A good friend in San Francisco stopped by Bi-Rite and picked up some Yangmei for around $50/lbs if I remember correctly. He was generous enough to overnight me some and I was super stoked. He was able to get some Dongkui and also some Biqi.
Ever since this group buy, I was excited to grow this tree because of how rare it is but I have never tasted the fruit and always wondered in the back of my mind, what if this fruit doesn’t even taste good?
Well, those fears were laid to rest today and I’m stoked to report that this fruit is absolutely incredible! It’s very unique and there’s no other fruit like it! To compare it to a more common fruit like a strawberry would be a disservice to the Yangmei. After eating this fruit, I can’t understand why this fruit isn’t more talked about and why did it take so long for us to find out about it?
This fruit has a slightly sweet smell with a tinge of berry, a hint of floral notes and a background of sandalwood. I know it sounds unusual but to me, the smell is absolutely fantastic.
I gave a DongKui to my daughter and she said it was reminiscent of a strawberry but better. I then gave her a Biqi and she liked Biqi even better. I feel that the people that have tried Yangmei often compare this fruit to a strawberry not because it actually tastes like a strawberry but because the taste is subtle. The sugar level is moderate and the acidity is also moderate. The actual Yangmei flavor is also moderate but the complete package is sublime.
Yangmei is not one of those fruit with an intense flavor profile but it’s fantastic smell combined with a perfect sugar acid balance makes it super addictive. I feel like I can eat a bucket full of these fruit.
The first fruit I sampled was a Dongkui and the fruit were larger than I was expecting. The Dongkui was a bit larger than a half dollar and there was a good amount of flesh on the fruit. The fruit tastes like it smelled and it had a Brix of 10.1%.
I then sampled the Biqi which is a smaller fruit that is much darker in color. The Biqi was slightly smaller than a half dollar and had a Brix of 13.4%. The Biqi has a noticeably sweeter taste and in addition to the flavor that the Dongkui had, the Biqi also had a combination of Blackberry and Pakistan mulberry. In this sampling, I preferred the Biqi over the Dongkui. The folks at Calmei or wherever these fruit came from did a very good job growing and processing these fruit from the quality I observed in this small sampling.
I’m definitely saving the seeds and hopefully they will sprout in a year or two. Now I’m super excited that I have a few trees that are still alive. My Anh Hai and Biqi have grown pretty well and are ready to be up potted.
Here are some pictures of the absolutely incredible tasting Yangmei fruit.
