Florida Mango Experience and Reviews - June 2022

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Alright, finally made it down to south FL for mango procurement and tasting.  This experience was postponed for nearly 3 years due to "The Rona."  Monkeypox be damned, I spent 3 days hunting mangos and other tropical fruit, battling online reservations, driving up and down the coast, and dealing with flight delays and cancellations.  I even bought a gym bag from Goodwill so I could lug nearly 40lbs of mangos home in a carry on, like a goddamn coke dealer.
I will supplement this adventure with reviews of the Mango booty because....why the hell not?  I love it when other people post their opinions, so here are some more from another source. 
Here's an image of the partial haul after I consumed a few of the really ripe ones. 

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Pickering
Purchased from Tropical Acres and ready to eat that evening.  I've had a few mangos with Coconut flavor, but this one was off the charts.  I've eaten 2 so far and riper of two mangos definitely had more coconut aftertaste.  The anthracnose on the skin was superficial with no effect on mango flesh. Skin so thin, I could peel it like a banana. In fact, I went at it like a crazed monkey.  Both Pickerings were insanely sweet, like diabetes inducing sweet. Very juicy. Just a little fiber around the seed and flesh. I would rate this mango 9/10.  Loss of point for fiber, but not objectionable.  If this tree really produces as regularly and large quantities as described, this should be a must-have mango for any yard or orchard. 

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Philippine/Carabao
Purchased from Tropical Acres and ready to eat the following morning. Mango was yellowish-green, soft when ripe. Unblemished thin skin. To be honest, I did not expect this flavor from a mango that looks so similar to a Ataulfo.  It was really sweet, like tropical fruit cup syrup.  I hate fruit cups, but this was tasty in a mango.  It had a very unique flavor that I can't quite nail down.  Definitely worth buying for the flavor alone, but probably wouldn't invest in a tree.  Maybe a grafted branch or two. Some fiber near the seed.  I rate it a 8.5/10.  1 point loss for the hairy seed that made me floss, .5 point loss for small size.  Nothing wrong with a pocket sized mango, just wanted to eat more of it for the tropical flavor.

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Duncan
Purchased from Tropical Acres and ready to eat the following morning.  This one has been on my curiosity list for awhile now.  I love the pale yellow color and it always looks blemish free.  If it tastes as good as it looks.... Mango was soft to the touch, so ripe?  Positives, it has juicy mango flesh and good flavor with just a little fiber near the seed. The tough skin that has the bitterness I’ve heard about.  The flesh is not affected, but if you like to scrape your teeth along the skin to harvest every bit of flesh, you will taste intense bitterness.  I'm a notorious mango skin scraper. In this case, the experience was not worth it.  Overall, a very good peachy flavored mango with with just a hint of Indo Chinese aftertaste.  I rate this one a 7.5/10  Loss of half a point for minimal fiber and two points for bitterness on the skin.  Bitters belong in an Old Fashioned, not in my mango skin.

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Edward
Picked up from Tropical Acres.  Handsome little mango with pink shade on green skin and soft to touch.  It was ripe to eat the day after collection.  This was very juicy mango that made a mess all over the place with thick meaty flesh.  Very little fiber in flesh, if any, and only a little near the seed.  Classic mango flavor with a very thin seed so solid flesh to seed ratio.  Not much to say about this mango.  Boring is perhaps a bit unfair.  Compared to others, not spectacular but still a very good mango.  I probably would not graft it to my trees.  Rating is 7.5 with 2 point loss for just being one-dimensional.  Half point loss for spraying juice all over my shirt.

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Kensington Pride
Another one from Tropical Acres that I ate the day after pickup.  This was a roundish, heavy mango with yellowish-green skin when soft/ripe. Unblemished thick skin. Another juicy mango with medium fiber, particularly near the seed.  Some Indochinese flavor in the flesh, a bit more intense than a Duncan.  Overall, slightly better flavor than Duncan with strong peach taste in yellow-orange flesh.  I think this is great representation of a unique mango popularized by our mates from down under.  I’m glad I have a 3 year old seedling of this variety growing back home in the orchard.  Definitely worthy of a spot in a grove. I give it a rating of 8.0 with one point loss for furry seed (break out the floss again) and another point for the thick seed husk, making it a tough nut to crack. I want that seed damnit!

