The Mescaline Garden crew recently embarked on an adventure to the Rare Dragon Fruit farm in Agnes Water, Queensland. With a tight schedule between flooding and cyclones, we flew from Sydney to Brisbane before driving six hours north to take advantage of the peak of pitaya season and taste test at one of the country’s most diverse cactus fruit farms.
The Rare Dragon Fruit farm boasts a staggering collection of over 200 different cultivars. Among these, the Japan Pink emerged as a standout favorite, with its bright pink skin, white flesh and exquisite flavour. While a lack of thickness might undermine the commercial success of this cultivar, the taste was a real standout.
There are a lot of factors to consider in judging the perfect dragon fruit, and true insight can only be gleaned through years of dedicated cultivation and tasting. Not all of the fruits taste tested were harvested at the ideal time, and some had spent a week or more in the fridge, awaiting our arrival. Tasting and touring the garden with Yana and Mick, creators of the Rare Dragon Fruit farm, highlighted the richness and diversity of dragon fruit, with different clones with tastes like sherbet, lemonade, strawberry, watermelon and many other delicious flavours.
Gifted a selection of eleven dragon fruits with labelling that remained intact, the following day Liam tasted each of these fruits one by one the next, after leaving them overnight in the fridge. From tastiest to least tasty, Liam rated them as follows:
1. Japan Pink
2. Tropical pink
3. White sapphire
4. North Queensland Red
5. Cerise
6. Columbian supreme red
7. Common red
8. Malaysian purple
9. Edgars baby
10. X2
11. Asunta 2
Yana and Mick’s dedication to environmental consciousness, generosity, and passion for their unique cactus path is very unique, and while it might be a little out of the way, their farm is a journey worth undertaking. Here’s hoping for some hybrids between the top rated dragonfruit and San Pedro and our favourite Trichocereus species in the coming years. Watch the full video below.