Illia

I'm comparing store bought Cavendish with store bought Manzano, Red, Baby, and Orinoco.

sunfish

And by worst you mean not as good as an orinoco ? I think people are picking bananas based on more than taste.Or less than taste

Illia

I'm basing on taste, and I mentioned Orinoco's poor traits earlier mainly because it was worse than most Cavendish I've had, but I personally think it is because they were picked too early. Comparing a few Orinoco from the same hand to hundreds of Cavendish from hundreds of hands is unfair. So I'd still say Cavendish certainly aren't the best, but in fact the worst if not right in line for the worst. But, the OP is asking about the original listed cultivars though.

Rmplmnz

Too bad you are not local...you sure are an expert....

With fruit in our garden right now (fairly certain on the varieties:-):

Dwarf Brazailian (multiple)
Pisang Raja
Pitogo
Praying Hands (multiple)
Mysore
Rajapuri
Dwarf Puerto Rican Plantain
FHIA (of some kind or two)
Ele Ele
Ice Cream
Maybe a few others (in a hidden corner of the yard)

venturabananas

Expert, no. Well-informed dabbler, maybe.

If you ever find a spare moment to post a photo of Pisang Raja fruit, including a cross section of a ripe one, I'd love to see it. I think there's a lot of confusion about this variety in the US, and I don't think I've ever seen the real deal.

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Rmplmnz

Will do..this is the second time we are growing this. Our earlier try had medium to large Orange Pulp flesh...not sure this one will be the same..hopefully so:-)

venturabananas

That sounds like the real deal, with orangish flesh. Should also have a thick peel.

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robguz24

I've thought the same about my own and the photos I've seen on here. Very different than described in Kepler & Rust, which mentions them having a mysore-like red underside of new leaves and particularly long and thin sword suckers.

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My micro-farm

Stay on my Big Island banana farm cottage

DisneyButterfly1

Great seeing the comments from all of you, since I am just getting started growing several of these. Thanks for all of your thoughts!! Looking forward to the next year or two on testing your thoughts

Hey Bo!!

Rmplmnz

I would luv to send you an Ice Cream hand..but they have to be perfectly ripe....a little past and they start to get mushy...and we know what everyone thinks of Ice Cream one day after they are perfect:-)

When perfectly ripe and firm..I am not sure there is a better banana. I believe that you could change some members perception (based on how well respected and knowledgeable you are) on Ice Cream.

Have you had:

Praying Hands
Ele Ele
Hua Moa

Those would ship much easier......and will be available soon:-)

Richard

To the un-initiated, Goldfinger is a good home-grown banana. If the grower is in a temperate environment (real or simulated 9b+) then the Namwa is hard to beat. The real Ice Cream is great in USDA cold hardiness zone 11, but the timing for perfect harvest in zone 10 (or lower) is problematic. I have hung a bunch in my garage (thanks Jason!) and for one day, 40 of the 60 bananas had a perfect taste. Before and after that it was barely acceptable. The Namwas (dwarf and standard) I've grown in zone 9b weather, ripened either outdoors or hanging in the garage during winter were outstanding. However, you have to examine the fruits before picking and decide whether further input from the mother plant will result in more expansion of the fruit or the outer skins have hardened off and their is no benefit to leaving them on the plant. The Mysore varieties I have grown in 10a weather were even better tasting, and I look forward to fruits produced in my new 10b location.

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venturabananas

I have not had Praying Hands, Ele Ele, or Hua Moa, though I have had Cardaba, which is in the same subgroup as Praying Hands (Saba subgroup) and an unidentified Maoli subgroup banana, which is the subgroup that Ele Ele is in. I'm always game to try more bananas!

That quote from me was over two years old, and I've been fortunate enough to try maybe a couple dozen varieties, several of which have been from my yard. I almost hate to admit it, but my buddy who started me down the banana insanity path was probably right: in my climate, Dwarf Brazilian is probably the best you can do -- at least for my tastes and for being a bulletproof plant. Mysore varieties can be awesome, but seem to be more hit or miss on texture in my climate. Pisang Awak varieties ("Namwah" types) are also bulletproof and very productive, but I'm not as excited to eat them as Dwarf Brazilian and other Pome subgroup varieties. But taste is taste, and for folks who don't like bananas a little tart, DB would not be a winner.

I've only tried the real Ice Cream (Blue Java) once. I thought it was a good banana. Maybe it was in that narrow window when it's at its best. My plant is still probably a year away from fruiting.

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Rmplmnz

Video of a few different bananas:

eddiemunozep

Here are my two cents on bananas in general.

I like store bought bananas Chiquita, Del Monte, and Dole, never seem to know which one I might prefer but nothing out of this world. I eat at least one daily.

I tried Burro/Orinoco grown at home good when ripe as a dessert banana but kind of small and a pit pithy.

I bought Burro and Manzano bananas this week from our local asian market and they were quite good, my grand son 7.5 months old prefers them to the regular cavendish store bananas.

Misi Luki is good, I had one at Jon's place at Encanto farms, good flavor better than store bought.

If can get my Orinoco bananas to be as good as the ones from the asian market I will be happy.

I am wont be able to comment on my RajaPuri, Namwah, MisiLuki, and Orinoco until next year assuming all goes well over the winter,

My Goldfinger, williams, DB, Sweetheart, Manzano are all TC'd so I doubt if they will be big enough to fruit next year.

They say when you grow it your self it's allways better.

Eddie