[JakeFruit]

Enjoying reading your reviews, hope you're just getting started 

[Squam256]

Glad you were able to get some fruit for us, I know it’s not easy and the stuff sells quickly.

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Angie
I have been looking forward to trying this mango so I admit, my expectations were high.  Purchased from Tropical Acres.  This was a brightly colored mango like a morning sunrise.  No kidding, it smelled like bubblegum when I first cut it open.  A huge positive was no mess everywhere from juice when cut; everything is retained in the flesh. Mango had thin skin, thick deep orange flesh, tasted like a mild Alphonso, but more enjoyable.  Very pleasant resin flavor near the skin.  A small amount of fiber near the seed, but none in the flesh.  It even had just small bit of acid to balance the flavor.  I never use the word sublime at risk of sounding like a debutante, but this mango was f*ing sublime.  I have eaten home grown Alphonso, as well as Alphonso in India and this left a larger impression.  Like on the order of a CA grown Sweet Tart at peak, it was that good.  A MUST HAVE tree on my property.  Rating 9.5/10 with .5 point loss due to fiber near the seed, but that is really nitpicking as this was near perfection.  So good, I ate two in a row. Both stuck the landing!  Thanks Alex, this one mango made the reservation process totally worthwhile, the rest are gravy.

[SHV]

Enjoying reading your reviews, hope you're just getting started 

Dude, I'm just getting started.  I still have like 20 more varieties to review but waiting for many to ripen properly.  Some were clearly picked early and a several were drops from the F&S park (I know, I'm not supposed to take the fruit) so expectations are low.  Either way, I'm committed at this point so definitely more to come.

[johnb51]

I know you're just getting started, but it looks like no mango will get a perfect "10" from you.

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I know you're just getting started, but it looks like no mango will get a perfect "10" from you.

Quite true.  It's very possible perfection in a mango does not exist, but the pursuit of perfection....now that's what keep the hunt interesting. 

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Po Pyu Kalay (Lemon Meringue)
Purchased from Truly Tropical and waited two days for ripening.  Another small yellow mango with thin skin, soft to touch that resembles the Mexican Ataulfo in appearance, but tastes nothing like it.  I tried to keep that stupid Lemon Meringue moniker out of my mind while tasting this mango, but its damn near impossible when you cut it open and it unmistakably smells like lemon citrus.  The first impression after tasting is orange otter pop.  Yeah, I have a real refined palate.  Melting flesh, no fiber but not enough meat to satisfy me completely.  I could probably eat another 4-5 of these without stopping for a breath.  I’m currently growing a couple seedlings of this mango, but if their fruit don’t live up to this benchmark, I’m topworking with the real deal.  Rating 9.0 with a loss of point for small size. 

[skhan]

Angie have been surprisingly delicious this year.
I think my only tens have been prime examples of zinc, lemon zest, orange sherbet, mulgoba, valcarrie and maybe coconut cream.

[Eggo]

Awesome, keep them coming! Thanks for these reviews! I'm sure by the end I will have many more mangos to add to my want list ahah.

[johnb51]

I’m currently growing a couple seedlings of this mango, but if their fruit don’t live up to this benchmark, I’m topworking with the real deal.  Rating 9.0 with a loss of point for small size.
Good news!  PPK/LM is poly.

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Thai Everbearing
Purchased from Tropical Acres and gave it a couple days to ripen.  Still firm with a little give, but it smelled ripe.  It’s a cute little yellow colored mango that I would normally assume is a premature drop, but sometimes good things come in small packages.  Call it a pocket mango for easy portability. This little guy packed a punch.  No fiber, floral scent with a little coconut on the stem end of the mango.  I would compare it to Nam Doc Mai, but it had more of a SE Asian resin flavor near the skin.  Wife had a few slices and said, “This has really good flavor”.  There you have it.  I would rate it a 8/10 with a one point loss for small size and one point loss for tree precociousness.  I would totally add this to my collection of mango trees, but the idea of an everflowering mango branch or tree does not sound desirable in the SoCA climate. 

