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!

[SHV]

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.