I attended the tasting on Saturday and I'm pretty much in agreement with the listed order that these mangos came in as far as overall taste. A real big disappoinment for me was the Mallika which was only so-so at best. Nam Doc Mai was good, but not great and the rest were just ok at best. Granted certain ones were at their peak of ripeness while others were not and you never know what your getting cut.

That Sunset was really excellent. I wonder if it's a dwarf?

Does anyone on the forum own a Sunset? Maybe Harry? Any information would be cool. Thanks

Sorry to say, I do not have a Sunset mango. I have heard of it and I went back and researched it in the Fairchild mango Book from back in 1992. In that book, it states that Sunset is a fruit of unknown parentage from the grove of Frank Adams of Pine Island, FL. It is a vigorous, medium sized tree with a thin and spreading canopy. The eating quality is listed as "good" on the scale of "poor", "fair", "good" and "excellent." Based upon this rating, I never bothered to buy the tree and don't even ever remember seeing it for sale anywhere over the years. The book states that it is a prolific producer and what I think happened is that there was a very large quantity of near perfectly ripe fruits of this cultivar such that many people got tastes of a good fully ripe mango. This skewed the result as the more near perfectly ripe fruit there is to taste, the more people are going to vote that fruit higher. I would bet that at a smaller tasting with more perfectly ripe fruit available for a smaller number of tasters, this fruit wouldn't crack the top ten. This is why I warn everyone not to jump to conclusions about mango flavors until you have had multiple years tastings of perfectly ripe fruit. Trying a group of mangoes, some of which are ripe and some not so much will lead to an imperfect vote. Anyway, the book also says that it has little to medium fiber in the flesh and the fruit is easily damaged by handling and storage. The season is ordinarily late June into July. The fruit is 7-13 ozs. in size with a thick woody seed. Obviously, I didn't taste the fruit, but I wouldn't run out in search of a tree just becuase of this vote (and as you may know or have seen, I am quite willing to go on a quest with not much provocation). If anyone bought Sunset fruit and other magoes, I would be most interested to hear any further comparisons. But, since Sunset may no longer be perfectly ripe when the other mangoes ripen, the comparison may still not be conclusive. Bottom line, keep an open mind and an open mouth and give your evaluations time. Not only can mangoes change in flavor from year to year, but a single fruit can actually taste differently when tasted from different parts of the same fruit at a single tasting.

Harry

Harry,
Thanks for the information. Awesome. I agree, every mango has its day and maybe it was a "sunset" type of day.

I too am interested in the tastings. Maybe Fairchild should offer separate tasting events in May, June and August as well?

I'm also interested in learning more about when to pick mangoes to achieve their peak flavor. Some of the mangoes that do not show a strong color break are tough to determine.

So many of the mangoes at the festival seem to be picked so green, even though I know its for demonstration purposes.

Thanks again for sharing all your knowledge.

Harry is right, you really cant get a good example unless you have a tree ripened fruit in hand.

How many people would really pick Madame Francis with all its fiber over the other fiberless cultivars if they knew what the whole fruit was like.

im still sticking by Mallika because it definitely had the most complex flavor.

i think Sunset was bright yellow and tart, so many people with unacquired mango tastes and children liked it. i believe sunset is a bright red mango so it gets some points there but fiber is a no-no in my small dooryard. the most fiberous mango i probably have is Julie.

im interested to hear about anyone who tasted Angie or Emerald, so far Jean Ellen has got one thumbs down which is disappointing because it looked like it would be a sweet mango.

Harry, I completely agree with you as I felt that some varieties that I expected to be outstanding based on write ups I had read were past their prime so tasted a bit "off". I think that was the case with the Mallika. The sunset was at just the right point of ripeness.
As far as fiber goes, I will tolerate some fiber for a really good flavored mango. Taste wins out for me every time

i can see why so many inferior varieties get such praise from fairchild. alot of the mangos they tout as being excellent are just under par to many of us who are more familiar with them and other varieties. first impressions are tough to break.

just dont get a Torbet.

you prefer Thai mangos to Indian mangos.

i love Thai mangos, they are very refreshing and the best have flesh which is firm and fiberless. pick them yellow and do not refrigerate them. they are sometimes picked green and crunchy and eaten with chili pepper sauces.

Indian mangos are picked green, very often stay green and usually are ripened off the tree sometimes for weeks where they develop their complex flavors and refrigerate well after they ripen.

recent studies suggest most Florida varieties are a seedling of Haden which is a cross between an Indian variety Mulgoba and turpentine. its amazing how variable the seedlings of one variety can be. i wonder if it wasnt Mulgoba that first arrived here and perhaps an Alphonso or Kesar what our current mangos would look like, and its exciting to see what future generations will bring.

the link below explains alot about Florida cultivars

people here seem to like big colorful mangos on stately trees, but thats changing.

Here is a link that might be useful: mango pedigree

Mango_kush,
Nice explanation on the Thai vs Indian mangos. That actually helps me understand a little better how to handle them.

I think it would be cool to see a breakdown of the different characteristics of mangos based on their origin / parentage.