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Cogshall
Purchased from Truly Tropical as part of a mixed bag.  Another beautiful, medium-sized mango that was medium soft and appeared ready to eat.  Not much to say about the flavor of this mango so I will go with my wife’s description, “it tastes like a mango.”  I get that there is a place for every mango, so perhaps this would be best suited for a fruit salad, alcohol cocktail, or smoothie.  It also suffered from its order of tasting since it immediately followed PPK and Thai Everbearing.  After those two flavor bombs, it exploded like a fun snap.  Positives attributes are: beautiful mango, medium sized, and completely fiberless.  I give it a rating of 7/10 based on all these characteristics but 3 point loss for being a “boring” mango.  Edward was a better flavored classic mango in my humble opinion. 

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Fruit Punch
Purchased from Truly Tropical, lucked out with a heavy hitter in the mixed bag.  So did it live up to its reputation?  Bright red and orange exterior after 3 days of ripening from purchase.  Had very little give, but based on color, it looked ripe.  Cut it open and it was clearly ripe with bright orange flesh with juice retained within.  I was a bit concerned that this might just be another classic flavored mango or Haden flavor knock-off based on scent and appearance.  One bite dispelled all concerns.  This is a DENSE, meaty mango.  No wonder is stayed firm upon ripening.  The flavor starts as intense classic category until the resin near the skin kicks in.  Good lord!  If the PPK and Thai Everbearing were flavor bombs, this one went nuclear.  We cleaned every morsel off the seed and skin.  This mango deserves every accolade it receives, in fact, I’m surprised it’s not discussed more with higher acclaim.  It absolutely checks every box: Beautiful appearance, completely fiberless, filling, intense flavor, and aptly named (feel like I was punched in the mouth).  Rating, 10/10.  I can’t even think of an arbitrary reason to subtract a point.  Get this tree…period!

[johnb51]

MANGO ACHIEVES PERFECT SCORE 
Looks like I was wrong!  I'm happy to see you guys are loving our Florida mangos.  Two of our premier growers so far, who are passionate about mangos.  The property that Chris Wenzel owns (Delray Beach: arguably South Florida's most beautiful beach town) is worth a fortune, but she continues to do her thing, growing mangos.  Props to Chris.  Props to Alex.  Two of my idols!

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MANGO ACHIEVES PERFECT SCORE 
Looks like I was wrong!  I'm happy to see you guys are loving our Florida mangos.  Two of our premier growers so far, who are passionate about mangos.  The property that Chris Wenzel owns (Delray Beach: arguably South Florida's most beautiful beach town) is worth a fortune, but she continues to do her thing, growing mangos.  Props to Chris.  Props to Alex.  Two of my idols!

I have a few FL mangos in the past from personal grafted trees, but not a huge variety all at once to compare.  I think there is a huge market for these both in FL and the rest of the states.  I know I'm preaching to the choir here.  Most people I have shared these with had no idea there was such diversity in mango types and are blown away by the flavors, shapes, and colors.  The first question is always, why are these not sold everywhere?  I was shocked that I was able to purchase these at only $4-5 a pound!  I paid $3 a pound for subpar grocery store nectarines this weekend.  I applaud your local growers for making these rare fruits both accessible and affordable to your local buyers.

Piggybacking on your comment John, this seems like a good point to highlight my experience at Truly Tropical.  I missed my chance the first day as I was unable to make a reservation and they sold out the non-reserved fruit before I arrived.  Chris told me to come back the next day as she would have more fruit and a better chance.  I was able to make an online reservation to secure my mangos before traveling home and there was still plenty of unreserved fruit available when I arrived to pick-up my fruit at TT.  Since there was no traffic when I arrived, I had the opportunity to chat with Chris for 15-20 mins about mangos and her orchard.  I have watched a few of her videos on YouTube and she is as delightful in-person as she appears in her videos.  And of course, she delivers a high quality product.  I had a great experience buying from both Alex and Chris.

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Nam Doc Mai
Purchased from Truly Tropical.  This is one mango that I know what to expect, as I have previously gorged on them in southeast Asia.  On the smaller side for a NDM, but still chunky with a faint yellow coloring and firm-soft feel says it ripe to eat.  Cut open exposed a light-yellow flesh with the pleasing aroma of a floral mango distinctive to NDM.  Never any fiber and always clean eating.  I admit that I am biased and have always enjoyed this mango, even though that opinion is not widely shared among mango aficionados.  This example was so sickly-sweet that it made my fillings hurt.  There are other mangos with honey in the name, but this is the finest example of honey flavor I can think of in a mango.  Rating 8.5/10 with 1 point loss for flavor (almost a top tier mango) and half point reduction for squat stature.  Everyone should have a cocktail tree that includes this variety, if only for the cool shape to contrast the other grafted mangos.

