Ben B's 2018 Top 10 Figs for Seattle

Ben B's Top 10 Figs from 2018

It has been an incredible year of figs for me. I've had more varieties ripened than ever before. And I'm so happy to have been able to share these figs with local growers and folks who have followed my blog world wide. The most important part about collecting figs is the taste for me. The other part is collecting figs that are the top performers for my climate in various flavor, size, color, and shape categories. I do not want to collect 50 black berry flavored varieties. It's too redundant and frankly a waste of time, money and resources.

Below is a list of my top 10 figs from 2018.

For a full list of reviews Visit my 2018 Fig Review page.

#1 Ben's Golden Riverside (9/19/18)

1 Crop
Honey Flavored Fig

Taste: 10

Sweetness: 8.5

Size: 16 (151 grams)

Productivity: 6

Total = 40.5

The Golden Riverside fig for me has just been an incredible performer. It's large, productive, reliable and has outstanding flavor and sweetness.  Seriously why collect figs that are expensive but do not fruit for you? At the end of the day it's about being able to grow the best tasting figs that perform for your climate. The Golden Riverside hands down out performs every fig in my collection of 350 varieties. It also ranked #1 out of 26 different figs from a private tasting I had this year.

The flavor is rich thick juicy honey.  And tastes like nectar to the gods. The syconium has a nice bite to it as well, like biting into a semi firm pluot without the acidity. The size affords you the ability to eat it more like a large peach than a fig. And the fact that it ripens outside in September makes it a perfect main crop fig for short seasons.

Con: Not enough to go around

#2 Black Zadar Fig (9/15/18) 2yr old plant

2 Crops
Unique Berry Flavor

Taste: 8.5

Sweetness: 7.5

Size: 10 (94.5 grams)

Productivity: 5

Total =  31

The first time I laid eyes on the Black Zadar online. I had a feeling this was going to be a special fig. Being in the PNW I was led to believe that you could only grow figs for Brebas and not the main crop. We'll I'm glad that I was proven wrong. The Black Zadar is an extremely productive tree that  produces large figs near 100grams and ripened 95% of every fig that grew on it including Brebas and Main crop. I couldn't even eat it all. So I left many fall off the tree. 

The flavor of the Black Zadar is very unique. 

The taste of a perfectly ripened Black Zadar is a mixture of melons, strawberry, and honey. There are also subtle hints of black licorice from the skin. Very subtle and maybe masked by the meatiness and sweetness of the fig.  Both the brebas and the main crop literally just melt in your mouth.

This fig also grows incredibly fast. The only con would be that the skin cracks. But some folks may like that.

#3 Vincenzo (9/19/18)

2 Crops
Honey Melon Berry Flavors

Taste: 9.75

Sweetness: 9

Size: 5 (40 grams)

Productivity: 1

Total = 24.75

If you told me that I had to keep only 5 figs in my collection. Without hesitation I would grab my Vincenzo to go with me. Don't get me wrong, I love my Black Madeira but I would grab this 1st being that I have not seen anyone selling it anywhere else. Now I know that some say this fig is like aldo, palermo or even Sals Corleone but I have all of the other figs and none of them have produce for me the way the Vincenzo does.  It would be easy for me to replace a black madeira but next to impossible for me to replace my Vincenzo. The only knock on it is it's lack of productivity. 

I love this fig because of how different the Brebas are compared to the Main Crop. However both would make my top 10 in terms of flavor. The brebas are melt in your mouth honey melon figs. And the Main crop is mix of Honey and jam.  Both are extremely good figs. EXTREMELY GOOD FIGS!

Vincenzo Breba

Vincenzo Main Crop

#4 Col De Dame Noir (10/15/18) 

1 Crop

Berry Flavored

Taste: 9.5

Sweetness: 8.5

Size: 6 (52.5 grams)

Productivity: 4

Total = 27

The Col De Dame Noir was a surprise this year. I was about to give up on Col De Dames in general fearing that they were too late for the Seattle Season. However I managed to ripen mine in October respectably, I did have it ripen in the greenhouse however. 

Boy was I glad to have stuck with it. The Col De Dame Noir has such an incredible punch of berry jam flavors. Very rich and raspberry jam like. The sweetness was perfect. For me a perfectly sweet fig is 8.5. It was decent productivity and boy is it eye catching. The pulp is just this beautiful blood red. It actually inspired me to pull out the big camera to take some professional photos. 

The only con on this was that it ripened completely in the greenhouse.

#5 White Madeira  (10/12/18)

1 crop
Raspberry Flavored

Taste: 9

Sweetness: 8

Size: 5 (51.1 grams)

Productivity: 4

Total = 26

The White Madeira is just plain and simple the Gold standard of Green figs with a red pulp. And there are tons of varieties out there that fit into that category.  Its flavor is like raspberry jam. That hint of acidity is what makes this fig stand apart from all berry types.  It's very sweet and rich. The flavors will linger on your tongue from it's thick juicy pulp. My tree is only a couple yrs old and I can't wait to see how well it does when it gets larger.

