, is sweet. In CCPP collection in UC Riverside, Ponkan is a "variety" they imported, . Hopefully it produces fruit of similar quality.

[JF]

Very good, JF. I'll look for the GN this year. Btw, Clementine is the marketing name for Algerian. I guess you have an Algerian tree?

I wonder how Sumo compares to Ponkan, which is its parent or a somewhat close relative.

Like Sumo(deskopon) and Cuties, Ponkan is not an actual cultivar but a category for what a good mandarin should be. Sumo has very loose pockmarked skin, sweet, with a conspicuous bump on top. Cuties are flat shaped, small sized, smooth skin, sweet. Ponkan in China means very loose pockmarked skin, medium sized, is sweet. In CCPP collection in UC Riverside, Ponkan is a "variety" they imported, . Hopefully it produces fruit of similar quality.

Clementine is an Algerian without seeds. I love to get wood for Ponkan or Deskopon you have any?

Simon

My mother got those Sumo in a grocery in Chinatown Los Angeles but iI have seen them at Mitsuwa in San Grabiel and Irvine.

[johnb51]

Very good, JF. I'll look for the GN this year. Btw, Clementine is the marketing name for Algerian. I guess you have an Algerian tree?

I wonder how Sumo compares to Ponkan, which is its parent or a somewhat close relative.

Like Sumo(deskopon) and Cuties, Ponkan is not an actual cultivar but a category for what a good mandarin should be. Sumo has very loose pockmarked skin, sweet, with a conspicuous bump on top. Cuties are flat shaped, small sized, smooth skin, sweet. Ponkan in China means very loose pockmarked skin, medium sized, is sweet. In CCPP collection in UC Riverside, Ponkan is a "variety" they imported, . Hopefully it produces fruit of similar quality.

I planted a Ponkan tree last year.  As far as I know, it is a variety.

[fyliu]

I planted a Ponkan tree last year.  As far as I know, it is a variety.

It's a variety here in th US. But this variety is the one or two plants that scions were taken from at the time. It could be on the better or worse side of the variation.

This is probably the case with taking varieties from an area of diversity. They have so many things that they've been grouping them into categories based on quality similarities. And then outsiders come along and tries to find out what it is, it's a Ponkan.

Well I could be wrong about this. This is the impression I get from Chinese people calling their mandarin Ponkan. It could really be a cultivar and vendors are trying to pass their inferior mandarins off as Ponkan. It's hard to tell which is true. Foods aren't regulated much over there.