[MasonG31]

Great reviews! I read them all.  Reminds me of my trips to Florida.  I put all my reviews in a spreadsheet lol.  Anyways, keep em coming. 

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Sweet Tart
Purchased from Excalibur. Now here’s a mango whose reputation precedes itself.  My family grows this mind-blowing fruit so I have really high expectations.  The mango I acquired looked a bit undersized and perhaps picked early.  Still very green exterior, but it was getting soft so it was time to eat.  Once cut open, it was clear that I waited too long to open this one.  Deep orange color with the flesh near the skin starting to get overly ripe.  All tartness had departed with only sweetness remaining.  I would swear this was a small Mexican Kent based on flavor, fruit appearance, and some fiber near the seed.  Even the seed was Mono.  There was, however, some Indochinese flavor still near the skin.    All said and done, I was thoroughly disappointed with this Sweet Tart.  I’ve had overripe homegrown Sweet Tart and it was nowhere near this poor quality.  Most of the mangos from Excalibur looked like they were picked early (all very green), so I’m a bit apprehensive about future tastings from their selection.  I’m rating this underwhelming experience a 5.5/10 with 2 point loss for flavor, 1 point demerit for eating at the wrong stage of ripeness, another 1 point for breaking my heart, and half a point for potential mislabeled Sweet Tart based on observed characteristics.  In case it needs to be said, do not base your tree buying decision on this review.  I can personally vouch that this is normally a top tier mango that belongs in every backyard.

[Squam256]

Sweet Tart
Purchased from Excalibur. Now here’s a mango whose reputation precedes itself.  My family grows this mind-blowing fruit so I have really high expectations.  The mango I acquired looked a bit undersized and perhaps picked early.  Still very green exterior, but it was getting soft so it was time to eat.  Once cut open, it was clear that I waited too long to open this one.  Deep orange color with the flesh near the skin starting to get overly ripe.  All tartness had departed with only sweetness remaining.  I would swear this was a small Mexican Kent based on flavor, fruit appearance, and some fiber near the seed.  Even the seed was Mono.  There was, however, some Indochinese flavor still near the skin.    All said and done, I was thoroughly disappointed with this Sweet Tart.  I’ve had overripe homegrown Sweet Tart and it was nowhere near this poor quality.  Most of the mangos from Excalibur looked like they were picked early (all very green), so I’m a bit apprehensive about future tastings from their selection.  I’m rating this underwhelming experience a 5.5/10 with 2 point loss for flavor, 1 point demerit for eating at the wrong stage of ripeness, another 1 point for breaking my heart, and half a point for potential mislabeled Sweet Tart based on observed characteristics.  In case it needs to be said, do not base your tree buying decision on this review.  I can personally vouch that this is normally a top tier mango that belongs in every backyard.

I would venture to guess that that is an immaturely picked Carrie.

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Dwarf Hawaiian/Tete Nene
Purchased from Truly Tropical in a mixed bag.  Worth noting as I probably would have overlooked this little mango.  Shaped like a reticulata or maybe an apple, this compressed variety exhibited a nice pink hue transition to yellow when ripe.  It was hard to judge when it was ripe as the exterior shell remained rock hard with a little give when squeezed.  After cutting open, it appeared to be almost overripe, but a taste of the flesh said it was still good for consumption.  This is a very rich, heavy mango.  With just a moderate amount of Indian spice, the additional flavor resembled really ripe papaya.  The good kind, not that smelly Maradol papaya!  Some coarse fiber near the seed, but none found in the eating portion of the mango.  It served as an excellent breakfast mango dessert.  I planned on eating a couple mangos this morning, but this was heavy and sweet enough to satisfy my craving.  I rate this a 8 out of 10 with half point loss for fiber, half point for size, and a full point loss for flavor profile.  If this tree is productive and early season, it’s worth considering including in a collection.

[dwfl]

Definitely not a Sweet Tart.

