That's not my recollection of ones from my little tree. I just remember them as sweet and juicy morsels. I'll have to pay extra attention in tasting them this season.

Sorry, I never ate Meiwa.

I spoke about Fortunella magarita and Fortunella japonica.

Meiwa is a cross of both.

The flesh of the Meiwa is sour. The pulp is definitely not sweet like an orange. I have them both in my yard. Their flesh are equally sour, no difference at all. I've had kumquats just about longer than any other citrus, except navel oranges. I am one of those folks that just does not like sour citrus. At all. Now, granted, the Meiwa overall might be a bit sweeter because it has thicker skin than just about any other kumquat (available here in the USA, anyway). It is also a bigger kumquat that the Nagami, and rounder. But, it still is sour. A Seedless Kishu mandarin is sweet. A Clemnules mandarin is sweet. A Tango mandarin is sweet. A Cara Cara navel orange is really sweet All kumquats here in the USA have sour flesh.
Here is a quote from the UCR Citrus Variety Collection about the Meiwa:

Quote:

The sweet rind is thicker than the rind of Nagami, making it seem sweeter than Nagami. The flesh is light orange, contains a few seeds, and is acidic.

http://www.citrusvariety.ucr.edu/citrus/meiwa.html
Really. Truly. It is sour.

I would agree, I don't really like kumquats. I have a Changshou I grew from seed & a Centennial, just because it's variegated. I usually throw the fruit away.

I understand there are folks who like sour fruit, and they probably like kumquats. My Italian grandmother used to eat lemons every morning (according to her, everyone should eat lemons every day!) But, I'm am definitely not one of those people, and am very aware of sour citrus, since it makes me wince, and I'm not partial to wincing when I eat citrus! Just a thing for me. Same with stone fruits - I had sour skinned stone fruits as well.

Patty, you can use the Calamondin Marmalade recipe also for kumquats and any other citrus.

I think it tastes best with Kumquats.

Still wonder you like Lemons, but not Kumquats.

By the way, the essential oils in all Citrus rinds make this part of the fruit to the most valuable.

Thanks for all the encouragement.

I'm not sure if the Seedless Kishu is available here but I'll check to see.

I like the Kumquat because it is so prolific.

Now I know the Kumquat skin is sweet and I have a Mewia that I eat without any wincing or facial contortions. Here's the odd thing I thought my really ripe ones had a thin skin and I'm sure the ones I ate from Skeeter's tree were thin skinned. Puzzling.

Now I don't want to start a fight about this but obviously my tongue has been lying to me for a while because I think the Mewia are

SWEET!

Lazz out to like this suggestion. Maybe a Centennial Kumquat would work there? I have a small one ready to plant.

Well Darkman, I think it's just a palette thing. Some folks don't notice or mind the sour taste. I'm just freakishly sensitive to sour citrus. And Sanguinello, I like my lemonade because I add Splenda to it 4 parts water, 1 part (Meyer) lemon juice, and 3/4 part Splenda. Makes outstanding lemonade with nearly no calories. And lots of Vitamin C.

You could at least make marmelade and Limoncello from it.

Calories, well sugar has calories and artificial sugar makes cancer ...

Yes, sugar is calories, and the kind of calories I don't need at my age, but Splenda does not cause cancer I've tried it with Stevia, but I just haven't gotten accustomed to the after taste of Stevia, ick.

Sanguinello, you made a statement about artificial sweetners. Now post your proof that they make cancer. - Millet

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_substitute

Sanguinello, there is absolutely nothing in this (surprisingly well written and cited) Wikipedia article that supports any link to cancer with any artificial sweetener. In fact, the article specifically states:

Quote:

To date, the FDA has not been presented with scientific information that would support a change in conclusions about the safety of these approved high-intensity sweeteners

And also states with respect to Splenda (sucralos):

Quote:

There are few safety concerns pertaining to sucralose[31] and the way sucralose is metabolized suggests a reduced risk of toxicity. For example, sucralose is extremely insoluble in fat and thus does not accumulate in fatty tissues; sucralose also does not break down and will dechlorinate only under conditions that are not found during regular digestion (i.e. high heat applied to the powder form of the molecule).[27]

Data please.

Aspartame has been subject to multiple claims against its safety, including supposed links to cancer as well as complaints of neurological or psychiatric side effects.

Cyclamate
In the United States, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned the sale of cyclamate in 1970 after lab tests in rats involving a 10:1 mixture of cyclamate and saccharin indicated that large amounts of cyclamates causes bladder cancer, a disease to which rats are particularly susceptible. Cyclamates are still used as sweeteners in many parts of the world, including Europe.

Saccharin
Aside from sugar of lead, saccharin was the first artificial sweetener and was originally synthesized in 1879 by Remsen and Fahlberg. Its sweet taste was discovered by accident. It had been created in an experiment with toluene derivatives. A process for the creation of saccharin from phthalic anhydride was developed in 1950, and, currently, saccharin is created by this process as well as the original process by which it was discovered. It is 300 to 500 times as sweet as sugar (sucrose) and is often used to improve the taste of toothpastes, dietary foods, and dietary beverages. The bitter aftertaste of saccharin is often minimized by blending it with other sweeteners.

Fear about saccharin increased when a 1960 study showed that high levels of saccharin may cause bladder cancer in laboratory rats. In 1977, Canada banned saccharin due to the animal research. In the United States, the FDA considered banning saccharin in 1977, but Congress stepped in and placed a moratorium on such a ban. The moratorium required a warning label and also mandated further study of saccharin safety.

Subsequently, it was discovered that saccharin causes cancer in male rats by a mechanism not found in humans. At high doses, saccharin causes a precipitate to form in rat urine. This precipitate damages the cells lining the bladder (urinary bladder urothelial cytotoxicity) and a tumor forms when the cells regenerate (regenerative hyperplasia). According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, "Saccharin and its salts was (sic) downgraded from Group 2B, possibly carcinogenic to humans, to Group 3, not classifiable as to carcinogenicity to humans, despite sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity to animals, because it is carcinogenic by a non-DNA-reactive mechanism that is not relevant to humans because of critical interspecies differences in urine composition."

In 2001 the United States repealed the warning label requirement, while the threat of an FDA ban had already been lifted in 1991. Most other countries also permit saccharin, but restrict the levels of use, while other countries have outright banned it.

The EPA has officially removed saccharin and its salts from their list of hazardous constituents and commercial chemical products. In a December 14, 2010 release the EPA stated that saccharin is no longer considered a potential hazard to human health.

Artificial sugar substitutesComparison of sweetness based on energy content is not meaningful because many artificial sweeteners have little or no food energy.

Name Sweetness (by weight) Trade name FDA approval Notes
Acesulfame potassium 200 Nutrinova 1988 E950
Alitame 2,000 (Withdrawn) Pfizer
Aspartame 160–200 NutraSweet, Equal 1981 E951
Salt of aspartame-acesulfame 350 Twinsweet E962
Cyclamate 30 (Banned 1969) E952, Abbott
Dulcin 250 (Banned 1950)
Glucin 300
Neohesperidin dihydrochalcone 1,500 E959
Neotame 8,000 NutraSweet 2002 E961
P-4000 4,000 (Banned 1950)
Saccharin 300 Sweet'N Low 1958 E954
Sucralose 600 Kaltame, Splenda 1998 E955, Tate & Lyle