#6 JFE Black Madeira
1 Crop
Taste: 9.5
Sweetness: 9
Size: 3 (27.1 grams)
Productivity: ?
Total =

I have a JFE Black Madeira but mine did not ripened this year. Ram from Kirkland did manage to ripen his near the Thanksgiving time frame.  It was a very good tasting fig regardless of the lack of heat units in November. The flavor is like strawberry jam with hints of acidity and raspberry.

This would have ranked higher if it ripens earlier here. Rankings are based on a variety of factors not just taste. It's about how well they do here in Seattle, Productivity and reliability. 

#7 Takoma Violet (9/13/18)

1 Crop
Berry Flavored

Taste: 9

Sweetness: 8.5

Size: 4 (36 grams)

Productivity: 4

Total  25.5

During our fig tasting event from 2018, the Takoma Violet fig was top 3 only after Golden Riverside and Black Zadar. It's quite comparable to the Col De Dame Blanc, only it ripens weeks sooner than it. This is a berry type that has another layer of flavor and punch that makes it stand out. It could be a subtle hint of acidity but also how bright and fresh each bite of this fig tastes in your mouth.

This is a very good fig. I will have to let it ripen out doors next year.

#8 i258 (10/21/18) 
1 crop
Taste: 9
Sweetness: 8
Size: 4 (35.7 grams)
Productivity: 5
Total = 26

The i258 ranks right up there pretty close to the Black Madeira in my opinion. It's like the little brother to the Black Madeira. It would have ranked higher if it ripened earlier here in Seattle. The other con was that I had half of them split on me. Ripening in October means ripening in very heavy rains.

Other than that. The one fig that I managed to ripen was very good. Rich strawberry jam that was very flavorful. Very much like a Black Madeira.

#9 Socorro Black (9/19/18)

1 Crop
Berry Flavored

Taste: 9

Sweetness: 8

Size: 5 (44 grams)

Productivity: 10

Total = 33

If you are a fan of berry types like Ronde De Bordeaux the Socorro Black fig will be ranked high on your scale. The texture was great, nice medium syconium with a gelatinous jammy pulp. I love that it was very productive and ripened outside of the greenhouse. I had huge clusters on every branch.

It also had a nice tight eye that will be ideal for humid climates or ones with lots of pests. The Socorro Black is a very well rounded fig. Great taste combined with high productivity medium size and almost the perfect amount of sweetness. Reminds me a lot of the Smith fig.

The only con was that it was not consistent. There were some figs on the same tree that were amazing and others that seem half aborted.

#10 Kathleen's Black (9/19/18)

1 Crop
Berry Flavored

Taste: 9

Sweetness: 8

Size: 8 (71.4 grams)

Productivity: 3

Total = 29

What I like about the Kathleen's Black had is that it has hints of caramel flavor to it. The main flavor is more like a lighter more subtle berry flavored fig.  The fruit was also very big this yr and it was semi productive.  Honestly to the untrained pallet many may not be able to tell the slight differences between all the various berry types, it's only when you get to taste them all side by side that begin to stand out from others.  The Kathleen's black will not disappoint.

Great top tiered black and jammy fig.

Honorable Mention #1 Lampeira Preta Fig (7/19/18)

Breba
Strawberry Caramel Flavored

Taste: 8.5

Sweetness: 7.5

Size: 5 (48 grams)

Productivity: .3

Total =  21.3

My friend Slavi, said that the Lampeira Preta was one of the best breba figs around. I think he maybe right. This is the first year that it has fruited for me and it did not disappoint. The flavor of this fig is like Caramel Strawberry. Yes I said Strawberry caramel! Good sweetness and unique flavors that are so good that it makes me sad that this year, I was only able to get 2 figs from it.

Honorable Mention #2 Qaalat Al Madiq (10/06/18)

1 Crop
Sugar Fig

Taste: 8.5

Sweetness: 8.5

Size: 4 (39.4 grams)

Productivity: .5

Total = 21.5

In my mind this fig would've score higher at the fig tasting event if there was enough of it to go around at my fig tasting event. It's hard to cut up 1 fig between a dozen people. 

I like this fig because of it sweetness and richness. A sugar fig if you had to label it. It is doesn't win any awards for looks but it is a sweet fig that is rich and coats the tongue in honey so it is sneaking on to this top 10 list.

Cons: not a pretty fig and not very productive

Some Notes:

* I wish I Smith to review but they did not wake them up early enough to get ripe figs this yr. (two years in a row)

** To me Black Madeira, Preto, Genovese Nero and Smith are very very good figs but they did not make it on this list because none ripened for me. I did not make the extra effort to wake them up earlier or put them into a heated greenhouse.  The figs on the list above are on there for a combination of reasons. They are tasty 1st and reliable without much need of additional effort to ripen them in my zone 8b.