Summer 2024

We Tried Eight Unique Fruits, And Found The One You Should Be Stalking Up On

By Alicia Avalos and Gabriella Moceri

Have you tried dragonfruit? How about tamarind? Or guava? You might be very familiar with these fruits, or you might never have heard of them. Two journalists for the Paw Print hosted a fruit tasting event to introduce people to these fruits, and more. The attendees each tried something new from the selection of nine various fruits. Some fruits were a pleasant surprise, some disappointing. And at the end, all agreed: one fruit ruled them all.

It all started with an idea: what would be some cool fruits to try? Sometimes you’ll see unfamiliar fruits in the grocery store and think, “I wonder what that would taste like?” This question drove our journalists to analyze some of the various fruits they’d seen but not tried. However, they knew they couldn’t come up with an accurate assessment of the fruits without help.

At the tasting, the participants got to try new fruits from around the world. The overwhelming majority of the fruits were tropical, aside from the apples. It's interesting how some tropical fruits like pineapple are extremely popular, but others like dragon fruit are eaten much less in the US. 

The fruits tried were guava, papaya, honey dragonfruit, tamarind, kiwi, mango, Cosmic Crisp apple, and Cara Cara orange. The specific varieties of apple and orange were chosen in light of that fact most people in the States have tried these two fruits; however, they may not have tasted these specific types.

As participants arrived at the tasting, they were given a link to a google form on which to record their thoughts as they tried the fruit. They tasted each fruit in succession and ranked them on the form. These are the final ratings:

Mango: 7/10

Mango has a sweet and tangy taste, and somewhat fibrous texture. Some remarked that the mango slices at the event looked “almost unreal” because of their vibrancy. Most tasters said they were expecting the mango to be their favorite fruit of the night. Though it did rank highly, it was dethroned in the final ratings by another…

Guava: 3/10

Guava was not well liked by the crowd. Though according to the internet it tastes like a pear-strawberry hybrid when ripe, the texture of the very hard seeds and the fact that it wasn’t ripe enough made it unappealing to all the participants at this event. 

Papaya: 4/10

Papaya tastes like a slightly bitter version of cantaloupe, with hints of mango. At this event, it was ranked surprisingly low; the people who didn’t like it ranked it extremely low and the highest rating it got was a 7. Papaya was not the star at this event, and the overall consensus was that it was a mediocre fruit. 

Tamarind: 5/10

Most people knew tamarind from the many variations of tamarind flavored Mexican candy. Because of the strange color and texture compared to the other fruits, some people opted out of trying it. But the ones who did try it had mixed feelings. The data showed that this fruit was considered average. Tamarind can be an acquired taste. 

Kiwi: 7/10

Kiwis are well known for being multitude of colors: hairy brown on the outside, bright green and white on the inside, and full of tiny black seeds. They’re generally soft and sweet-tasting. Most people at the event enjoyed the kiwi, but felt it was nothing special as most of them had tried it before.

Cosmic Crisp Apple: 8/10

This intriguing apple, a result of 20 years of university research, was described as “the perfect apple” or “the most apple an apple can be” by some of the guests at this event. Days after the event, some of our tasters were still talking about this apple because of its enjoyable texture and crunch.

Cara Cara Orange: 9/10

Cara Cara Oranges, a hybrid of regular and blood oranges, are sweeter than normal oranges. Their lack of sourness was appealing to the tasters, making people who thought of oranges as an “okay” fruit quickly fall in love with this variety. It was overall the 2nd favorite of all the fruits.

Honey Dragonfruit: 10/10

The Honey Dragonfruit was the overwhelming favorite of the night! Its crunchy yet delicate seeds, soft and sweet flesh, and pleasant texture wowed tasters. Also, its yellow skin added color and made it more pleasing to the eye. The person who cut it said “it’s literally falling off the skin as I cut it” due to the softness of the fruit.

Which fruit sounds the best to you? Do you agree with the overall rankings? 🐾