Kru taste report
 

I've been growing Kru the past couple years without much luck and no bunch yet. These came from about 5 miles down the road so they're what my home grown ones should taste like if I ever get them. Was very excited to finally try these. This is another I was hoping to like much more than I did. Still a nice banana.


TEXTURE- A bit of a pasty texture like a Cavendish, but also more creamy and a bit of mealiness too it, but feels like they become very tiny mealy bits so it isn’t unpleasant. The center is more starchy like an Iholena.

FIRMNESS-Remains very firm for having brown spots on the peel. Softer on the outer part and noticeably firm towards the center so it’s got some chewiness to it.

SWEETNESS-Medium sweetness. Much less than a cavendish

TARTNESS- Has a good amount of tartness, especially in the center. Nearly as much as a Dwarf Brazilian. Would be an uninteresting banana without this.

RIPENESS- Tasted green a bit under ripe, firm ripe with the slightest brown specks, and reviewed when 1/3-1/2 of peel had brown specs. Was best at this stage though the texture was a bit less pasty 2 day prior.

FLAVOR- A bit of an orange flavor to it, like I get with very ripe praying hands.

OTHER- Thin peel. Very odd that the peel is still mostly light green even while very ripe and getting brown spots. It was edible 5 days prior to this while very green, though better 3-5 days later. Has a slightly floral and vegetal fragrance. It reminds me some of an Iholena that is overall better when eaten ripe. My bias is preferring more creamy bananas like DBs and Gros Michel, and I love tartness in bananas such as mysore. It also reminds me of a less sweet Lakatan with better texture and tanginess.

OVERALL RATING-6.5-7. This is another one I had high hopes for, given it’s supposed rating as the best tasting banana. Not by a long shot for me anyway. Overall it is pretty good. A nice balance of sweetness, tanginess, with an interesting and mostly pleasant texture. I expected something more however. It grew on me as I had 3 doing this tasting. I think they definitely need to be very ripe. Another day though, and they would have been too mushy and pasty. There are a number of bananas I’d probably go for before these, including GM, DB, Mysore, Namwah, 1000 fingers, Rose, and even ripe Praying Hands. They are more on par with cooking bananas like Maolis and Iholenas that are decent ripe, that I just eat because they are there.

SUGGESTED USE-Ripe out of hand. Didn’t try cooking them. They aren’t especially starchy so I don’t know how they would do cooked.

Re: Kru taste report
 

I'd forgotten there is a green version of Kru. Thanks for another great report Rob.

Re: Kru taste report
 

Rob was generous and passed along some Kru fruit to me, so here are my observations.

The Kru fruit were harvested on the early side, and seemed not fully filled out. The Encanto farms write-up on Kru says ripe & yellow (with red) are best, a stage which we did not get to. The fruit in my kitchen have been developing big soft brown circles that grow rapidly. I've been eating them one a day as the loss of edible parts becomes alarming. This means none has been yellow or the unrotted flesh particularly soft. The one today was yellow-green, vs green-yellow and had what might have been a flush of red on the skin developing. It might also have been some vile red blight. Nah! The last one may actually qualify as yellow by tomorrow morning. (No, it didn't. ) The color of the flesh has become more orange as they ripen, it seems. They have a wonderful smell, one that reminds me of the rather addictive, haunting note in the Rose taste, but clear, not ghostly. I've been cutting them into my breakfast yogurt, and have noticed before, with other less than ripe bananas, that somehow they do develop an occasional ripe flavor as they sit in the yogurt. So, here is the taste verdict:

The bites that taste unripe have that "Red" taste and are pasty, but there were a few bites that made me spontaneously think "Ambrosia!" Yes, that good!!! Really good! A beautiful, full, complex taste. Definitely a sweet banana, but Wowza!!! even to my sour tastes. A healthy ripe fruit would probably make me sing!

Another one for my collection, and it is a real stunner in the garden!

Re: Kru taste report
 

There was just the slightest bit of red on the pedicel.

Re: Kru taste report
 

Red Kru is what I use to have. Red Kru seems hard to find. But IDK is Red Kru and Green Kru are about the same or not. What I do recall is Red Kru has an orange type of flesh, and the they blooms green, then turn red then yellow. I would still love to try it to see if it's the same we use to grown in south FL.

Your write ups are so good! Someone day I come to HI, we should meet up.

Re: Kru taste report
 

My pictures don't seem to quite capture how orange the fruit is. Was the same with my Lakatan pics.

Re: Kru taste report
 

Aloha Rob, I see there is a lava flow heading toward some homes, hope you are not in the line of fire. How far inland was the storm surge from the hurricane? I am a little jealous of anyone that gets rain. I have had rain 5 times at my house the ENTIRE year, only twice was it over .25 inch. Not sure if I want a hurricane though. Last months water bill was $172 for 39,000 gallons. Have a couple of big thirsty pine trees that I don't want to lose.

Re: Kru taste report
 

The new lava flow is very concerning, mostly because it could cut off the only road and trap thousands of people, including me. The storm surge hit the area of Kapoho, about the only coastal area at sea level, where it destroyed several houses. My neighborhood has a 50' cliff in front so no water came anywhere near that high. 5" of rain in a day was nice to have though.