robguz24

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.

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Botanical_Bryce

I loved the over ripe veinte and texture. Now I have to try Senorita and patupi.

Nicolas Naranja

The last bunch I harvested was at 40 days. It is tart. It's a really good really interesting fruit. The yields are terrible, but I haven't found anything that is quite as quick to harvest. I am thinking about multiplying it so I can have it once a month.

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Botanical_Bryce

I heard yields are higher as corm mature and leave one or 2 extra suckers. I will see for myself.

PR-Giants

It's surprising and also a little sad that you're not able to properly grow some of the first-class eating bananas but you not being able to grow a decent plantain is heartbreaking.

Don't give up on the Veinte Cohol, it's a great banana and if it can be grown in Northern Alabama you should be able to grow it in Hawaii.

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PR-Giants

The yields are decent in the Caribbean but not great. The green-life is short and the taste is not as pleasant with early harvest which makes shipping problematic. I planted enough to harvest 25-30 bunches a week but scaled it back to about 3.

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robguz24

The ones in my photo are from the bottom 2 hands. The top couple hands were more like 4-5". Hopefully the bunches will be bigger where I have them growing in better spots. As usual my bunches tend to be small because I have no soil to retain moisture. 6 weeks of 97% below normal rainfall and regular record high temperatures isn't helping either. Where my friend on the island has deep soil and 300"+ per year, plants grow much faster and yield much larger bunches.

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PR-Giants

The whole bunch appears to be of poor quality and trying to make an assessment of taste on a poorly developed bunch is flawed. Hopefully you can do better in the future.

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Humble PR-Giants

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PR-Giants

Screw Humble... it's about being Honest.

We have newbies on the board that might not realize that that's a poorly developed bunch which certainly will have a negative effect on taste.

I've grown hundreds of bunches of Veinte Cohol and occasionally get a poorly developed bunch but would never consider using that to represent the cultivar, it's just disingenuous.


"...this is how a (poorly developed bunch) tastes where I live and it could taste quite different under (proper) conditions."

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PR-Giants

Make improvements ... Not excuses.

This is a simple and inexpensive "pot", it's 10.2 cubic feet, a bit ugly, but costs less than $10 to make.

It has no soil, just filled with small rocks, but can grow tall bananas with huge bunches.

It can also be filled with highly organic soil and because the bottom is sealed there is less waste.

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robguz24

Generally when one quotes another and inserts their own comments such that they are part of the quote, that is considered quite disingenuous. Of course I was referring to the different tastes due to soil and climate differences. For example silk cultivars have a mediocre reputation where I live, but are considered delicious grown many other places, such as in the Caribbean. At the moment I have some bananas locally grown from 2 different sources. The smallest are perhaps 1/4 the volume of the largest. Same taste and texture. Have experienced the same many, many times with a number of cultivars. In your picture measuring the fruit, they are the same size as the largest fruit from my bunch. As for your "solution" there are so many reasons that is not economically or otherwise feasible and such a thing cannot be purchased, transported, and constructed where I live for under $10, nor is it large enough to support an expanding mat with several mature pseudostems to maximize pup production.

It is so interesting how hundreds of others on this forum manage to give their advice and opinions without hostility, aggressiveness, condescension, insults, and attitudes reminiscent of a kindergartener crying because another child doesn't like the same things he does. If nothing else it is at least good for quite a few laughs.

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geosulcata

It's the reason many stopped posting on here. Shared experiences by hobbieists are met with rude words from PR, rather than helpful information. Rob, I felt your taste description was very similar to the VC I tasted grown in rich soil and ripened in summer. If anything, I felt it was a little generous, but we all have different tastes. I know others who have removed VC due to limited space and taste experience.

It would be nice to see the moderators help in keeping bananas.org a positive place for all.

Kat2

I'm not much of a joiner but chose to be part of this group because everyone seemed to be having fun. Since it was not a scientific based forum, I never felt stupid asking questions. (BTW, I'm not a new gardener but new to growing "tropical" plants and am not spending money on the "latest and greatest" until I master the cheap ones I've acquired.) I really miss posts about beekeeping and sausage and such; I miss the guys who talked about such things. They made me laugh and they let me learn.

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harveyc

Our forum rules do not require a member to be "humble" but "politeness, respect, and thoughfulness" are required. See item 3 and consider how your actions are congruent with this. Consider this a warning.

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Arrogance is not a good replacement for helpful intelligent discussion.

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mushtaq86

Joking aside keep up the good work Rob, you are the only one doing these type of threads and I really like them.

chong

Mssrs. Harvey and Mushtaq,
Bravo! Well said! Thank you.

Chong

robguz24

I would imagine many would rather see a taste report on a cultivar, regardless of bunch size and growing conditions, than no report at all. Currently there is no detailed Veinte Cohol taste report other than the one I posted. Were there such a report, I would add mine to that thread and I encourage others to post their taste impression on any of my reports. I find those other views especially helpful, especially in potentially disputed cultivars. As I am not easily intimidated, I will continue to post taste reports even if the fruit sampled is deemed the most pathetic bunch in banana history, thank you very much!

My best banana buddy nearby rarely visits this forum anymore because there is too much of a pissing contest among some (very few) of the male members. Fortunately most of us have learned not to take the bait.

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Botanical_Bryce

I liked his report. Thank you for it.

Cikas33

I liked this taste report ( great as always ).
PR rude as always....

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