meizzwang

To would be blue java/Ice Cream buyers:
1) the real deal isn't in tissue culture in the US. Your best bet is to get the real plant from reputable forum members here on bananas.org
2) Agristarts, the alleged source of all fake TC'ed ice cream being sold in the US, is knowingly mis-representing namwah as the real deal blue java/Ice Cream. Perhaps the lie has gone on for so long that the general public has accepted Namwah as blue java.
3) The real deal blue java aka Ice Cream is surprisingly rare.
4) TC sellers get away with selling fake Ice Cream because it takes years for you to find out. If you end up with Namwah, consider yourself lucky! As Richard mentioned, online vendors marketing "ice cream" as TC'ed plants often times just send you any variety that looks really good at the time of your order. Speaking from experience, Buy at your own risk!

ICE CREAM BLUE JAVA TASTE REPORT



TEXTURE- creamy, soft, very light and fluffy

FIRMNESS – Ice Cream is only slightly more dense than eating whipped cream right out of the can! The pulp is extremely fragile at peak ripeness and bruises very easily.

SWEETNESS- Compared to other banana varieties, it's not very sweet, even at peak ripeness.

TARTNESS- Very tart, even when at peak ripeness. I personally like tart bananas, but I can see how many would think the tartness of blue java overpowers the low sugar content. In my opinion, there just isn't enough perceived sweetness to balance the tartness, but I can see how some people might like that.

RIPENESS- Right when the peel turns yellow, the acidity dominates the flavor. It's not bitter or so sour that it hurts your teeth or makes your you know what pucker, it's a much different experience that's difficult to explain in words. Peak ripeness under my conditions was about 3 days after they turned yellow. There should be some browning or black spots on the peel, but if you wait too long after that, the texture gets mushy.

PEEL:Right when the fingers turn yellow (right when very little sweetness can be detected), the peel comes off pretty easily. The "neck" of the peel is very sturdy: no need to worry about the fingers breaking off the bunch, even when at peak ripeness. However, the inside of the peel breaks down at peak ripeness, and slightly rough textured, unpleasant fibers stick to the pulp, making peeling a tedious task. Should have some brown or black spots on it at peak ripeness.

FLAVOR- TART! to me, it was a bland tartness: just acid and not much perceivable depth of flavor like you get in American Goldfinger, I can't say I noticed any hints of berry, citrus, or anything. People who claim this banana tastes like Ice Cream are full of it, NOT EVEN CLOSE!!!! I can see how the light, fluffy, slightly more dense than whipped cream texture may have inspired the name of this cultivar, but other than that, there's nothing else about its flavor that resembles the flavor of ice cream.

RATING (out of 10): 7.0/10 That's a C- even from someone who enjoys tart bananas. Yes, just enough to pass and keep in the collection, but barely. I love the ornamental value of this banana, and growing it was exciting the whole way through. But when it comes to the flavor department, I'm not looking forward to harvesting the next 2 bunches that are hanging. I'm not a fan of cavendish, but after I ate Ice Cream, I took a few bites of some well grown organic cavendish, and I'd eat that any day over Ice Cream. However, if there's no other banana available, I'll go for Ice Cream without complaints.