Top 10 Fruit Ranked by Taste
Fruit is the food of the gods, or at the very least, the food that has offered me the closest thing to a religious experience. Like the candy of nature, fruit feels like some kind of divine sign that we are meant to savor something sweet and juicy.
The operative word, I have discovered, is juicy.
What Makes Delicious Fruit?
We can think of fruit as “stand-alone fruit”, or as “ingredient fruit”; the former being a fruit that is the most enjoyable when consumed on its own, whereas the ladder is often an essential part of a smoothie, a jam, or perhaps a muffin. Consider making a smoothie, for example. Bananas are generally a key ingredient in the mixture, making the smoothie creamy; an element many fruits lack, especially when blended.
However, on its own, an ingredient fruit simply does not deliver the same level of satisfaction. Biting into a banana or eating a few blueberries are delicious, sure, but lack that luscious, deeply satisfying, almost primal satisfaction of nectar and juiciness.
But what are the juiciest, most delicious fruits? After tedious consideration and debate, the list of the top 10 fruits ranked by taste is here.
10. Watermelon
The quintessential summer fruit! An oversized wonder of sweetness with an otherworldly crisp. When served ripe and cold (almost icy) watermelon is a delight that is difficult to tire of. The classic disappointment of the watermelon is of course serving unripe or anything other than refrigerator cold. Unfortunately, this is an easy fruit to have a mediocre time with. But when it’s good, oh baby, yes.
9. Lychee
I hesitated for years in my youth to try lychees. Something about the rough exterior and the way the inside looked like an eyeball put me off. In reality, I missed out on years of tasty lychee consumption. What a mistake! I am seeking to correct this error, cultivating a deep appreciation for the lush flavor.
I understand I might have some critics who accuse me of leaving grapes off this list, and instead, picking lychees, which are, once peeled, quite similar. I urge the reader to really ask themselves — what are lychees, if not slightly more flavorful, somewhat juicier grapes? The additional joy of removing each hard lychee exterior before eating is almost meditative, cracking its casing to reveal the tasty, inner flesh beneath. This creates a more interactive, delectable, and textured experience.
8. Oranges
With many varieties, oranges are the leader of the citrus family, best enjoyed ripe, in season, and cold. Under these conditions, it is possible to have an orange so delicious you remember it forever. The tartness and sweetness together, along with an incredibly invigorating scent earn oranges the number 7 spot. Understandably, I’ve faced some criticism for including oranges on this list; my detractors posit that oranges are “mid”, in every fruit salad, and lacking in flavor and moisture. And while I agree that eating a dry, fibrous, difficult-to-peel, hot orange is a disappointment at best, a cold, easy-peel, juicy, flavorful orange is tough to beat.
7. Honeydew
A fruit that has been widely and sadly cast aside in many cultures is honeydew. Particularly in the United States, I have found many people who eat around the unripe and flavorless honeydew in a store-bought fruit salad slander this misunderstood melon. However other cultures, particularly in East Asia, categorize honeydew as not only delicious but worthy of spending rather large sums of money on. The delicate yet unique, floral flavor of a ripe and cold honeydew is not to be overlooked or underestimated.
I recognize the similarity between honeydew and cantaloupe, another overlooked fruit. While both melons offer a tasty, juicy flavor, honeydew has a slightly fresher, sweeter taste.
6. Pineapple
There really isn't any fruit like pineapple — from its taste to its appearance, it is a unique, acidic, succulently sweet, and highly juicy fruit. Pineapple also gained points for being a status symbol in Europe from the 16th to 18th century, representing luxury and prestige and sold for extremely high prices because few survived the long journey from the Caribbean to Europe. People would even go as far as to rent these tropical fruits as a purely decorative table centerpiece to appear more wealthy. The first pineapple to reach Europe was given the royal stamp of approval by King Ferdinand of Spain, who reportedly declared that “its flavor excels all fruits”.
5. Nectarines and Peaches
Critics might accuse me of not picking a favorite here, but sorry, these two fruits are extremely similar and equally delicious. The summer is heralded by the influx of these perfectly ripe and delicious stone fruits, creating an almost frenzied attempt of mine to eat the best peaches and nectarines of the year. Nectary yet fresh, sweet yet revitalizing. Sublime!
4. Strawberries
I find strawberries to be highly appetizing— but it is certainly easier to find delectable strawberries in some countries rather than others. If you are unfortunately living in an area where the available strawberries are quite hard, lacking in flavor and juice, my deepest condolences. I too had similar experiences with this fruit growing up. However, my rather low opinion of strawberries shifted when I had ripe, juicy, deeply red berries in other regions of the world — so luscious, the nectar dripped out of them, perfectly sweet, completely satisfying.
3. Pear
Oh, that amazing texture! A slight grain, with bursting juices, blossomy, verdant, and sweet. From Asian pears to Bartlett, prickly pear to Comice, these fruits are alarmingly good. Additionally, pears are, for the most part, consistently tasty— finding a delicious pear is not entirely rare. Thank goodness!
2. Guava
I will admit that a good guava is difficult to find. Some of my formative years were spent in Mpumalanga in South Africa, where, as far as I am concerned, grow the world’s best guavas**. Tender, somewhat soft, and beautifully pink, these fruits are a texture and flavor fantasy — somewhere between passionfruit, a pear, and a mango. Since moving out of Africa, I have traveled far and wide, always stopping to check for guavas in every location, especially in tropical regions. The guavas I have found outside of Africa have left me jaded and nostalgic — with dry, pale, inner flesh, and largely lacking in flavor.
Yet the good guavas I have had in my life more than makeup for these sub-par guava moments. Like losing the love of your life and then searching for them in every new person you date, my occasions eating non-African guavas are merely an attempt to recreate the heavenly experience I knew before. And still, even with every bad guava I have had, the good ones have been that good, earning guavas my number 2 spot.
**For the love of god, if you have had a delicious, juicy, fresh guava outside of Africa, please, tell me where.
1. Mango
Maybe you saw this coming, and for good reason. Often referred to as “the king of fruits”, mangos are widely adored for their uncompromising flavor, creamy texture, and disarming sweetness. Unfortunately, because we live in a cruel world, I am slightly allergic to mangos (sadly they make my mouth and lips itch and break out in a rash) but I wouldn’t dream of letting this stop me from eating them. Quick to ripen and consistently good worldwide (all varieties I have tried are delicious when ripe), the only real criticism one could level at a mango is its large pit one must cut around.
But if there is a heaven, there will be mangos without pits.