I'm sure its all out there somewhere???
By quality, productivity, size, maintenance, seasonality, when to harvest, usages, climate or soil its best suited for, etc. I'm sure there are more characteristics folks are interested in too.

Sounds like a fun little project for the future...
Thanks
Ray

Wow Harry, well said. You are so right in your statement.

My most memorable experience that I had eating every type of mango imaginable and as much as I could consume to my hearts content was last year in August at the Fruit and Spice park. While you are prohibited from picking fruit from the tree you are allowed to eat any fallen fruit on the ground. There was a substantial quantity of fruit that had fallen over night without any damage and all at the peak of ripeness. As you walked from tree to tree collecting fallen fruit, more fruit continued to fall right before your eyes.

I ate several different varieties representative of the trees that I had purchased for my yard but had not yet fruited. After eating 4 different mangoes they all started to taste pretty much the same. I also ate some of the highly esteemed varieties like the Edward. The Edward had great color but it tasted no different then the one I ate before it. One definitely stood out above the rest and that was the Kent.

If you go on this mango tasting quest, take a sharpie marker to label each fruit you collect. Also bring a plastic bag to collect them, and a pocket knife to slice them up. Then go and sit at a picnic table under the shade to enjoy your bounty. Don't forget the mosquito repellent.

Any fruit you don't eat turn it in at the front office on your way out.

another interesting distinction between Thai and Indian mangos is that Indian Mangos are Monoembyonic (seedlings have one sprout that is variable, not true to fruit type) and Thai are Polyembryonic (seedling has multiple shoots one of which will be identical to fruit)

I assume this is from the centuries of different propagation differences.

Excellent information on the difference between Thai and Indian mangos, thanks!

Wow that trip to the Fruit and Spice park sounds amazing! Sadly not at all like this year. Hardly any mangos on the trees this year. I found only 1 on the ground in an edible state - a Cogshall. It was very tasty though. Still really neat to see full grown trees of so many varieties.

I agree that the sunset mango was the best that day. I've been to other taskings there and the nam doc's and mallika's were great but they were definitely off that day.

also, i tried jean ellen last year and was not impressed.

I bought a bunch of Sunset mangos today (along with 8-9 other varieties). The Sunset is very, very good. It was my favorite out of the bunch!

OK, Blue Palm.....we're even.....now I have to start looking for Sunset fruit to try and potentially a another tree to plant. Where did you buy the fruit from. What other cultivars were you comparing it to when you said you purchased 8 or 9? And, can you be a bit more specific about the flavor or taste. Since this mango had only rated "good" as opposed to "excellent" in the Fairechild mango guide (which is how I started filling in my collection) I never considered this fruit worth the effort (see my more exstensive discussion of this above in this thread). Thanks for the info and payback.

Harry

I bought it from Ensey's Tropical Fruit Grove on Merritt Island. They were labeled as "Sunset" but may have been in fact "Indian Sunset" a seedling that was grown from mangos brought back from India by the owners great-great grandfather. I know they have 2 huge Indian Sunset trees on their property. Next time I stop by I'll find out which one it was. The mangos I had the first day were very good. The later mangos I had were good if you like eating a mango that tastes EXACTLY like a Pina Colada...too much for me. The other mangos I had were: Glenn, Zill, Orange Delicious (Ensey's own cultivar; excellent mango, small, some fiber, tastes like an orange creamsicle), Royal Purple (their own cultivar, tastes like a Concord Grape...almost exactly like one. They tend to over-ripen very quickly), Mary, Rutledge, and some others. I also thought the Zill was a pretty good mango.
I also had several Bailey's Marvels and Mallikas this year. I didn't love Bailey's Marvel mango...it tasted like it had saccharin in the flesh (artificially sweet). The Mallika I had as usual was subdued and very creamy.
In other mango news my father picked his first Alphonso...not ripe yet. However, days later he found one on the ground that was soft and partially eaten (by a filthy squirrel!), and regardless, he took it inside, and cut off the good half, tasted it and said "This Alphonso, even though it is not entirely ripe, is absolutely superb. It has a great balance of flavor....oh this is a keeper!!!
Also yesterday I received the fabled Maha Chinook. Attached is a picture. It is going to my father's place (mangos love his house). Note the wedge-graft about 1' up the trunk.

Bluepalm, do you know the address for Ensey's? I am not having any luck with google. I don't think it is too far from me so it may be worth a trip.

9880 S. Tropical Trail, Merritt Island, FL 32952
BTW, there are about 7-8 places selling mangos on S. Tropical Trail.

The Ensey family has some excellent cultivars that unfortunately aren't very well known outside of Merrit Island. Not to mention plenty of 'well known' cultivars as well. I always loved stopping by their farm.

Thanks for the info, BluePalm. I am probably not going to make it up to Merritt Island, but your further ID of the Sunset or Indian Sunset would much appreciated.

Your Maha Chanook looks good. While you can never be certain about what it is until it fruits, the leaves on the grafted portion look very Maha Chanookish.

Harry

Here are images of few of the cultivars from Ensey's Mango Grove in Merritt Island.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ensey Mangoes: Images by 3Point141