My idea of a great plum are the ones we have bought from the grocery store much of my life, and in two states. Black skinned with amber flesh, all the ones I have eaten had near identical flesh taste regardless of where we bought them or what state we bought them from, I am aware that a lot of the new varieties being sold have that flavor weak if at all, that is a flavor that I want strong. I have eaten two varieties from trees that we grow, have grown, 01) Bruce plums from our tree 02) Burgundy plum from our former tree
The flesh of those two varieties were not sweet enough for me. The flavor I was looking for was very weak. I am looking for plums like the black amber type in the grocery store, there are at least 4 different varieties that have those colors 01) Black Amber 02) Friar 03) Grossa di Felisio 04) Damson Plums
This thread is for people to list and discuss plum varieties with black skin and with amber colored flesh, dark purple skinned plum varieties with amber colored flesh, and any plums with the flavor I am looking for strong, with about the same amount of sweetness.
The most common with red to purple skin and amber flesh is Santa Rosa.
Friar has black skin and amber flesh
Nubiana - Purplish-black skin, amber flesh.
I have not tried any of these recently.
About 25-30 years ago I use to eat plums from the supermarket like that. I think the ones I use to get had mildly tart skin and were clingstone. They would get soft quickly, but very sweet with no acid. They had to be Japanese plum of some type. I’m not sure what the popular commercial varieties were back then. Obviously they have more varieties now. Last year I got a “black plum” from the supermarket and it was firm, sweet, low-acid, freestone, and not much tartness at the skin. It’s disappointing that they have to dumb down the marketing to black/yellow/red plums.
It drives me insane. Not to hijack the original thread, but I recently purchased “red pluots” and I’d really like to know what they are. I’ve gotten to the point where I simply refuse to buy “yellow peaches” or “black plums”, but I haven’t eaten many of the pluot varieties and I’m trying to figure out which I like and which I could do without. At this point, of the few I’ve tasted, Dapple Dandy is the big winner.
My favorite pluots are all dark exterior: Flavor Supreme, Geo Pride, Flavor King, Honey Punch, and Flavor Treat, earliest to latest.
I’m certain that Geo Pride and Flavor Treat are amber flesh and have little to no acidity. Honey Punch is very sweet but I’m not sure if it’s amber or red fleshed.
Flavor Supreme and King are the top two. They have reddish flesh and very high flavor.
Thanks fruitnut. My “red pluots” look a lot like your Flavor Treat, but the ones I had were insipid, though ridiculously juicy yet still firm (both traits that I like). They weren’t worth purchasing for me and I’d like to avoid this particular variety, but of course I have no clue what they were. The ones I purchased were in a plastic bag with a zip closure on it and were “dinosaur brand” for what it’s worth. I had Dapple Dandy a week or so ago and my wife, my younger son and myself all loved them, which pleased me a great deal because I just planted one this spring. I’d like to try some of the others that you’ve posted photos of, but here on the east coast we only see them now and then and usually a variety isn’t listed, so you have to guess based on their appearance. With limited experience eating them, I think I like the pluots a bit better than most plums that I’ve had so I’ll keep after it.
Dapple Dandy is OK but not a favorite as grown here and to my taste. I’m liking Dapple Supreme better. DD is late and DS is early. Just planted Dapple Jack. It’s supposed to be the sweetest of the Dapple types.
Appearance doesn’t tell one much about how things taste. I mean I remember those dark plums from my youth. I still eye them in the store. But recent purchases haven’t usually resulted in much eating enjoyment.
Last year I ate a Black Ice …excellent plum! I liked it so much I grafted two of them. They are growing rather slow. I doubt I’ll get fruit next year but it will be worth the wait.
I have never tried Santa Rosa so I do not know what it’s like, yet they sound about right except that sometimes the inside can be reddish on Santa Rosa, I see that in photos, although since I have not tried them I am not sure about flavor or how sour the peel is, how sweet the flesh is.