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Glenn
Purchased from Excalibur.  Medium sized fruit with a little bit of color although this fruit was solid green when I purchased it five days ago. I’m confident this was picked too early.  That said, it was starting to get soft, so what the hell, let’s eat.  First thought that comes to mind when biting into this fiberless mango is canned peaches.  Very soft, peachy flavor with less sugar than I would expect from a ripe mango.  It was still pleasant to the taste buds.  I liked this one slightly better than a ripe Cogshall, but less than the Edward.  Therefore, the rating must be 7.25/10.  A ripe Glenn might move up the scale a little more, but I guess I won’t know for sure this year.  Strike two Excalibur.

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Sweet Tart (Reloaded)
I had one more Sweet Tart from Excalibur so let’s see if the mango and the supplier could redeem itself.  Immediately after I cut into this one, I knew this was the correct mango.  Poly seed confirmed it.  Smooth as butter, distinct aroma, but still a tad underripe.  Normally, a slightly underripe mango would turn me off.  Oh no, not the case with Sweet Tart.  At this stage, Sweet Tart has an amazing Zing to the flavor profile that turns sweeter as it ripens.  This is exactly how I remembered it and serves as a tease for the Fall mango season in San Diego.  As good as this mango tasted, I still have to give it a 8.5/10 .  A little more hang time on the tree could have made this juicier so 1 point loss for early picking and half point deduction for lack of juiciness.  Excalibur fouled one off, so he’s still alive at the plate. 

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Phimsen Mun
Snagged in a bag from Fruit & Spice Park.  Found this long boy sitting under the tree with similar looking mangos still hanging up high.  It had some small critter bite marks on one site of the mango, but no worries, a little hand sanitizer and its good for transport.  After 5 days of ripening, I decided to try it semi-firm by cutting around the cavities at the nose.  Expecting a green apple flavor, I was surprised to find the light yellow color flesh mild flavored, a little acidic, but definitely Thai mango.  It was plenty sweet sans fiber, but not as tasty or floral as a Nam Doc Mai.  Just a so-so eating experience.  I have another mango of this variety from Truly Tropical that I will compare against, but I’m going to let that one sit longer.  Eating a crunchy mango just doesn’t appeal to me.  I rate this mango experience a 6.5/10 with a 3 point deduction for unspectacular flavor and half a point for critter contamination.

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Zill Indochinese (ZINC)
Purchased from Truly Tropical.  I eagerly anticipated the tasting of this mango.   What did the mother of Sweet Tart and Venus contribute to her offspring?  Well, they kinda look the same…like a green mango.  It was still moderately firm after 5 days from purchase, but exhibited a little give with pressure.  Cut open, the juice did not spill out.  This is another dense mango with a very mild aroma and no discernible fiber.  The flavor is best described as orange creamsicle with a hint of resin.  Scraping the peel with your teeth really gives you a taste of the Indochinese resin flavor.  I like it.  There is also a very mild chalkiness that I did not find unpleasant, rather it added to the mouthfeel and complexity.  Another very unique mango, but its contribution to Sweet Tart is clear, just dialed back several decibels.  Overall, I have to rate this mango a 8.5/10 with a 1 point loss for a step below top tier flavor and half point fault for ripened state.  Would love to taste this fully ripened on the tree.

[Vic8361]

Thank you for your review’s, it’s much appreciated

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Ataulfo
Purchased from Tropical Acres.  I can’t believe I’m going to review the Ataulfo, aka Honey Mango, aka Champagne Mango. Ooh la la, sounds delectable, no?  I assume by now that everyone reading this has tasted the run-of-the-mill, small, yellow Mango that is grown in Mexico and sold everywhere, all year long.  This is a good training wheels mango.  My Florida grown Ataulfo took 6 days to ripen to perfection.  Smooth buttery flesh (maybe they should rebrand as Butter Mango) with a mild mango flavor. No resin, no spice, no citrus, just mango.  Now sticky rice and coconut syrup would have been nice.  Yum!  Only once has an Ataulfo surprised me with a strong coconut flavor, but this was a total anomaly, 1 in a 1000.  I rate this mango a solid 7/10 nearly every time. I won’t go out of my way to graft this mango because everyone uses this for rootstock out here. 

