A mango taste test inspired by Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Mango Festival

Last updated on July 24th, 2024 at 09:36 am

I am the sort of mango-obsessed person the Fairchild Tropical Garden had in mind when it created its annual mango festival in 1992. I finally attended the mango festival in Coral Gables on July 13, 2024, and I came home with the supplies I needed for my own mango taste test, whose results I’m sharing with you here.

My devotion to mangoes started decades ago when I moved to Fort Lauderdale. Now I plan my schedule around being in Fort Lauderdale in June so I can enjoy the abundance from two trees – a Glenn mango in my front yard and a Haden mango whose branches extend from my neighbor’s yard over mine.

I cut up so many mangoes during the season, my fingers turn orange and my freezer is packed. I prepare a luncheon for my book club featuring as many mango recipes as I can fit into one meal, and in a good year, my friends all go home with bags of mangoes.

I had some great experiences at the Fairchild Garden mango festival this year (a flight of mango cocktails!), but I was sad to see there was a very long line for the $5 mango tasting tent.

Then I realized how easy it would be to create my own mango tasting. So at one of the fruit vendor tables, I picked out a perfect, ripe, ready-to-eat mango from each of four unusual varieties grown in the Redlands region – Nam Doc Mai, Maha Chinook, Phillipine and Dot. For $17, I had everything I needed for my own personal mango festival.

While there are dozens of varieties of mangoes, most backyard trees are Hadens, first grown in Coconut Grove in 1910 combining two varieties. Other commercially popular mangoes are Tommy Atkins, Kent and Keitt. I planted a Glenn mango tree distributed free by the City of Fort Lauderdale two decades ago, whose fruit is so delicious it is my standard for all mangoes. At the festival, I heard Glenns described as tasting like a pina colada. (Some say they have notes of peach too.)

My four unusual varieties were all delicious. My favorites were Maha Chinook and Dot. My husband liked Nam Doc Mai, which was actually in fourth place on my scorecard! Taste is personal!

My mango taste test results

Maha Chinook had a complex blend of flavors, with notes of pineapple. I’d plant this one if I had room for another tree!

My other favorite was Dot, which had a pleasing tartness while still being sweet — a great flavor combo.

Both Nam Doc Mai and and Phillipine struck me as sweet and simple, sort of one-note mangoes. I actually thought Nam Doc Mai was a little bland, yet it was my husband’s favorite.

You will find it hard to buy any of these mangoes in your grocery stores, thus the popularity of the Fairchild mango festival. The common commercial varieties were all developed in South Florida and the vast majority of mangoes in stores are these same varieties, but grown in Mexico, Central America, Peru, Ecuador, and Brazil.

Lots of people at the mango festival left with small mango trees, as this is one of the few places where you can buy some of the less available varieties.

Attending the Fairchild Tropical Garden Mango Festival

You’ll have to wait until 2025, but here is some info if you want to plan to go.

There is an entrance fee for the mango festival, but it is the same as the general entrance fee: adults $24.95, seniors $17.95, students $15.95. Since you can take full advantage of strolling the grounds and visiting the fabulous butterfly exhibit “Wings of the Tropics,” it’s not a bad deal.

Make no mistake: It will be very hot, though Fairchild has a lot of shade and they have cooling stations where mist sprays.

You can buy tickets for various treats. Modest-sized mango smoothies were very popular at $8 each. We bought tickets for the flight of mango cocktails. They were $29 for three and they were tasty. My favorite was the Hot Mango Margarita.

The mango tastings are $5 and the line can get long.

The festival has some live music, two or three dozen vendors selling everything from clothing to honey to jewelry, and about 15 food vendors.

Ardent mango fans will want to attend one of the lectures or cooking demonstrations in the air-conditioned Garden House. We heard an entertaining and informative talk by Dr. Richard Campbell, owner and operator of Mango Men Farms, who used to be a plant specialist for Fairchild. You will not meet a human being more passionate or knowledgeable about mangoes!

 Attending this popular festival will take patience. We experienced a mile long traffic back up to reach the garden and a very slow process parking. You are likely to park quite a distance from the entrance to the garden. Everything we bought required at least a short wait in a line. 

I remember now why I haven’t attended this festival: Who goes to festivals in July?

But I also know now why it was worth going once: If you love mangoes, there’s no place else like it.

If you love mangoes, take a look at my personal favorite mango recipes.