Dates from the Grower

For the past two years I’ve gotten dates direct from the grower in CA at this site:

http://7hotdates.com/shop-usa_samplers.html

The taste much different (better) than what you typically buy at the store. The “Wet pack” has a much higher moisture content and the flavors are much more potent than dates from the store. I’ve tasted butterscotch, maple, brown sugar, and vanilla notes.

My favorite is deglet noor, which tastes like a chewy ms. werther’s candy. (I don’t like the deglet noor from the store though, pretty bland)

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I see they’re located just a few miles north of the Salton Sea in California’s prime date growing region. :slight_smile:

Thanks for the link.

Come see them and many others at the Fair!

National Date Festival, Indio CA
Friday, February 16 - Sunday, February 25, 2018

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Thanks for the link. I’m going to put in an order. How many lbs is the box in your picture?

I’m sure they’re good. But I’ve still got 15 lbs of Turkish dried figs and 25+ lbs of my own dried fruit in the fridge. No way I can eat all that by spring. Well maybe…lol

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That was the 3 lb sampler box, I had eaten it down a bit before I took picture, all the variety names were covered by dates when I opened it. They pack it pretty full, packed by weight although I didn’t weigh it myself. I’m still eating them, quite rich so it lasts awhile. My wife doesn’t like dates so it’s up to me to eat them.

Fruitnut,

You being a connoisseur of fruit you should try them at some point. It’s like comparing other store bought fruit to fresh grown. I hear your problem though, ship me some dried fruit I’ll help you out! :slight_smile:

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Kevin, they should put you on commission. They looked so good that I just put in order myself! Thanks!

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Same for me. Mine arrived today. I got two sampler boxes- one firm and one wet.

I probably ate too many in one sitting, trying to compare all 10 types (5 varieties x (firm/wet)). Then a few 2nd tries.

I need to sample more to form a fuller opinion, but from what I can see some of the varieties (Delget Noor and Zahidi) are inherently drier. I like the wet version of those varieties. For the other (wetter) varieties, I think I prefer the firm version. But I’ll need to see what I think after more samples.

My older daughter said she liked the first bite or two of the wet Medjool, but it started to get a bit too much. I felt that way about several of the wet ones. My wife, always the connoisseur, said “they are all fine”.

The “firm” ones are the lighter colored ones on the right, while the “Wet” are darker and on the left:

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I’m mad at you Bob! ha! Mine just shipped yesterday and you already got yours??? How does that happen? Seriously, though, thanks for posting- now I’m even more excited. I’m thinking these would make GREAT Christmas gifts, too. BTW… based solely on the web site description, the Khadrawy (wet pack for me) sound like the best ones by far (“sweetest, most indulgent”). Were they one of your favorites?

I ordered these dates last year (firm pack) and actually Khadrawy was my least favorite, it was too soft and too sweet. Deglet Noor was my favorite, but I enjoyed all of them. Last year I ordered 5 lb box, this year 11 lb box, cannot wait for them to arrive. :slight_smile:

I also have a bunch of seedlings growing from the date pits I collected last year.

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Mine also.

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Thanks Stan. Thats interesting. As a bit of a sugar junkie, its hard for me to imagine “too sweet” for my own tastes so I may still like Khadrawy, but now I’m excited to try Deglet Noor since you and @Richard like it so much. BTW…you mentioned having seedlings from the pits. Do all these dates have pits? Somehow I assumed they were pitted like store-bought ones, no? Disclaimer: I know next to nothing about dates. I’ve only had the common, grocery store, pre-packed medjool dates that are always pitted so all this is new to me. I don’t mind the pits, just curious.

They have pits. While pitting is convenient whenever you damage the skin of a fruit the fruit will start to oxidize altering texture and/or flavor. Buy shelled nuts and then nuts you have to crack and you can taste the difference.

I think you will like these if you have a sweet tooth looking forward to your report…

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Thanks Kevin. Not just for the response but for the explanation…it makes PERFECT sense to me that a fruit that has had the skin broken and the seed gouged out of it would likely be different from one that has been left in tact.

Out of curiosity, do you or others know what a date would taste like right off the tree as a fresh fruit? Obviously they probably couldn’t ship them and they likely wouldn’t keep without spoiling quickly, but for those lucky enough to live near the source of dates, are they good right off the tree? Judging from the web site and photos, I’m guessing that even the “wet pack” dates have been dried/cured to some degree, right? Pardon my ignorance, but I’m curious if a fig right off the tree is downright juicy, is exactly like those in the “wet-pack” or are somewhere between. Thanks.

Here are a couple of links where date growers explain the entire process, including photos:
http://www.dateland.com/how-are-dates-grown
http://www.medjool-date-palms.com/html/medjool-date-palm.html

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Just ordered my wet pack sampler! I love Indio CA. So can’t wait to try these! Thanks! I’ve ordered from Hadley’s for years but they were sold years ago and the quality and care of the products went right down hill IMHO.

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I just wore it yesterday!

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It was fabulous!

Back in the day, we’d head out from Redlands CA on Hwy 99. When you reached Calimesa there was an “end speed limit” sign, so then we went barrelling down the road at 90+ to Cabazon. The date shakes were worth the drive. :slight_smile:

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