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This is probably a good intermission point to update those following this thread. Six days have passed since I procured my remaining mangos and I'm still waiting for them to ripen.  Not good.  I have never had a mango that sat for 6 days without significant loss in eating quality.  In my experience, mangos that take this long to ripen off the tree were picked weeks too early or they were drops.  Already I had to trash a Julie, Choc Anon, and Sunrise that started to wrinkle on the exterior and were soft, but did not ripen on the inside.  Totally bummed about Julie since that smelled like pine resin when I sliced it.  Sunrise is another big miss    I did recover the seeds so that's a consolation prize.  I still have hope for a decent Florigon, COC, Sucari, and NDM Sia Tong all up next.  The remaining Cambodiana, Ivory, Hatcher, Bailey's Marvel, Mahachanok, and few repeats are still green with little color change and firm under hand pressure.  Several of these were drops from F&S park and I had low expectations so no biggie.  Several others were purchased at Excalibur and that is another story.  I will address this after I give them a full opportunity to ripen, but they are 0-2 and the pitcher is winding up and about to throw some high heat. 

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Florigon
Purchased from Excalibur.  After 7 days, this mango had a nice ripe yellow shade on green canvas and soft feel to it.  Cut through the completely fiberless flesh with a little bit of juice dribble.  It smelled delicious, but the first taste was underwhelming.  Sugar content was lacking big time.  Main part of the mango had a classic flavor with just a hint of Indochinese resin.  Scraping the peel enhanced the resin flavor to the level that I enjoy.  The marriage between Florida mango and Saigon is evident as you get a little bit of both depending on where you are slicing or gnawing.  There was even a small bit of coconut aftertaste near the seed.  I think this a really good hybrid, if properly tree ripened.  I give it a 7/10 with a 2 point loss for low sugar concentration and 1 point for mid-tier flavor.  If Saigon is too intense and Classic is too boring, this mango is a nice compromise. 

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Cambodiana
Found under the Cambodiana tree at the Fruit & Spice park.  This is another mango that I have been looking forward to tasting.  I acquired a 5 year old seedling of this variety, fruit never make it to maturity, and the new leaves always look different from its neighbors.  This fruit took 7 days from discovery to devouring.  Yellow fiberless flesh with plenty of juice upon slicing.  I tasted no resin on this mango.  Rather, the flavor was mostly tart with a decent amount of sweet.  Perhaps Tart Sweet as the new name for this mango?  This was by far the most acidic mango I have tasted from Florida.  I just wish it made me look forward to my own tree producing.  I rate this one a 6/10 with 2 point loss for average flavor, 1 point for level of tartness, and 1 point deduction for appearance.  It was so superficially ugly, that even its mama kicked it out of the tree early. 

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CAC (labeled as COC)
I think Excalibur was messing around with the name to get a rise out of me.  Big thick mango that fit nicely in my hand.  Totally expected this one to fill me up.    I have heard that this is an excellent mango based on previous TFF threads and documented tastings.  It certainly looked nice.  An attractive smooth, clean exterior and beautiful juicy flesh with no fiber.   The real let down was the flavor and sweetness.  Once again, this mango was picked too early.  The flavor was decent, but I would position the ZINC a step above in the flavor department and complexity.   By no means was this a mango anything less than good, just not great.   I ate two of them at different ripening stages and both were equivalent in their wow factor.  I rate this mango a 7.5/10 with 1 point demerit for flavor, another point for ripened stage, and half a point for reputational letdown.  Strike three Excalibur.  You cultivate a poor reputation selling sub-par mangos that do not reflect the eating quality they deserve. 

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Sucari
Another one found under the Sucari tree at Fruit & Spice park.  Small mango that appeared to be of average size for its variety based on the hanging fruit.  Pretty dark green when I found it, but it started to blush a little with TLC.  After 8 days, I deemed it ready for consumption.  Orange flesh with no fiber, not even small hairs on the seed, my kind of mango.  Interesting taste with a hint of resin that I couldn’t quite place, maybe Indian, maybe Indochinese?  Sweet but not overly so.  I liked it.  I could probably eat three of these before hitting my limit based on its size and medium sugar content.  I rate it a solid 7.5/10.  2 point deduction for flavor and half point for small size.  I wish the spice on this one was a bit more pronounced, but I’m sure it wasn’t fully matured since it was a recovered drop from the tree.

