[KPCC] I can Hass avocado? California has a new 'Gem' on the horizon

I mean it’s nice to talk big and say we can grow better tasting varietals than Hass I’ll believe it when I taste it. I’m the first one to run off to the farmer’s market and try different varietals and none yet have held a candle to the hass. Even most of the Hass at the Farmers market don’t really taste any better than from the supermarket, except maybe See Canyon they claim to let them hang on the tree longer, who knows but they are excellent.

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Will’s are the best I can get.

https://www.willsavocados.com/index.php/farmers_markets

I’ll believe there’s a better variety than Hass when I taste it.

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I’ve tried Fuerte and Bacon, but they always lack the richness and flavor of Hass. They taste bland to me.

I’ve certainly tried to be the cool, avocado hipster who knows about all the niche cultivars that are soooooo much better than the mainstream Hass.

I’ve wasted a lot of money on that pursuit. I convinced myself to get a Pinkerton just today because the growers keep insisting that it has a more complex flavor. LIES!!!

I’m with you all: nothing beats Hass.

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On the other hand, I’ve wasted a lot of money on imported fruit that was picked too early and/or kept under what seems like freezing storage conditions at some point in its shipping, and tossed the “now seemingly ripe when I cut into it” avocado right into the trash. If local “out of Hass-season” fruit were available and only 80% as good as the perfect Hass, that is fine enough for me.

Not really arguing about the qualities and deliciousness of the Haas.

But I’m wondering if the popularity of the Hass is due more to an entire consumer base that has grown up and grown accustomed to the taste of the Hass, and no other avocado can, or will, come close to that taste sensation of the Haas.

Sort of like with blueberries. Most everyone is attuned to conventional blueberries, which are overly sweet and almost have no blueberry flavor. By contrast, wild organic blueberries are quite tart, bordering more on cranberries than, say, the “cotton candy” varietal of white grapes.

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Hah, I was going to mention the Laker’s v Clippers popularity in LA. Hass avocado’s have been #1 for so long it may be wishful thinking for farmers wanting an easier harvest, even if the Gem is good it will take a lot to over come the champ.

If only. But the local non-Hass is usually not even 80%. The only cultivars that come close to Hass for me have seasonal overlap.

This must be the secret reason that I’ve been to Chile in December 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and have reservations for December 2017.

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I think the is truth to this. Hass are extremely oily and have a way more intense flavor, in my experience, than other common cultivars. They might be too strong and one-note for some.

Perhaps my tastebuds are conditioned so that the wonderful subtleties of other avocados are lost on me. I’m like someone who can only drink Wild Turkey and thinks a Yamazaki Sherry Cask is bland.

I’m a philistine.

The Brokaw / Will’s stand at my local farmers market has other varieties when Hass are out of season. I try them with an open mind, and they’re good, in some cases better than a crappy supermarket Hass, but in no aspect do they beat first-rate Haas the way that wild blueberries beat cultivated.