Melon Berry Figs | What are they? And the few varieties that fall under this category.
Updated: Oct 14, 2022
What is a Melon Berry fig?!
Like honey figs, these figs have a higher amount of melon flavor, and when allowed to ripen, they have a middle of the road berry flavor. They're actually quite similar to honey figs at heart, but the pulp is very different. If figs were a jelly donut, that's what the Melon Berry profile would be. They're their own class of figs and I highly recommend that you try them.
White Triana - This fig is in a classification of fig varieties that's quite broad. They're
not synonyms and they don't share the same genetics. They are of a similar style or "type" though. Figs like Atreano, Sister Madeleine's Yellow, Unk Mittica, Brooklyn White, Conadria, etc... They all seem to have this melon/honey-like profile, but as you let them ripen longer, they tend to have varying degrees of berry flavor. Some a lot more than others, which is
why I love White Triana. It truly has a stronger berry flavor than the others in this style. It's difficult to place this type of fig into a different flavor profile. To me it only made sense to create a whole new profile just for this one. They're quite unique figs and for my money, it's very much so worth trying one of these types (especially White Triana) to experience what this profile is. The problem is.. you have to really let these figs ripen for a longer period of time than most. They have very long hang times and if you're not able to be patient, they're not going to taste great and you're only going to pick up the less complex components of these. Like the Sugar fig profile, these are totally misunderstood for this reason. Way too many growers of the past when these figs were relatively popular, did not ripen them properly to appropriately evaluate them. I'm actually becoming somewhat of a champion for these figs to put my money where my mouth is. I'm trying to find something better than White Triana. Something with a shorter hang time and potentially better skin with an equally or better Melon Berry profile.
Having said all of that, Longue d'Aout, which also has many names I believe falls into this category as well for very similar reasons. It's just hard to place it without creating a whole new category. You could say that Fruit Honey profile is the only similar profile. LDA is just more intensely flavored. Fruity Honey is mild, while LDA and WT have a much more intense berry flavor. They also have a very different pulp that's not quite a honey fig. They're like eating jelly on some occasions.
Ross - do you have a list of figs by flavor catagory like in your old spreadsheet? I found that format really convenient for finding new varieties I want to try, but your spreadsheet has been edited to no longer show figs by flavor category. Thanks!