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Nam Doc Mai – Sia Tong
Purchased from Excalibur, so not expecting much.  Visually, this mango is a real standout.  Big, long, light yellow sigmoidal curve shaped mango.  Very sexy lines.   For the appearance alone, I would graft this to my cocktail tree.  It was almost white colored and rock hard when I purchased.  Sliced open revealed an interior similar to Nam Doc Mai.  Fiberless, soft, yellow flesh that cut through with ease.  The taste unfortunately was far too tart than a NDM should have at its peak.  There was a stronger spice to the meat than I normally encounter with these Thai mangos.  Overall, I cannot rate the eating experience any higher than a 6/10.  As previously stated, I really enjoy NDM so I was hoping for a similar flavor, but this was a big ol’ disappointment.   At least the poly seed looked healthy so I can grow this one out.

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Ivory
Collected from the Fruit and Spice park.  I’ve heard from multiple sources that this mango would be best described as insipid.  That would be a fair observation with this early drop.  It took awhile to ripen and remained a yellowish-green color when soft.  Cutting through the fiberless flesh was so smooth it cut clean through the seed husk.  Inside was perhaps the faintest shade of yellow of all the mangos I reviewed so Ivory is an appropriate name.  I may have let this one sit too long because the flavor was all coconut and no mango, but still sweet.  I was actually surprised at the lack of mango flavor in this mango.  Definitely, another unique eating experience, but it was missing something…perhaps Ebony?  I rate this a 6.5/10.  Interesting is not always good and neither is coconut flavor.  I’m knocking of 3 points for lack of mango taste and a half a point for ripened state.

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Mahachanok
Purchased from Excalibur and the last mango variety that ripened properly from the Florida collection.  This one took the longest, but I’m pleased to report that the experience was favorable.  I have never tasted a Mahachanok, but have always admired the colorful, shapely appearance.  Mine was less than beautiful due to some anthracnose on the skin and small rot near the nose, but the flesh was a beautiful orange and fragrant. Similar texture to a Nam Doc Mai, but definitely more floral in taste with no acid.  It could have been a few brix sweeter to complete the experience, but considering the quality of the last few mangos I consumed, this taste like heaven.  I’m rating this mango a solid 8/10 with a 1 point loss for underripened sweetness and another point loss for skin appearance/rot.  I can totally see this mango categorized as top tier in its classification (Thai Mango flavor), but I didn’t have the best sample.  I would totally grow this tree on my property. 

[SHV]

And thus concludes my Florida Mango Experience and Reviews for 2022.  In summary, Captain Obvious states that the mangos picked closest to ripe from the tree were most enjoyed.  The tally of mangos that did not ripen properly and not worthy of my esteemed opinion included:  Choc Anon, Sunrise, Julie, Hatcher, Bailey’s Marvel.  Most memorable mangos included: Pickering (ate four of these and all were delicious), Fruit Punch (best mango overall), Angie (incredible Indian flavor), and PPK (totally unique mango).  How I would have loved to visit Florida during peak mango season, alas, it was not to be in 2022.  Finally, I appreciate the positive feedback to these reviews and am happy to make my contribution to the TFF community.  Knowing that some may purchase fruit, budwood, or dare I say, trees based on these opinions makes me chuckle.  However, for some of us that are unable to experience the diversity of mangos in person like you fortunate South Floridians, these reviews are often the closest we can get, living vicariously through other’s enjoyment.  25 disposable plates later and no more to write, happy mango season to all and to all a good night!

[johnb51]

Mahachanok
Purchased from Excalibur and the last mango variety that ripened properly from the Florida collection.  This one took the longest, but I’m pleased to report that the experience was favorable.  I have never tasted a Mahachanok, but have always admired the colorful, shapely appearance.  Mine was less than beautiful due to some anthracnose on the skin and small rot near the nose, but the flesh was a beautiful orange and fragrant. Similar texture to a Nam Doc Mai, but definitely more floral in taste with no acid.  It could have been a few brix sweeter to complete the experience, but considering the quality of the last few mangos I consumed, this taste like heaven.  I’m rating this mango a solid 8/10 with a 1 point loss for underripened sweetness and another point loss for skin appearance/rot.  I can totally see this mango categorized as top tier in its classification (Thai Mango flavor), but I didn’t have the best sample.  I would totally grow this tree on my property. 

They're usually one of the most beautiful and also Best Cola Flavor!  Thank you for your enjoyable, well-written reviews.