Amiart;
Since citrus varies greatly in acid [flavor]
and sweetness, with local climate, we need your
region in order to select one you will like.

my favorite is minneola tangelo or honeybell. it is a cros between Dancy tangerine and Duncan grapefruit

I am somewhere in between 7 & 9 tempratures vary from 20's upto sometimes 120... Mostly highs 105 +..

I am hoping for one with a tangerine size and thin skin but too often some of the commercial varities are overly sweet. and dont have a "Tangerine" flavor.

for the most distinctive tangerine taste, I like Daisy, Kinnow, and W. Murcott. I think they are the best flavor. I have 32 of the Daisy along our property line and I pick 2 or 3 every morning and eat them out of hand. I also make pitchers of tangerine juice. WOW is that good

Tried a new recipe this year for the holidays. 3 or 4 yams, baked and pealed. one cup tangerine juice, one cup pitted dates (I prefer Barhi or Amir Hajj varieties for this, but Medjools are good too) one stick of butter or margirine is optional. In a sauce pan, cook the dates and tangerine juice down to a syrup. Mash into the yams and serve warm.

As Mango kush suggested, a Minneola, or perhaps a Page would either fit your desires.

Page is excellent as well, thats a cross of clementine and mineola tangelo.

dwarf depends on the rootstock, you want flying dragon rootstock.

Go to the CCPP & look up fruit quality data of mandarins

orlando tangelo....

Mangokush,
I am working on getting my own honeybell tree. Not so easy to get them here but the greenhouse in Erie I buy from may have them. The owner was at a citrus show last week and he is bringing back a bunch of trees. If not I know of one source I can get it from but they are small and it seems that oranges and tangerines take longer to grow. I am in love with the honeybell but they are costly in NY. I paid almost $6.00 for 8 fruits at my local grocery store but they are so good! I would never have guessed that a grapfruit was part of its cross!
Andrew

It sounds as the OP is stating he has very specific tastes and wants a more tart/acidic rather than sweet flavored variety. If I were of that mindset, I certainly would not plant anything until I had sampled various mandarins grown from my local area and can list my favorites by name, before asking for advice. Farmers markets, some whole foods stores, and specialty citrus stands are available. Also the UC/extension system does have occasional taste testing seminars.

As some responders have mentioned, the flavors are definitely impacted by region and sometimes even micro climates. Commonly grown in many CA climates the Dancy and Minneola are of the more tart varieties. Perhaps extend the tasting to the sweet grapefruits, too?

Amiart,
Are you in Ca? It is unlikely you will have too
sweet fruit if you are in a very dry area.
We get Fairchild from CA. and they are not sweet at
all. Fairchild from middle Tx to Alabama can have
up to 28% sugar.

Give us a real location and maybe we can match a
variety.

I remember tangerines having a much more unique flavor. Not syrup. Sort of close to the tangerine life savor flavor but then again not fake. minnola is good but NOT the flavor I am talking about.

How about picking the fruit a little early?

This year's Owari Satsuma weren't quite finished ripening at the end of November,
and that lent them a much more tart flavor - still good, but definitely puckering.


Josh

I completely understand, as I say to people I like TANGERINES not mandarines. Growing up my Dad had a citrus ranch in the desert, and I acquired my taste preferences young (and NO, a sweet grapefruit isn't even CLOSE to a tangerine flavor--yuck! LOL)

My favorite has always been Dancy, although Murcott is also very tangerine-y. Fairchild is a little sweeter, but still tangerine-flavored.

I haven't tried Daisy or Kinnow. But I have wanted to add them to my tree collection.

Carla in Sac

I wouldn't advise getting a Fairchild. Asides from the fruit at the supermarket being way too tart. The ones I got from a fruit stand (in Riverside, CA) are just very sweet and don't really have a distinct flavor to me. Oh, and from one fruit I counted exactly 26 seeds. :)

Those seeds were pretty annoying. So if anything, I think to get one that is at least seedless such as Tango. If I recall correctly, Tango is a seedless version of Murcott.