Nullzero, how many selections of opuntia would you consider top-tier?
How long is your season, taking into account the different varieties you have, having different fruiting seasons?
Season can start in June and last till late Winter, depends on the selections and the weather conditions. I would say there is about a 3 month gap around February to April. Flowering starts in spring and continues until early fall (at least in Southern, CA). Some selections show excellent holding of fruit on the plant, kind of like some avocado varieties that can be picked anytime within a 3-6 month period holding on the tree.
As for how many selections that are top tier, I do not have a complete idea yet from the ones I have. I have a bunch of PARL selections that I have not be able to taste the fruit yet, which are reported to have excellent sweet fruit. The only PARL selection I have tasted was PARL 244, the first fruit was seedless and excellent. I have 7 other PARL selections I need to taste. I also have sampled many wild prickly pears and selections I have made.
As for the criteria of what makes a prickly pear top tier fresh eating for me is the following; taste (unique flavor profile, extra sweetness, acid balance, intensities of flavor), color/texture (seed hardness, lack of seeds, dryness of flesh) and finally size.
Here are some examples from my experience of what I would call top tier;
Torrance PCH#1, Good watermelon flavor. What really made this a top tier in my eyes was the size of the fruit, the lower count of seeds and the softness of the seeds. Also the beautiful coloration of the fruit. Not to mention the other qualities of rot resistance and holding qualities.
Visalia Yellow, Nice refreshing melon flavor with floral notes, large fruit. (since its been a while since I had 2 fruits from the mother plant), but I have strange attachment to the fruit where it makes my body kind want to crave another one till this day. The seeds were on the harder side though, so a slight negative.
PARL 244, first fruit was a smaller one. I shared it with my GF and mother. Unfortunately the tasting did not last long enough! Very sweet seedless fruit (not sure if this will happen again or it was a random incidence due to lack of pollination) with a nice rich melon flavor.