Actually as a Chinese and growing up eating all kinds of Asian pears, I found certain European pears such as Seckel and Magness delicious if ripened soft and chilled. I usually pick up 1 bushel of Magness/Seckel at my favorite orchard every year.
I found the chojuro pears that I grew were not worth eating. Initially I thought the tree (dwarf) was the problem but I found other pears I grafted onto the same tree tasted OK. I don’t know why many people on this forum think it is among the best Asian pears.
Melting European pear, such as Seckel and Magness, is very sweet, juicy, and delicious. But there’s no crispy crunchy that some of us desire. Good Asian pears are sweet, juicy and crunchy, such as Shin Li picked at right time and chilled in refrigerator for a month.
I agree with you. I’m not a big fan of Chojuro. To my taste buds it has more of a rum flavor rather than butterscotch. I’m not a fan of the rum flavor.
Had exactly the same experience!! Nowadays I would not hesitate to graft my own over buying one from a nursery. Cheaper too!
Theirs were on such a short branch that when fireblight hit, I had to go all the way to the trunk. I felt like taking my label and marking through it to 3-in-1, then 2-in-1. Now I’m back to 4-in-1 but different varieties.
I have a 3-in-1 with 20th Century, Shinseiki, and Hoshi. This coming year will be it’s third leaf. I did get a FB strike on one but had enough room to prune and keep the graft.
It’s full of fruiting spurs so next spring I’ll be thinning on all 3 varieties. It’s still a small tree. I’ve not grafted to it (yet).
I have an older Asian pear in my front yard that is 3" caliper. Originally a Shinseiki, I’ve grafted Hosui, Raja, Ya Li, Pai Li, KG, Yakumo, Shinko, Atago, and Chojiro. Damn, I need to check that they are all still there.
No fruit from this tree. It’s not in a great sun exposure though I’m hopeful.
If you are moved by the aromatic side of flavor, European pears tend to be superior to Asian pears. I believe you enjoy the more aromatic Asians but that certainly isn’t what I currently seek in them although I’m interested. As long as brix is about 19.
It is very possible your location is the issue. As an example some years duchess d’ Angoulme is very good here. It is all based on amount of sunshine and cold nights here with late season pears. The pears like KG can be exceptional but usually are just very good. Drippin honey ripens earlier in the season in 100+ degree temperatures here. Maybe you dont get enough heat to properly ripen it. To much rain can become a problem with DH as well. It washes out the flavor or can be the cause of cracking. @tonyOmahaz5 now grows it a couple of hours from here and i suspect it is mouth watering good there also. I get mixed results with kosui as well. All fruit has good years and bad years. Fruit must be grown very long term to truly understand the trees as you all are aware.
Yoinashi is the only variety that has been hit with fireblight at our place in upstate NY. We grow chojuro, shinseiki, shinsui, drippin honey, and shinko. Cut out our last Yoinashi this fall.
Yoinashi has been hit hard with fireblight at our place. No fireblight on the chojuro, shinko, shinseiki, shinsui, but all (4) yoinashi have been removed because of it
I need to learn to graft so I can do the same. I bought the supplies that I’ve read online that I will need so this spring I’m going to give it a try. I have to learn because I’m running out of room in my yard to plant trees and there is always something new I want to try.
I purchased an Asian pear at a local fruit market that was really large. I got five seeds from it and was able to get all five to germinate and have planted all five. They are all growing at varying rates but are from one foot to two and a half foot tall. I have them in pots. For those of you that may have grown Asian pears from seed what rootstock is the most disease resistant, semi-dwarf and good for sandy soil. I live in NW Florida if that makes a difference. Depending on what zone map you look at, I live in Zone 9a or 8b.
Grafting seeding to a branch of established
tree is a good idea. I saved and germinated some seeds from my biggest Korean Giant, and dripping honey. These seedings are interesting by looking at the leaves shape and the color in fall. I am curious to see the fruits in a few years. But I don’t have room for another tree.I was planning to give them away to friends who live nearby so I can knowthe fruits size, flavor etc. Now, I am going graft each seedings on my tree to see and taste the fruits myself.
Sounds like you need to get into fragrant pears! Very interesting and difficult to find in the US.
California supposedly has lots of old ones and getting cuttings is possible.
There are a few possibly sources online already. Hopefully more soon.
@Shibumi
That’s a high production wide canopy large tree, if it survives the fireblight.
Every graft I did, except maybe on a large Callery seedling, died.
The smaller one I planted also died of fireblight.
Almost nothing else died of fireblight
or 8$ in south Korea 
