I wanted to clarify what I’ve reported above as my experience.
The metallic thing I mentioned I would not call an aftertaste. Aftertaste to me is specific to the food being eaten and refers to a lingering flavor on the palate very soon after swallowing the food itself, a flavor that was not present during chewing.
I’ve never tasted a metallic aftertaste in a Pawpaw based on that definition. Though of course I don’t dispute that it’s possible.
Ever since reading Dr. Lendon Smith’s FEED YOUR BODY RIGHT my husband and I have considered individual tastes to be important. For example, in his chapter on blood pressure he tells how to taste test for Sodium, Potassium, Magnesium and acid. Your own subjective experience will change with your needs. It may seem to stay the same for a long time, but if you try it when you are very stressed, you may find the salt solution no longer tastes salty and the Magnesium solution that always seemed good tasting or at least OK, has now turned bitter.
Turns out our senses of taste and smell are designed to help us find nutritious food and avoid toxins. So I’d be very suspicious of any food that left an aftertaste that lasted for a long time, especially if that aftertaste made you not want to eat any more of that food.
So why do we crave sweets? Because the food companies have taken advantage of our bodies knowing that sweetness signals fruits or veggies at the peak of nutritional value. In the real world, pre modern agriculture, processing, and transportation, we’d have had a hard time getting as much sugar as we liked. Salt is a different matter, we actually NEED salt, and we recycle so much salt that what we ingest is seldom in excess. You know what it’s like, you get hot and
Dr. Smith told how Kitkoski was at his biz partner’s house, and said, “I see your dog is in alkalosis. See how slowly and shallowly he is breathing? He’s conserving on carbonic acid by not breathing much.” He got the family to set out 3 bowls of water, one plain, one with a little milk in it(alkaline), and one with a Tablespoon of vinegar. They called the old dog over, he sniffed the bowls and drank from the one with the vinegar.
And now I suppose you want to know how to do it too.
One thing I’ll mention is that I get “food fatigue” which is a real thing with most people (tiring of the same foods). Some foods I fatigue really quickly (like pawpaws). Others I could eat for a meal every day for several weeks before I’m repulsed.
In terms of food fatigue, if I had to eat one fruit every day, it would be home grown tomatoes. That is something which would take a much longer time to eventually become anathema to me.
For Pawpaws, the Brylcreem commercials said it best: “A little dab will do ya.”
NC-1 & other Davis seedlings, tend to be later pawpaw if further North, or if soil Magnesium is high.
They tend to ripen earlier if further South, or if Calcium or Molybdenum is high & Magnesium is low.
Magnesium tends to increase the negative growth stage.
Calcium & Molybdenum tend to increase Ethylene & Abscisic acid production, which accelerate the ripening.
Maria’s Joy (Davis x Prolific) ripens early in the Great Lakes area & Kentucky which are both high in Calcium, yet late mid season to early late season in Britain that is high in Magnesium Sulfate.
Epsom Salt is named after Epsom England.
Kentucky Champion bears heavy is it has companions that Bloom at the same time. Else yield is low, because it blooms at a different time.
Woody recommends Overleese.
Clifford England uses: ( VE-21, Prima, Nyomi’s Delicious, Atwood, Lehman Delight), as companion trees.
I have not grown anything yet.
I just read everything that everyone writes & then research the soil of their area, using USDA & USGS Survey Data.
‘Kentucky Champion’ was never selected for the quality of its fruit, but rather people have propagated from it simply because it literally is the “Champion” (largest recorded dbh & crown) pawpaw for the state of Kentucky. I’ve yet to hear anything noteworthy about it other than the abnormally large ortet.
Clifford England claims that it’s a very aromatic mild yet complex pawpaw with some raspberry aromas & no bitter aftertaste.
Woody claims that it blooms at a different time & needs Overleese as a pollinator to get good yields.
Hey there, sorry for revive this topic - i am planning to plant KYC (i already have Shenandoah and KSU Chappell, also would plant Susquehanna, Maria’s Joy and Allegheny this winter) - but still can’t decide what review to believe on the internet forums, wether it’s a rather interesting and unique flavour profile cultivar, and not “too seedy”, or not. i have a lot of sun and heat in the summer, around 7a-7b zone these years.
i have this feeling that i have to plant this variety, someone should confirm that it would be worth it
(i think with this sortiment i don’t have to worry about cross pollination, i’d put KYC to the least hot spot so it would start blooming a bit later and some of the other in the hotter parts would also start blooming by that time, they will be all 8-12 feet from each other in a loose patch)
Highly recommend picking the book up for more info. Nc-1 was high on my list before i ultimately desided to go with nyomis delicious. But i have heard its a good one as well.
I’ll be looking for that book - not sure it’s available here in the EU but i’m sure i can get it somehow.
NC1 never really got my attention, read too many negative reviews about it - and i mean ‘negative’ by that it’s definitely a nice variety but there are already better ones
I wouldn’t sleep on NC-1. It’s really good and probably the best of the older cultivars, along with Overleese. I was impressed with how much I liked them this year. I don’t normally like the more heavily banana flavored pawpaw cultivars as much, but that one is an exception. It has a brighter, nicer banana flavor (like banana cream pie) rather than the more musky/overripe banana flavors that a lot of pawpaws can have. The criticisms that I’ve heard about it are that it can be too strongly flavored for some people and that it isn’t the most productive cultivar.
I would also like to hear more from others about the flavor and fruit quality of Kentucky Champion. I’m hoping I’ll be able to taste it from one of my trees next year, but I’ve heard it can be shy bearing.
Overleese and NC-1 have placed in the best pawpaw competition at the Ohio Pawpaw Festival, multiple times IIRC.
(Take with a grain of salt). Overleese is a parent of at least one Peterson cultivar.
My thing with KYC is that the only reason it exists is because the TREE was a “champion tree” meaning very large/old.
I would not consider it for even half a second.
Way better varieties out there. Would plant NC1 before I’d waste space on KYC.
Tbh I don’t mind the milder taste, I realised that the many “strong” flavoured ones are mostly just overly sweet with this caramelish taste that I’m not looking for in a fruit
I prefer a more interesting flavour profile, not necessarily sweetness.
I heard KYC probably just needs a very early blooming cross pollinator and then it’s a heavy bearer
I think the biggest draw for KYC is that it is early ripening. Cliff England also has a very enticing description for it. I agree with you that it is probably overrated because it was chosen based on the size of the tree. We really need to hear more descriptions of the fruit from people who have tried it, otherwise all we have are the overly optimistic descriptions from nurseries trying to sell them.
on that note i wish the seed to flesh wasnt just by weight. like what i want to know is the volume. i wish theyd just peel one, do a displacement (though might need another liquid than water, i imagine seeds float) , then do the seeds. That matters to me more than how much flesh per seed personally.
NC-1 is still very interesting to me as I love potomac which is another banana heavy one
I think many people label a pawpaw as strong or rich if it is really sweet and high in those sugary flavors (caramel, toffee, marshmallow, etc.) as they ripen. Those are becoming my least favorite types of pawpaws, so I hear you on that one. Wabash and Chappell are in that category for me. Maybe Benson as well.
