Cold Hardy Citrus Taste Test 4 - Swingle, Thomasville, Taiwanica, Rusk Citrange, Dragon Lime

Hi everyone!
I'm expecting this to be our last cold hardy citrus taste test - we got to cover some varieties I've really been wanting to try! Thanks again to Stan McKenzie for all the fruit, budwood, and trees he has provided for us:
mckenzie-farms....
Please feel free to view our updated notes: docs.google.co...
Also, we have a new website! We're expanding our small edible plant-focused nursery and concentrating as much as we can on propagating cold hardy varieties. Here's the link for those interested, we're preparing plants for sale as early as March/April:
themulberries....

[@kathleenebsen2659]

Thank you so much for your excellent assessment! I’m so anxious to get started with the cold hardy group!

[@themulberries]

You're welcome!

[@technoendo]

Love it! Appreciate seeing the younger/mature thomasville citrangequat. I think I want one! If you do go out to McKenzie, consider getting some photos of the trees you are sharing fruit from (at least the same species) just for more visual interest in your videos (19 minutes spent looking at one scene). Also, while I appreciate notes on tasted fruit (its great info!), there is some dissatisfaction seeing fruit that is cut in half for a demonstration that is never eaten on camera. I just wanted to give you permission, that eating fruit to refresh your memory while reading from your notes is totally ok! :) Thank you for featuring cold hardy and getting more information out there on them!

[@themulberries]

Valuable feedback, thank you! We have a photo gallery on the new website themulberries.org, and I'll look into overlaying some photos in future videos! Perhaps I'll even take a bite too, I feel like I would just have to mute the chewing noises, haha. You're welcome and Stan should still have a few Thomasville left if you're interested!

[@quinnmores1007]

Great review! I have never tried any of these fruit, but do have a young Ten Degree Tangerine from Stan growing in my zone 7b. They are quite prolific and hardy even when young.

[@baddriversofcolga]

Glad to hear that the Thomasville is quite good. I got one last year and I look forward to it eventually fruiting.

[@themulberries]

They can fruit at quite a small size! Especially when grafted, we picked up a couple grafted trees that were maybe 12-18 inches with a few ripe fruit on them!

[@baddriversofcolga]

@@themulberries Awesome!

[@CJDykes]

My Swingle Citrumulo had great flavor out of hand, right off the tree. Very impressed with the flavor

[@themulberries]

Swingle isn't bad for sure! I suspect it's even better earlier in the season after first turning color.

[@toughcitrus]

Excellent review brother!! I couldn’t agree more about the Thomasville. It is also one of my favorites. I put like 20 of them in the ground at the grove in NC. I prefer them green but just before they start to get some yellow color….. delicious!!! 💪🍊 glad to here you got some trees and some budwood!!! Stan is the man!! Take Care my fellow citraholic!! 🍋

[@themulberries]

Thank you my man! 💪🍊 We're about to do the same too, planning on at least a dozen trees, maybe more! Green was definitely refreshing and would make a good mojito. Take care too!

[@toughcitrus]

@@themulberries you really should get your hands on citrandarin US942. It is the best tasting 50% trifoliate along with citremon, I would almost argue better than Thomasville. And that’s a bold statement for me, lol. Madison citrus nursery has a few in stock at the moment. Taste like amazing little nippon orangequats and also like a calamondin. Sunki mandarin x flying dragon 🐉 💪🍊

[@themulberries]

​Oh wow, we might have to add that one to our list! Where did you find a mature tree/fruit? ​@@toughcitrus

[@toughcitrus]

@@themulberries while I was at Madison Citrus nursery they had a few fruit left on some trees used for rooted cuttings. Plus I have a few larger us942 I planted at the tough citrus grove last year that should be pretty big this season, hoping for fruits on those too. Now the ones they sell on the site are actually rooted cuttings not seedling so you should get fruit within the first few years

[@themulberries]

@@toughcitrus I didn't realize those cuttings were from mature trees! Thank you, we'll have to order some then!

[@Edwardo5000]

Some people say the Taiwanica has a funky element in the taste (in a negative way), do you notice anything like that?

[@themulberries]

I've heard this too, but I gotta say this one that we sampled had no funkiness at all. It was really good! Perhaps there are different strains of Taiwanica or growing conditions that could play a role.

[@Edwardo5000]

@@themulberries Yes, there are multiple variants. Some are very distinctly different, but there might be variants of what most people consider the typical Taiwanica Nansho Daidai that are not so noticable different. I believe the variant you have is with long narrow leaves? I have a very young graft of it, but I'm in Europe so I'm also not sure if there is a difference with what goes around in the US.

[@themulberries]

@@Edwardo5000 Very interesting, thank you for sharing! Yes this one had long, narrow leaves, kind of like narrower Yuzu leaves I believe.

[@paul.1337]

How is the rind on the Thomasville? Bitter like an orange or sweet and kumquat-y? Or somewhere in between/neutral? I live in SE PA and am probably giving Stan a call next week to hopefully get something I can grow in-ground without needing to do the incandescent bulb thing. (My power is unreliable when we get huge freezes.) Lemon Sponge pie is a family tradition during the holidays, so I'd like to either be able to grow a substitute for the lemons or a lime substitute for cooking or something like mandarins/kumquats that are just good eating.

[@themulberries]

The rind is surprisingly kumquat-y and contributes a lot of sweetness since the actual sugar content of the fruit is lower. It's slightly orange-like but hardly bitter at all, we could eat a bowl of ripe ones easily. Picked green it is basically a key lime that is hardy to 5°F which is pretty cool! I understand the power thing, I much prefer lower maintenance plants. You might be able to get away with several passive heating methods in your location. We recently tried US 942 from Madison Citrus Nursery which might be of interest if you want a tarter mandarin-like fruit. It should be hardy to 0°F like other Citrandarins, and it's the best tasting so far. They still have trees left and they were 4-6ft tall in a 1 gal container.

[@ross2398]

I’m honestly shocked that the rusk was better than the dragon lime. Whatever I tried from the Citrus Expo labeled “rusk” was not worth it at all, the smell when cut into was also repelling to me. I found the Benton and Morton to have much better qualities. Thomasvilles come out on top as usual! Just tried the (clem x tri) x clem and it’s like a piney sour mandarin, none of that off putting smell or the aftertaste!

[@themulberries]

I was surprised too, and I do want to try Benton/Morton as well. (Clem x Tri) x Clem has looked like a good one in videos! I must say though, it was only the better of the bottom two in this batch. I still expected more from it! Thomasville far exceeded expectations.

[@ross2398]

@@themulberries I think Thomasville is the best trifoliate cross so far. I believe pollinating the 1/2 trifoliate crosses with a kumquat would yield good results. Certainly citrandarin and maybe citrumelo as well!

[@themulberries]

@@ross2398 Exactly my thoughts! I plan on crossing Citrandarin x kumquat, Taitri x kumquat and maybe even limequat x trifoliate! I think kumquat and trifoliate hybrid crosses have very overlooked potential.