Author Topic: Best lemony scent  (Read 2486 times)

martweb

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Best lemony scent
« on: January 25, 2022, 01:22:35 AM »
I remember a thread some years ago about the best Citrus scent. Personally I am only looking for the best pure lemony flavor. Meyer lemon rind has a a good lemony flavor and you can make limoncello out of it, but you need about twice the amount of peel than from the Amalfi lemon and due to it's content of thymol it sometimes has an unwanted herbal flavor. So I am looking for the best and most intense lemony flavor but if possible without bitterness.

brian

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Re: Best lemony scent
« Reply #1 on: January 25, 2022, 07:16:35 PM »
Supposedly citrons such as buddhas hand or etrog have more "lemon oil" than regular lemons.   

Meyer lemon has a flowery scent much like minneola tangelo.  I think the two are the nicest smelling citrus fruits I have found.

Regular old eureka/lisbon lemon is quite nice, and you could try ponderosa giant lemon

Tortuga

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Re: Best lemony scent
« Reply #2 on: February 01, 2022, 08:21:55 AM »
Ponderosa lemon (citron) is very lemony! I think yuzu would be up for discussion too

martweb

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Re: Best lemony scent
« Reply #3 on: February 01, 2022, 08:32:34 AM »
Meyer seems to have an additional (unwanted) herbal taste and is less strong. Thanks for pointing out Ponderosa. How is Ponderosa compared to Amalfi lemon? But Yuzu is interesting too. Any bad after taste? Rind as intense as Amalfi or Ponderosa and stronger than Meyer?
« Last Edit: February 01, 2022, 08:40:49 AM by martweb »

roblack

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Re: Best lemony scent
« Reply #4 on: February 01, 2022, 11:08:19 AM »
Buddhas Hand seems more lemony to me than Ponderosa, but both are nice.

brian

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Re: Best lemony scent
« Reply #5 on: February 01, 2022, 03:00:59 PM »
I've never heard of Amalfi.   When I ate a Ponderosa years ago I recall it tasted like grocery store lemon, it was simply much bigger.

Millet

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Re: Best lemony scent
« Reply #6 on: February 01, 2022, 03:38:56 PM »
Amalfi Coast village and the Amalfi lemon groves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e7tHTeL8CY
« Last Edit: February 01, 2022, 03:46:11 PM by Millet »

brian

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Re: Best lemony scent
« Reply #7 on: February 01, 2022, 11:26:04 PM »
well now I want to go to Italy

SoCal2warm

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Re: Best lemony scent
« Reply #8 on: February 05, 2022, 09:02:37 PM »
Citron does have a more "pure lemon" fragrance than lemon, in my opinion.
What I mean is that if there was a spectrum between lemon and mandarin, citron would be even further away, slightly past lemon, from mandarin.
The fragrance of citron is nearly the same as lemon, but just a little more "pure". When you smell citron, you realize that lemon has maybe a hint of mandarin/orange smell in it after all.

I would also say that citrons may be somewhat slightly more fragrant than lemon as well, though I could be wrong about this.
(It is a cleaner, more ethereal and less substantial smell in quality though, so actual intensity may not be quite the same thing as perception)

Those who are less discerning and do not pay close attention might say the two smell exactly the same.
« Last Edit: February 05, 2022, 09:06:40 PM by SoCal2warm »

martweb

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Re: Best lemony scent
« Reply #9 on: February 05, 2022, 11:02:53 PM »
When I had a Meyer, I really liked the juice, but was disappointed about its scent, not so much because it's different, but because it was much less intense.

martweb

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Re: Best lemony scent
« Reply #10 on: February 06, 2022, 12:51:33 AM »
Let me extend my question. Which lemon cultivars have a non bitter rind?

BorisR

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Re: Best lemony scent
« Reply #11 on: February 11, 2022, 02:43:59 AM »
Which lemon cultivars have a non bitter rind?
Limon Genoa

Kelley_GA8a

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Re: Best lemony scent
« Reply #12 on: March 13, 2022, 07:40:01 PM »
In the US? Santa Teresa Femminello. Hands down, the BEST so far. Very high oil content, extremely fragrant. Four Winds is the only nursery selling it (as far as I know), so if you can’t receive citrus from CA (if you’re in Florida, Texas, AZ, etc), go with the Femminello Siracusano (more widely available).

alanmercieca

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Re: Best lemony scent
« Reply #13 on: June 08, 2023, 01:33:55 AM »
In the US? Santa Teresa Femminello. Hands down, the BEST so far. Very high oil content, extremely fragrant. Four Winds is the only nursery selling it (as far as I know), so if you can’t receive citrus from CA (if you’re in Florida, Texas, AZ, etc), go with the Femminello Siracusano (more widely available).

How many of your lemon varieties have you tried? Has 'Zagara Bianca' fruited for you, if so for how many years? Has the 'Femminello Siracusano 2KR' produced for you? Has the 'Sfusato Amalfitano' produced for you (how much does it truly smell, and taste like a true lemon?) What do you think, about those ones?
« Last Edit: June 08, 2023, 01:36:01 AM by alanmercieca »

rocky290386

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Re: Best lemony scent
« Reply #14 on: June 15, 2023, 04:04:52 AM »
Here in Italy we have a huge selection of the best lemons in the world. The good fortune of having many microclimates has favored the development of many unique and particular varieties. Among the common feminello cultivars some of the best are the Zagara bianca, the lunario, the sfussato di Amalfi and the Monachello.

alanmercieca

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Re: Best lemony scent
« Reply #15 on: June 18, 2023, 12:46:57 AM »
Here in Italy we have a huge selection of the best lemons in the world. The good fortune of having many microclimates has favored the development of many unique and particular varieties. Among the common feminello cultivars some of the best are the Zagara bianca, the lunario, the sfussato di Amalfi and the Monachello.

