I searched GrowingFruit.org for dates and found a few interesting links. One lead to another CA grower, who mentions the following, which may help explain the difference in Medjools. I had no idea that dates are thinned. I know I wouldn’t want to spend 6 hours up on a ladder…
When we thin the medjhool date palms (if we did not thin medjhool clusters, the dates would be one-quarter of the size!), we spend up to six hours in just one tree.
I just finished a box of the most amazing dates I’ve ever eaten-- a heap of Medjools. These were so rich and gooey, and gave me such a sugar rush, I am in love with them. Almost caramel in texture. Crazy good. Blew the doors off any dates I’ve ever eaten previously. Plastic carton just said “Organic Medjool: Product of USA.” Did not specify Calif, Az, NV, or Fla. Got them at Wegmans.
My husband and only tried one of each and the sugar over-load was incredible! But we loved the differences.
Here’s a comparison pic. The box has the Costco dates and the one in my fingers is from Bautista (7HotDates). You can see that the Costco ones are a bit smaller (and less tasty).
A bit different slant and understand that I know little about dates other than to buy them in the grocery for cooking. I thought I would show this picture of dates my sister in law purchases. She and her husband live in Qatar and have dates surrounding them all the time. She says her favorite is Medjool but her husband prefers Deglet noors. Here is a picture of the Deglets they buy for him.
I just got some goodies from the organic store:
Medjool dates and Deglet Noor dates
Esopus Spitzenburg apple
Northern Spy apple
I’ve never tried the latter three before. Tasting notes coming soon…
Just tried my first batch of Deglet Noor. I am not impressed. To me, they taste like every other date I’ve ever eaten previously. Dense with Krispy Kreme crinkle-crunchy exterior. These were pitted, so even drier than usual.
Again-- The Medjools to me are stand-outs. They are so rich and sweet. The flavor is superb. The pit slides out of the fruit so easily in my mouth. What makes them special? The middle portion of the flesh has this incredible soft melting texture like molasses meets old southern wet pecan pie filling. I guess I like “wet” dates the best!
Matt, those Spitzenburg look quite a bit different from the ones I picked recently at an orchard that @Alan manages (detailed in the “Orchard Visit with Alan” thread). I think I see some light spotting, so maybe they are Spitz, but they don’t look too much like what I picked. How are they? High brix and aromatic flavor? I’ve never seen them in a store.
That’s funny Bob- about an hour ago I posted a link to your picture on the Spitz topic where Matt also posted that picture of his less beautiful specimens (if I do say so). His apples actually look a lot like Northern Spy.
I agree- the ones we picked are very impressive looking, as well as tasting. The ones Matt bought don’t look bad, but the ones in my pic remind me of nectarines with sugar speckles- you can just tell it will be good from looking at it and feeling the texture.
The two Northern Spy on the left look pretty similar to the NS I picked the same day. The one on the right looks a bit like his Spitz. The Spitz seem like a more colored version of the NS.
I finished about half the 10lb Zahidi box, before ordering a 10lb box of Deglets at my daughter’s gentle request (more like “Why don’t we have the Deglets??”). The Deglets just arrived and they are growing on me- maybe they are on par with Zahidi, even if they are sometimes a bit tougher.
I also ordered 10 lbs from Flying Disc ranch.
Deglet Noor- Very good. If anything, these may be better than the ones from Bautista, with a richer flavor.
Zahidi- Not bad, but I think the ones from Bautista are better. These don’t have quite as much flavor, but may be a tad moister.
Cire- Very good, with an interesting, almost chocolate flavor. A bit like a tootsie roll, with fruit notes. My daughter liked this one a lot and said that it was almost as good as Deglets.
Dayri- This one looks like chocolate due to it’s uniform dark color. It also has some chocolate taste, though it isn’t as pronounced as Cire. Maybe the two varieties are related? Good, but maybe a notch below Cire. I’ll need to eat some more to make up my mind.
Amber- Not all that impressed. It wasn’t bad tasting, but was fairly mild.
I got 2lbs each of each variety. When weighing them afterwards, there was 6+ extra Oz of Deglets (the only one in the bags instead of boxes), which my daughter was happy about. Each of the boxes was around 33-34 oz, so none were short. All well packed and sent 2 day mail.
Try the Cire dates from this guy. His medjools are superb also.
And the Tarbarzal and Medjools from this guy.
I did- the 2nd picture in my last post is from Flying Disc Ranch. And I think Cire and Deglets were the best from it.
I actually found Flying Disc from another of your comments in an earlier date thread. I looked at Patos Date Gardens as well, but their online store showed out of season. Even if the site is wrong and they aren’t out, I think 35+ pounds of dates is enough to last us a while 
I didn’t even notice. Glad you tried Flying Disc. The quality across the board is often better with Pato’s and Flying Disc than with anyone else in SoCal. They have small farms, grow organic, pay attention to every aspect of their date production and don’t engage in the tactics some of the larger date growers do, such as selling old dates, freezing dates and selling them later, and rehydrating dates that have dried out, The result is much better quality.
Most SoCal growers grow the same date varieties, and when you do find someone that grows something different, it often isn’t very good. But Cire and Tarbarzal are very good dates. You could even sell them in the Middle East. Patos also grows Mactoom dates, an extremely chewy, caramel flavored, very late season date from Saudi Arabia, where it is known as Mabroom. Because it is so late (and maybe he only has one Mactoom palm), Pato usually does not sell it online, but sells it at the Alhambra Farmer’s Market. The first Mactoom dates should be ready right about now.
Just spent a week’s vacation in Scottsdale, Az.
Found a wonderful little store selling date-palm dates-- the Sphinx Date Co.
They are the only outlet that sells the rare Black Sphinx cultivar (they were sold out of that one-- sad face). Variety discovered and grown in Scottsdale. Ripens as early as August and sells out quick. I signed my name to their waiting list. The Black Sphinx trees are old and deteriorating/ getting gobbled up by private development, but ASU has obtained germplasm and raises/sells/auctions off Black Sphinx pups (offshoots). You can read all about it on the interwebs.
I bought the obligatory pack of Medjools-- perfectly yummy.
I also was granted a taste of the rare Maktoom date-- brought to Arizona from Iraq decades ago. It was deliciously caramel in flavor, with a similarly superior wet texture as Medjool, but the pit was rather large and fat by comparison.
Maktoom on a toothpick!
If you are in the area, you gotta check these guys out. Most of their product is Arizona grown-- mostly in Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Yuma. They ship!
http://www.sphinxdateranch.com/fresh-dates/black-sphinx-dates
Black Sphinx dates are pretty good but not as good as Mactoom, or Cire from Flying Disc, or Tarbarzal from Pato’s.
When I lived in NYC years ago Fairway would have non-dehydrated fresh dates available seasonally from the Mideast. I found them far superior to any dried date to my tastes. When I was a young boy living in Scottsdale Ariz. I must have often eaten dates that way. There was a town we often drove through whose main industry was dates, but I don’t remember the fruit as much as the delicious date milk shakes we’d have at a tourist restaurant in the town. Can’t remember the name of the town either. Probably somewhere on Rt. 66.
Just put in this years order. Can’t wait!
