A few years ago, after eating 50 or more varieties of mango, my inquiring nature led me to ask mango growers what their favorite mango was. Many of the answers were similar, such as Lemon Zest or Coconut Cream, but there was one mango name that stood out because it wasn't even on the radar (at the time). According to Matt Reece of Peace River Organics, his favorite mango of all time was the Bolt, and in fact, it had just won a taste test he had conducted at a meeting in Sarasota. Thanked him for his feedback, and simply told him was looking forward to sampling Bolt.
The following mango season, several people were invited and gathered together at the Starbucks in Punta Gorda for a mango taste test. There was about 30 people, give or take a few. Top tier mango were sampled and thanks to Matt, the Bolt was included. Towards the end of the event, people huddled together to taste the Bolt. They were blown away! Fisherman and farmers can be fibbers- fortunately this taste test was filmed! The Bolt caused everyone to wonder where the heck had this mango been all their lives and why they had not heard of it before.
Very good question. Where had the Bolt been before? That led me to visit Dr. Richard Campbell and the Mango Men of Homestead, the source of the Bolt mango. Interestingly enough, the Bolt is an interspecific hybrid with a brix over 30% according to Dr. Campbell. He had about 15 pounds of Bolt available for sale at his front porch and bought them all, wondering why nobody else had scooped them up.
Got home and started eating Bolt, only to be unimpressed and wondering why the Bolt was very average. It was fairly sweet, but lacking flavor character. It was a 7 out of 10 score, unlike the 10 out of 10 that was just previously eaten at the Starbucks. The fruit looked exactly identical but the taste was not. Go figure. It was a mystery.
The next season, July 2024, another Bolt found its way into my hands, this time not from Mango Men, but once again from Peace River Organics. When it was ripe, a few people assembled for a taste test (on video) and the Bolt was compared to Lemon Zest, a top tier mango and my former favorite mango.
Once again, fireworks went off as the Bolt taste explosion overwhelmed Rico from Reflection Comics and a few other people fortunate enough to sample the Bolt! Digging in for myself, there was that incredible taste once again, which reminded me of both Coconut Cream and Lemon Zest together. To say the least, the Bolt was incredibly fantastic, a 10 out of 10 score!
So given that Bolt has been around for at least a decade, how is it that it is not the IT mango? Here is where science and opinion meet, bearing in mind that there are established measurements and that taste is subjective. This is by no means conclusive, but it is the best explanation to date and am willing to hear perhaps another convincing argument:
Dr. Campbell grows his mango in very high PH coral ground, laden with sinkholes and yes, even coral snakes living in these coral depressions! He calls his grove "an old reef". He insists on never adding "any synthetic inputs, no amendments, no nitrogen". He sees the chlorotic nature of his trees as a benefit.
Apparently, a mango tree in higher PH soil will not be able to absorb certain nutrients like Iron, phosphorus, etc from the roots. This lack of nutrients will cause the leaves to become chlorotic and the decrease in chlorophyl will then cause the fruit to be less sweet-because the leaves will absorb less energy to convert into sugars for the fruit.
Having eaten both the Bolt grown at Dr. Campbell's under these chlorotic inducing conditions and having compared it to the Bolt grown in the low PH sugar sand of the west coast of Florida- there was a night and day drastic difference! My opinion is that Bolt never gained acceptance early on because people were eating the inferior high PH, low taste Bolt grown in coral rock and initially not the ideal conditions of low PH sugar sand soil found here on the west coast of Florida.
Some people have commented that they grow in coral/limestone but add supplements to correct imbalances. Dr. Campbell has stated he adds absolutely nothing to his mango trees. So no corrective measures are being done to correct these imbalances. Also, Bolt is an interspecific hybrid and there may be circumstances which can cause exceptions that regular mango do not experience environmentally in response to high PH chlorotic conditions. Specifically, their effect on the taste of the Bolt. It may be drastically more sensitive to PH imbalances than the regular mango which are not interspecific hybrids.
There was also an early taste test conducted by Sulcata Grove which was not favorable. Apparently, the Bolt was not ready for prime time and any taste test of over or under ripe mango will not be favorable.
Out of the gate, Bolt was viewed as a very average mango. It did not get the buzz it rightfully deserves during its "launch". However, my firsthand experience, and the experiences of other who have recently tasted the sugar sand West Coast Florida grown Bolt- demonstrate that this is an exceptional taste test winner!
Bolt is a top tier mango and in my opinion the finest mango of the 60 plus varieties eaten to date. When grown under ideal conditions and properly ripe, the Bolt tastes exactly like a Coconut Cream and Lemon Zest in one, creating an UNPARALLELED synergy of taste.