The volcanic enriched soil also makes the fruit better, which is in all the most popular lemon growing regions of Italy, all those nutrients in the soil. 'Femminello' lemons all appear to be hybrids between true lemon, and citron. A very long time ago in Italy lemons were dying of some disease, and so 'Femminello' lemons were created. So many things make the 'Femminello' amazing, the things you said, the things that I said. It would be very complicated to duplicate all that in places out side of Sicily, out side of the Amalfi coast, outside of the Sorrento coast, and so on.

rocky290386

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Re: Best lemony scent
« Reply #16 on: June 19, 2023, 04:35:37 PM »
You are absolutely right.
But while traveling I have also found very similar microclimates in many foreign countries. I find certain areas of California and Florida to be very suitable. In Spain and Portugal, like much of the Mediterranean, the climate on the coast is ideal. So if you want to grow in pots, I think you can do it almost anywhere.
As for the taste and aroma of lemons, as you said, it's very, very hard to replicate anywhere.

alanmercieca

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Re: Best lemony scent
« Reply #17 on: June 19, 2023, 07:36:33 PM »
I will be making a similar soil to what is in places like the Amalfi coast, like what is in the Sorrento coast, like what is in Sicily. I will do a little to make a micro-climate that is more like those places, yet I am not going to bother trying to make things exactly like those places. I don't need lemons exactly alike, just close enough, I already got one of the Femminellos that I wanted the most, all I have to get is one more Femminello than I have now, although there is a 3rd Femminello that I might get as well.

rocky290386

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Re: Best lemony scent
« Reply #18 on: June 19, 2023, 07:44:52 PM »
I don't know the shipping costs, and if there could be problems with customs, but I can send you some scions of some of my lemons. Then you can make grafts.

alanmercieca

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Re: Best lemony scent
« Reply #19 on: June 19, 2023, 07:54:26 PM »
I don't know the shipping costs, and if there could be problems with customs, but I can send you some scions of some of my lemons. Then you can make grafts.

It's illegal to import any citrus to the USA right now, I would have imported some if it were legal, our government is paranoid at the thought of Huanglongbing spreading all over the USA, besides everything I wanted a lot is already here in the USA disease free, and legal for me to get. Thanks for the offer though

Mike T

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Re: Best lemony scent
« Reply #20 on: June 20, 2023, 06:51:42 AM »
The origin of the lemon scent and skin oils is really citrons so that is a good starting point. While kaffir, lemon grass and lemon basil are way more aromatic and lemony than some lemons meyer there are some australian plants that might do lemon better than lemon. Some Achronychias, Evodiella pods, lemon scented gums really ratchet lemony up in different ways.

alanmercieca

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Re: Best lemony scent
« Reply #21 on: June 20, 2023, 06:11:08 PM »
The origin of the lemon scent and skin oils is really citrons so that is a good starting point. While kaffir, lemon grass and lemon basil are way more aromatic and lemony than some lemons meyer there are some australian plants that might do lemon better than lemon. Some Achronychias, Evodiella pods, lemon scented gums really ratchet lemony up in different ways.
Yes, a lot of Italians have considered citrons as being a type of lemon, and yes it is an ancestor to the modern lemon. To me Meyer Lemons are mandarins that resemble lemons, yet if you pick them at the right time, before they are ripe then they have a surprisingly strong lemon scent, without the scent of anything else, and then they are more acidic than a normal lemon as well, while they taste exactly like a lemon. Yet it's very hard to time picking them when they are like that, and even with sugar too acidic for me when they are picked that early.
« Last Edit: June 20, 2023, 06:13:21 PM by alanmercieca »

JSea

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Re: Best lemony scent
« Reply #22 on: July 28, 2023, 09:03:03 AM »
Putting a vote in for Rough lemon (possibly it's a sweet rough lemon - aka Australian bush lemon). I've got one here that is much better than every other lemon I've tasted. Far more 'lemony' than a lemon, and without the extreme sourness of true lemons that limits their usage to a small quantity. Can be eaten whole without too much difficulty.

Ponderosa lemon is a pomelo hybrid, and to my tastes, I can indeed taste 'white pomelo' mixed in with the juice. It's okay, but I wouldn't rate it highly.

I've not had much citron tasting, and the one I did taste was maybe too old (was from the ground rather than picked), so the pith tasted a bit off. Hoping that fresh off the plant it will taste nicer next time.

martweb

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Re: Best lemony scent
« Reply #23 on: August 02, 2023, 07:19:20 AM »
Putting a vote in for Rough lemon (possibly it's a sweet rough lemon - aka Australian bush lemon). I've got one here that is much better than every other lemon I've tasted. Far more 'lemony' than a lemon, and without the extreme sourness of true lemons that limits their usage to a small quantity. Can be eaten whole without too much difficulty.

Very interesting. Do you have some pics?