We planted a peach tree last summer when I had no idea of what different varieties of peaches/nectarines are or how to prune, fertilize and take care of one. The cultivar is called “Peachy Keen Peach” which seems to be a fairly recent cultivar made popular by L.E. Cooke Co.
Like the tree above mine is quite loaded now. With the knowledge gained here I started thinning, fertilizing and watering right and I got decent fruits.
The tree is not well pruned (hoping to correct it this winter) and I didn’t thin the fruits enough. One thing I did right was to hold back the water for the almost a month or so, thanks to @fruitnut, @fruitgrower and @Girly’s discussions on this topic. The first peach I harvested today had a brix of 14 and tasted great!
The fruit is not yet falling from the tree, so I don’t think its at its peak yet. It may gain a bit more sweetness left on the tree but my guess is it won’t be >15 this season. We don’t get as much heat here in the coast as inland California, so mine won’t approach @fruitgrower’s peaches, but there is still room to improve with thinning and pruning and possibly grafting better varieties on this tree for next season. All told, I won’t have grown nearly as tasty fruits without the information I got here!
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Final batch of peaches harvested towards the end of July
The summer was pretty mild this year except for a couple of 100F days. I didn’t water the tree for more than a month. Brix improved to 16 in the final batch of fruits
Final one - quite juicy and sweet 
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First fruit from the second leaf. I could have waited a couple of days longer on this one, but still has the classic yellow peach flavor. The peak season will be in 1-2 weeks
What I did right this season - Early thinning, zero watering since Feb
What I should change - Thinning still not aggressive, watered a nearby new tree a few times (couldn’t avoid this season, but still slightly beyond drip line), fertilized in Feb with 3-12-12 (not needed for this tree)
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I’m continuing to harvest them and they were mostly between 13-15 brix. I thought they plateaued there and stopped tracking brix. Today, I tried one and it had significantly extra flavor (both sweetness and tang) and aroma. I took out the refractometer and measured again and it was 19! I didn’t realize I could get that high brix on fuzzy peaches in my area in early July. I double checked the calibration to make sure 
I now understand @fruitnut’s obsession with brix. The difference between 15 and 19 brix is not just sweetness but there is a significant improvement in the overall flavor.
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We need a polyphenol tester!
Fully agree. People want to knock high brix fruit but it’s not just about sweetness. It’s also better flavor. Thank you for pointing that out.
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I agree, thanks Udhay for sharing.
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