Florida Mango Experience and Reviews - June 2022

[SHV]

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.

[SHV]

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.

[SHV]

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. 

[SHV]

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.

[SHV]

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

[SHV]

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. 

[SHV]

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. 

[SHV]

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. 

[SHV]

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. 

[SHV]

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. 

[SHV]

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.

[SHV]

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.

[SHV]

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.

[SHV]

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.

[nileshkwr]

Hi SHV,
Can you please continue this review thread, this year.

[johnb51]

Hi SHV,
Can you please continue this review thread, this year.

He may not be having a 2023 Florida Mango Experience, as he lives in California.

[EddieF]

Entertaining read.  Almost like watching tasting table vids lol.
Keep in mind s.e.FL had big rain early on (pouring out as i type) so factor that in everyone.
Correct me if i'm wrong but i had feet not inches coming down.  No complaints, trees happy.

[SHV]

Whoa, surprised to see this thread resurface!

Unfortunately, I was unable to repeat my Florida mango experience this year.  I was hoping to parlay a business trip with a personal visit during peak mango season, but it sounds like its happening right now, and no business trip to FL or neighboring states in sight.  There's always next year.  Perhaps I can do an India mango experience in 2024!  GoFundMe??

[Elijah]

Fruit Punch
  Good lord!  If the PPK and Thai Everbearing were flavor bombs, this one went nuclear. 

lol, I love that expression.  Thank you for reviewing many mangoes. Let it keep coming. I am planning to buy some mango trees, and this will be one of them.