Originally Posted by Wcsixty7 (Post 317846)

hope this post is in right place only my first. Thanks to all !!!

Originally Posted by edwmax (Post 317849)

So the banana peel & sap must contain an alkaline chemical that causes the blue color and likely the tart taste of the ripe fruit.

Originally Posted by meizzwang (Post 317848)

Don't have all the answers to your questions, but I can help with a few:
1)Rob on this forum mentioned in another thread a good way to distinguish dwarf namwah from Blue Java/Ice Cream: Dwarf Namwah will rarely need propping when fruiting. Blue Java tends to lean and could fall over if not properly supported when producing a heavy bunch. There's always exceptions to the rule: I have a rajapuri which is famous for almost never needing propping, but if I didn't prop mine, it would have fallen over a long time ago.
2) With pictures of the flowering bunch, lots of people on this forum can verify what you got. If you need help posting pics, PM me, I can help! Keep the male flower in tact just in case, don't cut it off.
3) The fingers will maintain that blue hue from the first day the flower opens (well, maybe a few days after) until they turn yellow.

Originally Posted by jmc96 (Post 317874)

I'm indebted to meizzwang for guiding me through how to post pics on here.

Originally Posted by Best day (Post 318085)

I was told by a man that bought a Blue Java plant from me that in Hawaii they are served sliced up. The story he told me was that his wife and him were on their honeymoon. They were enjoying, what was sold to them as an authentic Hawaiian feast. For desert the guest were served plates of Blue Java bananas sliced. He said they were the most incredible bananas he had ever had.

I can tell you that grown here in coastal Southern California they are decent. But I am close to the coast so I don't get a lot of heat. During summer when it is 80 degrees at my house it is 85 degrees only two more miles inland. And 5-10 miles further inland it is 90 degrees plus. In my mind this variety needs lots of heat when it is maturing on the plant. The only problem with my theory is that then the growers in Florida should all be raving about this variety and most of them don't.

Bill

Originally Posted by meizzwang (Post 317844)

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.