When I was a young boy, that's more than 30 years ago now , I remember eating oranges with a good amount of acid in them. The grapefruit we ate had a nice bitter taste. As far as I can remember, there were no pink grapefruits available (at least, not where I live).

Today, almost all oranges we buy on the local fruit market here are just tasteless sweet, without a hint of acid in them. The bitterness of the yellow grapefruits that I liked is gone also.

What happened to all those good old tastes?
I do still like the taste of grapefruits though, both the yellow and the pink ones. But I really dislike the taste of the oranges unless I can find some with some acid in them. I do really like the blood oranges though. They still taste like they used to in the past. In fact the taste of blood oranges is my absolute favourite citrus taste. It's unfortunate that they only are available during a short period of time.

So how about you? What do you like or dislike in citrus taste?

I'm not knowledgeable about European regulations, but in the United States, citrus are regulated by the United States Department of Agriculture, and also by various State regulations. Legally, citrus cannot be harvested and sold commercially until the fruit has developed a required levels of both acid and soluble solids (sugars). The SS/acid ratio is set by law for the time of the season. - Millet (1,024-)

My preference is mandarins and satsumas, I do eat grapefruit, but it is not my favorite. In my yard this past season, Daisy Mandarin was the best-- but even with it the taste changes over the season--tart to begin with, but sweet at the end.

So does that mean the taste of a citrus fruit is actually regulated by law?
That would also mean that people who prefer a different taste cannot buy their preference?

I have no idea if such a law exists here in Europe. But I'm quite sure the actual taste of fruits has shifted over the years.

What it means is that until the fruit's sugar content, and the acid content reach the required level/ratio, according to the season, the fruit cannot be sold commercially. This, of course prevents growers from marketing unripe, over ripe fruit, or damaged fruit to the public. - Millet (1,022-)

Ah OK, that makes sense...