I don't think you can rely on other people's taste buds. I've tasted just OK jackfruit, and some that were really spectacular. My son doesn't like JF at all and he generally likes what I do.

That said, I bought one ( a Gold Nugget) that I've never tasted because a just OK JF is better than most other fruits :-) It also grows pretty fast... see my post earlier this month

I actually did see it. That was quite a haircut Jay gave his jackfruit. After all the reading I have done about Jackfruit I came away with the idea that bangkok lemon may be the same as crunchy lemon. That bangkok lemon or one of the Mai varieties may be my best choice but then I am seeing the names of all these other varieties that there is little info available to read about them. SO I am open to read about everyone's experiences... while they may be very subjective they will help me feel more informed when I make a decision.

There is debate whether Bangkok Lemon and Crunchy Lemon are the same. They may be but then you have one called Lemon Crunch too. From what I have tasted, Bangkok Lemon are so far the best, followed by Mai 1 and Mai 3 (I have not tasted Mai 2). Gold Nugget is what I would consider average. It would not be my choice to grow, though as gnappi said, you must taste these for yourself to truly determine which ones you like the best. Dang Rasimi has good flavor but it is one of the slimy ones and unfortunately puts it low on my list because of it.

Rob

I have a Bangkok Lemon, but I have never tried it. I purchased it on reputation alone, so hopefully it is as good as most say. I'll find out sometime in the next month, as my tree currently is holding 1 fruit.

I tried two varieties at Harry's place a month or two ago. One was orange colored, and quite good. The other had yellow flesh, and was outstanding. It was a Tabouey/Black Gold cross iirc... I planted some seeds from that fruit, and hopefully they will do well....

If you can somehow get that Tabouey/Black Gold .... It is really good :)

I have tried three different jakfruit cultivars, bangkok lemon, Mai 3, and an unnamed which I ordered online from a farm in miami. The best of the three in taste was the bangkok lemon which I bought fruit already "cleaned" in ziplock bags from excalibur to sample. The Mai 3, i bought a whole fruit from excalibur to try as well as with the intent to grow it from seed if I liked it which I did and its a crunchy consistency. The unnamed fruit i bought whole and it was really chewy which I did not like because it was hard to swallow , BUT its flavor was really really good and I was amazed that it did in fact taste like juicy fruit bubble gum, overall though too chewy and hard to swallow plus it was a B**** to clean and get the fruit because there was sticky latex all over my hands and knife, the counter top the sink the faucet, cabinet trashcan ect..they say oiling up will help but seriously why go through the trouble. The really good thing is you are growing the Mai 3, which has a good taste a good crunchy texture and the best part the fruit has a reputation of being low in latex so this cultivar is less of a hassle to clean and eat. From the three jaks I've had I would agree you can definitely taste the differences and if you have the opportunity to try multiple cultivars go for it. Good luck with your new Mai 3 seedlings!

-JoeP450

Anyone have spare Mai 3 seeds for trade?

Pretty funny. There is some definite subjectivity in the arena of jackfruit flavor ranking.

The Borneo Red was touted as being the cream of the crop in terms of flavor. Yet, when I asked Joe from JoSan growers (who has a grove of jackfruit trees), he said it was one of his least favorites. When I asked him which was his favorite, he said that his clients tend to prefer the NS1 over the rest. Then there's the Gold Nugget which is ranked by IFAS as being the only listed cultivar with "excellent" flavor. Yet, there are apparently folks who aren't impressed by it.

:-)

Jeff

Here's Fairchild's page on jackfruit cultivars. They list the Gold Nugget and Cheena as being excellent in flavor. But the Cheena is listed as a soft fleshed cultivar.

