The New England Quince Taste Test 2020 was hosted by Vermont Quince. Nan Stefanik founded Vermont Quince in 2012 and coined the hashtag #growquince Her passion for this pomme is contagious and her quince based products help to further showcase the versatility of the quince. 

Quince and juice samples episode 248 Cider Chat

This year's New England Quince Taste Test was a virtual event. Boxes of quince juice, raw quince and poached quince were sent out to a group of tasters that included chefs and author of Simply Quince Barbara Ghazarian who is also known as the "Queen of Quince". A box was also sent to Cider Chat central where The Nose and Ria tasted and filled out the Taste sheet to be sent back to Vermont Quince. Do expect a follow up summary of the tasting results once the results are in.

Quince juice sampling episode 248 of Cider Chat

List of Quince varieties in the 2020 New England Quince Test

  • Aromatnaya
    • A Russian variety that bears a very large, bright yellow, aromatic fruit with a delicious, lemony flavor. Aromatnaya fruit can be eaten fresh, when thinly sliced and used to make marmalade and jellies.
  • Kuganskaya
    • Known to be from the region of the southern Caucasus, north of Turkey and Armenia. 
  • Orange
    • Expect ripening to occur October through December and to also extend through February in some colder areas. The Orange Quince is a self fertile tree and requires 300 chill hours.
  • Smyrna
    • Extremely large fruit with light yellow flesh, bright yellow skin. Attractive tree (or multi-stemmed shrub) has dark green foliage & very showy bloom. Tolerates wet soil.
  • van Deman - this quince variety was developed by Luther Burbank, (March 7, 1849 – April 11, 1926) who was an American botanist and horticulturist based in California. Van Deman bears good crops of large and delicious, bright yellow fruit. Expect a spicy flavored from this quince. 

Poached quinced samples episode 248 Cider Chat Poached Quince

Quinces are gritty, astringent, and hard even when ripe. The bitter astringency is as a result of the tannins. The tannins in the quinces are destroyed when cooked, while the delicate rich flowery aroma of a raw quince is maintained, turning the hard, tannic, astringent fruit into a softened and milder flavored fruit.

The testers did not know what variety corresponded with the samples provided, making this a "blind tasting"

This episode is a condensed version of the taste test conducted by The Nose and Ria.

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