Been waiting a long time to try Veinte Cohol. Below is my tasting report. As always, this is how it tastes where I live and it could taste quite different under different conditions.
TEXTURE-Has a unique texture. Somewhat like a Cavendish or 1000 fingers, but has a mealiness to it, but not unpleasantly so.
FIRMNESS-Medium, much like a Cavendish.
SWEETNESS-One of the least sweet bananas I’ve had. They did finally get some sweetness when they were overripe, but not very much even then.
TARTNESS-Probably the most tart banana I’ve had. Brazilians are tart. Mysore are more tart. Veinte Cohol is far more tart than a Mysore.
RIPENESS- Tasted from some green at the tips to no green and some brown spots. Too ripe at that stage, and very difficult to peel with paper thin peel that sticks to the fruit at the overripe stage. Probably best a day before getting any brown spots.
FLAVOR-If you like lemon, you’ll like Veinte Cohol. The lemony taste is so dominant I don’t really taste anything else.
OTHER-Tiny little fruit. The ones in the picture were the smallest of the bunch. Be careful about when you harvest these. I let them go too long and about 1/3 of the bunch was lost due to fruit splitting. They didn’t look ready because they were still quite green. Harvested at 70 days but I see from the TARS catalog that 60 is normal. Didn’t last long once harvested. Bunch was very small. Easily bruised when ripe.
OVERALL RATING-7. They’re good and I enjoyed them, but didn’t find them particularly special. I’d say they’re in my top 20 or so. The plant itself is quite beautiful and has quite a lot of black on it. Kind of a slow, weak plant. This is my 2nd bunch. The first never developed because the plant blew over. This one blew over too about 3 weeks before harvest. I thought perhaps they were slow growing because I had my first one in some shade and close to one of my most healthy, vigorous mats. All the pups I’ve planted are about the slowest to thrive ones I’ve had of any cultivar. Some never made it. 2 that were planted in never used spots with full sun and no competition have only gotten 2 feet tall in 8 and 10 months. Compare that to another AA, Tu’u Ghia, which recently fruited after only 6 months in the same conditions-the fastest of any I’ve grown. Overall a nice plant to have and makes enjoyable fruit that is interesting enough to make up for its faults. 60 days flower to harvest is tough to beat too.
SUGGESTED USE-Ripe, could probably eat the whole bunch in one sitting and it wouldn’t feel like eating a ton. Could also be interesting in dessert, especially lemony desserts. Would be quite unexpected for those expecting a sweet banana.