One shall know a true ‘ripe for the picking’, Peterson ‘Queen Susquehanna’, by its Divinely flavored honey- caramel righteousness. Fruit of the Gods from the Tree of Life.
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Looking good!
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Please let me know the results. 
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Excerpt from the Gospel of “Y”.
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Greetings frostcrystal. Your beginner Pawpaw question is a good, and thought provoking one, which brings to mind the awesome power of the directly sown pawpaw seed. It is likely that only a small percentage of your directly sown seeds would survive the freezing temperatures of a four month long winter. However, frostcrystal, the A. triloba tree successfully propagated itself by seed in northerly climes, long before the arrival of clever, crafty Bi-pedal Hominids with their zip lock baggies and electric refrigerators. Life finds a way. Age old wisdom dictates that the pawpaw seeds be firmly ensconced in opossum scat, (deer scat shall suffice, but 'possum scat is best), placed on their sides one inch down in soil amended with compost or decomposed cow manure with a final winter blanket of mulch. All efforts should be protected with wire cages, etc. Keep in mind next spring that the little Pawpaw seeds have enough naturally engineered Life-force to put down a foot-long taproot using zero photosynthesis. Be patient frostcrystal, and embrace the power and determination of the undisturbed, directly sown Pawpaw seed.
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Ferver is a friend. West is the same as Cherimowest. @tonyOmahaz5 named it. central is a suspected Shen x Alleg cross. If you search this thread with “west”, “cherimowest,” or “central,” you’ll find taste descriptions from either myself or others.
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That reddish pinkish vein [to me] indicates partial spoilage. It was probably picked or fell off early. Sometimes the fruit will pull free even when not fully ripe if the tree is under heavy stress like excess or insufficient water. The color development looks interspersed between pale and yellow, so it could be a Susquehanna in a bad year.
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Both Susquehanna I got looked and felt underripe. It was almost tasteless.
Yesterday, I was given Overleese.
I think it was also underripe when picked. It was sweet but had bitter aftertaste. Texture was very firm (due to underripe?). Maybe, I am sensitive to bitter taste? I don’t like bitter aftertaste in pawpaws.
Too bad that Susquehanna and Overleeese I got were not in a good condition. Taste and texture was quite compromised.
This is not a ripe overleese. I just processed about 10 pounds of overleese yesterday. Not the right color. Overleese is like a very deep yellow. In a good year, I want to say that Overleese is darker yellow (maybe) than Susquehanna. NC-1 always gives me the impression of being even deeper? maybe darker yellow than both.
Also, this looks like it has been sitting in the fridge for a week or two or on the counter for at least a few days post drop. Those darken regions are bruising sometimes indicating cold damage. It can happen on fruit that doesn’t get enough GDD in my experience or early frost. Or from sitting in the fridge, hence my assumption.
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I think you are correct.
My guess was it was picked or dropped underripe. Kept in a fridge before it was given to me (the other side of this Overleese was almost all black).
I also was disappointed by my own Mango pawpaws. Flesh near the seeds were almost mushy while the rest was firm, rather odd. It also had bitter aftertaste. It hope it will get better next year. Otherwise, I will graft it over.
Some people say Shenandoah was bland or too mild. I and several of my friends like it. Texture is creamy and smooth. It tastes sweet without bitter aftertaste. That’s good enough for me.
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If you consider yourself sensitive, I’m super sensitive. Every Shenandoah I eat I can still pick out a hint of that background bitterness/phenolic aftertaste.
You see that bumpy part of the fruit? Where the skin is uneven? This and the color indicates to me underdeveloped. It was picked too early. Or it fell off too early. This doesn’t happen normally. When this happens the texture is hard and kind of foam like. It will counter ripen, as in get soft, but kind of like the way a green tomato will. Maybe a few streaks of red later, but still won’t ever be the same as a vine ripe.
Even if you don’t thin, and you get a preduncle cluster of like 9 fruit, they will all ripen correctly if given time and have smooth skin. Sometimes you get a calabash gourd shape with fruit (I don’t know why), but even then the skin is smooth and there’s radial symmetry. The bumpy [to me] indicates that it fell off or was picked off early and the air pockets in the less dense fruit were released after cold damage or counter ripening. Hence why it ended up bumpy.
I don’t know what I call the pink thing. But I see that vein sometimes in overripe fruit or fruit that has been counter ripening or in the fridge too long. Every experience I’ve had with it has taught me that it makes you sick.
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The Overleese and Susquehanna were from a farm that my friend went to get pawpaws. Somehow, these fruit were picked or dropped underripe.
Look like I have to graft the varieties I want to eat myself.
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What pawpaws have you had at (that were actually ripe) besides Shenandoah?
Also, this was a weird year for pawpaws in general. Several of the pawpaw orchard owners I talked to mentioned everything falling within two weeks. Definitely not normal.
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Sunflower, Mango and Wabash.
Is Shenandoah your favorite of those four?
Yes.
Then you probably won’t care much for Susquehanna and Overleese. You should try Allegheny, Rappahannock, Taytoo, Maria’s Joy, off the top of my head… There are other Lehman ones I would recommend, but I need to go back to find my notebook records, cause I mix them up sometimes since I remember them by the number name.
You’d probably like the seedling I have here called Ohio 1. It’s a firmer version of Shenandoah.
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Was admiring your Overleese and then I read this. I hate the aftertaste. One of my named seedlings fruited this year. It had a weird alcohol like aftertaste. Nothing like the metal aftertaste I’m used to. Initial taste was pretty good though.
I could actually dig that. Pawpaw beer is decent.
You know the aftertaste you get from a shot of whisky. Kind of like that, but milder. Perfectly ripe (not fermented).
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