Jeff

Jakfruit, like all other fruits, vary considerably in flavor and texture as well as aroma and latex content. In the mid-90's Fairchild was involved in a breeding program and there was a Just Jakfruit Festival that was held where one could try the various types and purchase seedlings from their nursery stock of cross bred seedlings. To my knowledge, there has not been any substantial follow up by Campbell and the other folks at Fairchild to see how the breeding program did.....by checking with the people that bought the trees, grew them out and fruited them. I wish they would follow up on that program and do some publishing about their findings. Any way, I digress. I have tasted most of the varieties that have been around for any length of time. Conspicuous in their absence from my list of "having been tasted" are Bangkok Lemon, Ziman Pink, Mai 2, Mai 3 and Borneo Red. I have had Cochin, NS1, Tabouey, Black Gold, Golden Nuggett, Golden Pillow, Cheena, Dang Rasimi, J-30, J-31, Honey Gold, Rien Baht and some seedlings that I have grown including one which I believe is an NS1 seedling. I call it Orange Crisp. And two from the Fairchild breeding program including a Tabouey x J-30 cross and a Black Gold x Tabouey cross. At the Festival, too many people and fruit having to be prepared for the throngs well in advance, and perhaps even frozen and then thawed, limits the tasting of the various fruits at their fresh flavored best. It is also very difficult to remember the variation of flavors one might have encountered years before especially when you are trying to compare with a fruit that you are currently tasting. In my mind, the two best jakfruits that I have had thus far, notwithstanding the above mentioned limitations are my seedling Black Gold x Tabouey and Cochin. Cochin is a very small fruited cultivar with fruits about the size of a commercial pineapple. Unfortunately, the trees are not very vigorous. In fact they often fruit themselves to death from what I hear. My Black Gold x Tabouey cross is very hardy and seems very cold tolerant.....relative ot other jakfruits I am growing. Mai 1 is in the next tier of fruits....not far behind with J-30 and J-31 getting good flavor reviews but with more latex to deal with in fruit cleaning. Mai 1 gets additional points for its low level of latex. My favorites, mentioned above, are not heavy latex producers either. I definitely prefer a firm fleshed culitvar. Some of the softer fleshed varieties have great flavor but are tough to swallow given their mushy texture. Most of the cultivars that have been selected and mentioned in the Fairchild articles are nicely flavored. So.....maybe if we all contact Fairchild and request another Just Jakfruit Festival, you can get an uo close and personal review of the various jakfruits out there. Warning......jakfruit cleaning is not for everyone. Frankly, it is generally a royal pain in the a$$. What I usually like to do is get a "jakfruit cleaning bee" going where I get a small group together to do the tedious job of cleaning. Then you split up the cleaned flesh and everyone goes away happy, if not more sticky from all the latex.

Harry

Glad to hear about Cochin being good, unfortunate about it's suicidal tendencies (not the band). I'm currently trying to graft mine onto some Dang Rasimi rootstock for back up.

A kind friend brings me jak fruit from an Asian market in Orange County on occasion, typically it is crunchy and very aromatic. One of the batches was very chewy and less flavorful but in my limited experience, it seemed the fruit was under ripe rather than a bad cultivar.

I've thought about planting multiple jaks in a hole or even trying to splice graft two or three cultivars together. I believe Gary H. did multiples in one hole or very close to each other. One article I've read mentioned in the proper climate, people would plant multiple jak seeds in one spot and tie them together when young to grow into one tree with multiple rootstocks.

good luck with your decision,
-Ethan

Ethan,
It's funny that you brought up planting two in one hole as I just asked about that. I was able to get a 12 lb Bangkok Lemon today and before I bought the whole one I bought a bag of it cleaned already to try it to make sure I wanted more.
I really liked. I was surprised the Bangkok Lemon did taste a lot like juicy fruit as many have said. I thought my kids (who love mangoes like I do) both said they didn't like it... their reaction was a bummer.

Now I'll have some seeds from this Bangkok Lemon to sprout along with the germinating Mai 3 seedlings :)

I bought the ripe Bangkok Lemon on Friday from Excalibur. I put it in the fridge whole with the intention of cleaning it on Sunday. I oiled up everything and cut it in half. I cleaned the first half and was surprised that there was absolutely no latex. I only had time to do the first half and cleaned up all the Jackfruit debris. When I came back to clean the second half I didn't bother with the messy oil as it wasn't necessary...again NO latex at all. Is this normal? or were the higher powers making sure I had a great first experience?
CAN 2 Varieties be planted in one hole???