Favorite Lychee Variety

[SWRancher]

If you had to pick one as the best of the best lychee which would it be?  For me, it's a toss up between Kaimana, Ohia and Hak Ip.

Tony

[emegar]

Never had anything but unnamed Taiwanese imports from the store, but I'm encouraged that you consider Hak Ip one of your top three, since that's the one tree I have right now!  (And it's blooming!)

[Squam256]

Voted for Kaimana. I also really like Early Large Red.

[simon_grow]

No Mai Tsze hands down but I have never tasted Kaimana and many of the other varieties listed.  I have tasted No Mai Tsze, Sweetheart, Groff, Emperor, Brewster, Mauritius, Hak Ip, Sweet Cliff and Groff.  Of the varieties said to do well in Florida and SoCal(that I have personally tasted), my favorite is Sweetheart.  I would really like to taste Kaimana and Garnet.
Simon

[Jackfruitwhisperer69]

I voted for Mauritius!

I have tasted Mauritius and Brewster...the rest NO tasted 

[puglvr1]

Same here...I've only tasted 3 from your list...Sweet Cliff, Brewster and Emperor.  Out of those 3...I would say Sweet Cliff is my fave. I have a small Mauritius tree that I'm hoping to try some fruits from next year "if" it makes it through next winter and bloom that is...

[HMHausman]

I am growing all of the above other than No Mai Tze, Sweet Cliff and Hanging Green. I have grown those three in previous years but  the small air layers I had planted did not survive. I have had the opportunity to eat the fruit of all of the varieties listed except as mentioned below.  First, of note is the listing of Bosworth.  I am growing it, but it has never fruited for me and I have never tasted it.  This is distinct and different than Bosworth 3....which  is also supposedly known as Kwai Mai Pink.  I have two Kwai Mai Pinks purchased from Fairchild garden and one Bosworth 3 which was an airlayer directly from Bill Whitman's tree.  Bosworth 3/ Kwai Mai Pink is an excellent lychee, but in my yard it has been a reluctant grower.  Not sure if my experience is peculiar to my yard or if there are issues with it in general.  I have had Sweet Cliff and find it a very good lychee but not in my utmost top group based upon size and my flavor preferences.  I voted for Kaimana as my personal favorite, but this past season had me realizing that I really like all of the top notch lychee cultivars and on  a given year, when a particular tree's fruit is at the peak of perfection, it is that culitvar of lychee that is my personal favorite. I have yet to taste No Mai Tze and Hanging Green.  I did get some green skinned lychees in markets in Montreal and Vancouver a couple of summers ago.  They looked like what I would expect Hanging Green to look, but the flavor was not remarkable other than to be very mediocre.  So I am assuming that this was not Hanging Green or it was Hanging Green picked way to early for shipping.


Harry

[Mike T]

Fai zee sui is the largest and most expensive lychee in my area.Bengal has traditionally been viewed as the poorest quality type and faded to rarity in recent years.Those small spherical kwai mai pinks are just about the cheapest now. Perhaps this is because they lack the complex rose and musk flavours being more like sugar and water.Several newly newly developed chinese varieties that are seedless or nearly so and over 50g promise to storm the lychee world very soon.

[Jsvand5]

The majority of my Lychee tasting expierience has been at Harry's place. I think I have probably tasted most of the ones Harry has. My two favorites have been the Farwell Ranch and Ohia.

[lycheeluva]

I have tasted about half the lychees on the list and of these, mauritius ins for me hands down, but i'll get to taste my very ownhome grown sweetheart lychees, starting in about 2-3 weeks, and Ive ordered No Mai Tze and Hanging green trees from Oscar, so hopefully will get to taste those in the not too distant future.

[Mike T]

Tai so and especially the mauritius form improved with chicken tongue seed is the number 2 lychee in this neck of the woods.The 'rose' flavour lifts it above most on that list.Erdon Lee and giant guangdong seedless will be coming your way but it might take a few years.

[fruitlovers]

I am growing all of the above other than No Mai Tze, Sweet Cliff and Hanging Green. I have grown those three in previous years but  the small air layers I had planted did not survive. I have had the opportunity to eat the fruit of all of the varieties listed except as mentioned below.  First, of note is the listing of Bosworth.  I am growing it, but it has never fruited for me and I have never tasted it.  This is distinct and different than Bosworth 3....which  is also supposedly known as Kwai Mai Pink.  I have two Kwai Mai Pinks purchased from Fairchild garden and one Bosworth 3 which was an airlayer directly from Bill Whitman's tree.  Bosworth 3/ Kwai Mai Pink is an excellent lychee, but in my yard it has been a reluctant grower.  Not sure if my experience is peculiar to my yard or if there are issues with it in general.  I have had Sweet Cliff and find it a very good lychee but not in my utmost top group based upon size and my flavor preferences.  I voted for Kaimana as my personal favorite, but this past season had me realizing that I really like all of the top notch lychee cultivars and on  a given year, when a particular tree's fruit is at the peak of perfection, it is that culitvar of lychee that is my personal favorite. I have yet to taste No Mai Tze and Hanging Green.  I did get some green skinned lychees in markets in Montreal and Vancouver a couple of summers ago.  They looked like what I would expect Hanging Green to look, but the flavor was not remarkable other than to be very mediocre.  So I am assuming that this was not Hanging Green or it was Hanging Green picked way to early for shipping.


Harry

Probably peculiar to that one tree as B-3 is one of the most consistent fruiters here, even better than Kaimana. I also haven't tasted No Mai Tze or Hanging Green. But these 2 are considered top notch in China. My trees of these 2 varieties are growing well but doubt they will ever fruit here, they need some cold spell to fruit well.

