Ever wonder the difference between a navel orange and a mandarin? And what even is a tangelo?
Turns out, there are over 100 varieties of citrus fruits, and the ones you’re most familiar with barely scratch the surface. At ThirdLeaf NW alone, we rotate over a dozen varieties of citrus in your office fruit bins throughout the year.
Want to know more about the goodies hiding in your fruit bin and grocery store aisles? Read on to get some fast facts about our favorite citrus fruits!
Navel Orange
Quintessential orange flavor, sweet yet tart, slightly acidic. Their appearance is bright orange skin with a “navel-like” feature on one end, orange flesh. Season: November – January.
Blood Orange
A slightly smaller, slightly sweeter cousin of the Navel that’s also known as a raspberry orange. They taste like a sweet orange combined with raspberry-like notes, less tangy than Navels. Season: October – May.
Cara Cara Orange
A variety that first appeared as a natural mutation of a Navel is now its own beloved breed. Oh, and they’re seedless! They are sweet with floral and berry flavor notes, less tart than Navels. Deep orange skin, bright pink flesh. Season: December – April.
Stem & Leaf Satsuma Mandarin
Sweetest tangerine variety, very little acidic flavor. These mandarins with bright orange skin and flesh with a deep green stem and leaf attached are available October – December.
Page Mandarin
A hybrid between a Minneola tangelo (see below) and the well-known Clementine mandarin. Pages are very fragrant and have no seeds! They are sweet, rich, and complex citrus flavor. Season: January – March.
Minneola Tangelo
Tangelos are hybrids between tangerines and grapefruit. Also known as the “Honeybell” for their bell shape. They have a sweet-tart mix of sweet tangerine and tangy grapefruit, slightly flowery. Available January – April.
Ruby Red Grapefruit
A slightly sweeter twist on the tart grapefruits you’ve probably tried before! This has a classic sweet-tart grapefruit flavor, but sweeter than normal light pink grapefruits, with a red-orange skin, vibrant red-pink flesh. Their peak season is November – March.
Rio Red Grapefruit
Rio Red is the remix of Ruby Red. In fact, Rio first appeared as a mutation on a Ruby tree. Sweeter than the Ruby Red, this grapefruit has a more yellow-orange skin with a deep pink flesh. They have a great, long season from October to June.