[fruitlovers]

My favorite variety of lychee is the one that fruits well that year. Lychees are one of the most difficult trees to get to fruit consistently here. They don't really like tropical climates and are not well adapted  outside their zone of origin. In Thailand many farmers told me they were removing their lychee groves and replacing with something that fruited more consistently. It's still a mystery how to get the lychee to fruit well and consistently. Unlike longan no equivalent of potassium chlorate has been found for lychee to force it to fruit.

[JF]

I have taste Sweetheart, Mauritius. Brewster and the store bought one and Sweetheart is by far my favorite.

[Mike T]

I am at the northerly fringe of where lychees can be grown with kwai mai pink and tai so mauritious being the only 2 that will still fruit.Fortunately the atherton tablelands beside my home town provides a cooler refuge where many varieties can be grown at high altitude.17 to 35 latitude seems to be about the range with around 25 latitude suiting most varieties.At 17 latitude I have not been below 10 celcius for years.

[Jackfruitwhisperer69]

Members,

Lychee/litchi/lichia has a serious problem...you can't eat 1 or 2...you must eat tons of them

If someone tries lychee for the first time...you can't go back...once the lychee contract is signed..you can't go back

My dad use to bring boxes full of lychee from White river(S.A)...me and my sister  ate them all

[lycheeluva]

jack, during lychee season, my wife and I eat at least 5 pounds of lychees a day

[Jackfruitwhisperer69]

jack, during lychee season, my wife and I eat at least 5 pounds of lychees a day

Lycheeluva,

Now that's what I'm talking about

[bsbullie]

jack, during lychee season, my wife and I eat at least 5 pounds of lychees a day

That would be 150 lbs a month  ...your form of a drug habit.  If I truly ate that many pounds of lychees over a year's season I am not sure I could say they are a excellent as they are.  In my opinion, too much of something is not always a good thing.  For me, during mango season, when we get to the end/late season varieties, other than the Neelam, I tend to almost pass by some of the late ones like Keitt, Kent and Beverly as after eating so many over the prior months that it becomes almost like going through the motions and they just don't have that appeal.  That is also why I will not but a mango during the off season at a grocery store.

[puglvr1]

[/quote]
That would be 150 lbs a month  ...your form of a drug habit.  If I truly ate that many pounds of lychees over a year's season I am not sure I could say they are a excellent as they are.  In my opinion, too much of something is not always a good thing.  For me, during mango season, when we get to the end/late season varieties, other than the Neelam, I tend to almost pass by some of the late ones like Keitt, Kent and Beverly as after eating so many over the prior months that it becomes almost like going through the motions and they just don't have that appeal.  That is also why I will not but a mango during the off season at a grocery store.
[/quote]

Ahhh...I wish I had that problem Rob!! I don't see that ever happening to me, turning down mangoes... Unfortunately I've never experienced eating so much of them I would be sick or tired of them... but I sure would like to experience it  just once 

[lycheeluva]

jack, during lychee season, my wife and I eat at least 5 pounds of lychees a day

That would be 150 lbs a month  ...your form of a drug habit.  If I truly ate that many pounds of lychees over a year's season I am not sure I could say they are a excellent as they are.  In my opinion, too much of something is not always a good thing.  For me, during mango season, when we get to the end/late season varieties, other than the Neelam, I tend to almost pass by some of the late ones like Keitt, Kent and Beverly as after eating so many over the prior months that it becomes almost like going through the motions and they just don't have that appeal.  That is also why I will not but a mango during the off season at a grocery store.

the lychee season hear lasts about 6-7 wees. we actually, we definitly eat more than 150 pounds a month as we buy them in 20 pound boxes and those boxes last about 2 days- so we are closer to about 10 pounds a day- sometimes more.  we dont get sick of them at all!

[fruitlovers]

I once ate lychees all day long, breakfast, lunch, and dinner as we were picking lychees from tall roadside trees and lots would fall and crack and not be saleable, and ofcourse had to be eaten immediately! I didn't keep track of amount, but would guess i ended up eating around 20 pounds of lychees that day. To my amazement i didn't get sick at all. Not like eating lots of cherries or plums which would definitely give you the runs!

[Mike T]

I hope the pictures of erdon lee and A4 giant seedless guanzhou turn out ok.I am not usually one to poke sticks into hornets nests but the list raises more questions than it answers.The most popular on the list is probably the best of that lot but something seems to be missing.If fai zee siu isn't in Florida yet it is a shame because it is the next great leap forward in many ways.The two below are the leap after that.Lychee lovers should be demanding these of suppliers because they are rocking the lychee world.

[fruitlovers]

I hope the pictures of erdon lee and A4 giant seedless guanzhou turn out ok.I am not usually one to poke sticks into hornets nests but the list raises more questions than it answers.The most popular on the list is probably the best of that lot but something seems to be missing.If fai zee siu isn't in Florida yet it is a shame because it is the next great leap forward in many ways.The two below are the leap after that.Lychee lovers should be demanding these of suppliers because they are rocking the lychee world.

Nice photo, thanks for posting. I've been really curious about this new seedless lychee. I think it will be quite a while till we have this plant material here, and then the question will be how well it will fruit here if at all? A lot of Chinese varieties require a lot more chill than we get here, they are not suited to tropical climates. But you're right in that if we took Kaimana lychees to China my guess is that they would scoff at them.  What is best here is definitely not the best over there. But they've been at it a few more thousand years than us!

[Mike T]

Fruitlovers the fai zee sui would grow in a wide range of climates between 20 and 30 latitude and the erdon lee perhaps the same.There would be matching US areas.The size is the most stark difference from the older listed types but fai zee sui has better flesh % and taste than mauritius as well.I haven't tasted the other 2 with one only just arriving in qld and the other coming soon.