I do!!! Love them! I have only used them for marmalade so for, but I really like the flavor. Also, they are incredibly productive trees. I would like to find more recipes for them beyond the marmalade, but even if I only made that, it would be worth it.

I do.

I have a calamondin but it hasn't produced fruit yet. I'm certain it will be delicious!

So not too sour?

It is the predominant "lemon" in the Philippines; it is not an orange OR a lemon, but a unique species. My farm administrator has one at his doorstep and uses it every day for cooking; it bears fruit the entire year. The fruit is more seeds than juice/fruit. IMO it is good for little other than adding "sour" to what you are cooking; but, like the kumquat, it is decorative.

I've got one. It's beginning to bloom for the second time for this year, probably due I pinched off the fruitlets from the first bloom. I tried to encourage it to grow leaf mass and roots, but instead it wants to bloom again.

When I got it, it got a bunch of ripe and unripe fruits. The taste was unique, and my kids did loved it too! Its my first citrus to make blooms/fruits, so I cant really compare it to other citruses. But what comes to ornamental value, its worth it!

It's very sour. I would not eat them out of hand. It's a sour orange.

Sour it is, probably we finns have a different combination of taste-buds? After all we adore salmiakki, which many others dislike and find almost disgusting.

Salmiakki ice cream, perfect combination of sweet and salty..

Thanks for input. I want something I can grab right from tree and eat.

A little OT but Mexicans have a coating they make to coat fresh fruit and it's made with caramel, salt lime and chili powder. They also use it on shaved ice. The taste sensation is positively tantalizing! I was recently introduced to it and went Gaga for it. I had an apple. Unfortunately, I don't know what they call it.

I have only had my Calamondin for a few months but the one fruit I have eaten off of it is delicious, tangy but with a unique lemon-esque flavor but slightly less sour. I do like the flavor of lemons and limes out of hand so I may not be the best judge. I plan to use it in cooking for marinates and such. I can't wait until I have enough to make a marmalade or cake out of them.

Babs, that's awesome! I hope to find a good recipe for it once I have enough fruit. I would hate to waste my hard grown fruit on a not so stellar cake recipe but with them being less than common it will have to be a trial and error process.

I'd love a recipe for a cake!! We need to experiment and investigate!

Why don't u get a meiwa kumquat?

@ me? That's a great idea, I'll look into it.

Yeah, they are supposed to be great for eating out of hand, unlike the nagami. I don't have one so I've not tasted it, but everyone raves about them here.

I second Laura's suggestion on the Meiwa kumquat. It's a pretty tree, makes lots of fruit, and should do fine down in S. Texas. If you don't already know, the Meiwa is sweet and the fruit nearly round. The Nagami is quite sour and more oblong so be careful which one you get at the nursery! Ask around though and you will find out kumquats have lovers and admirers. The lovers really enjoy eating them and might describe eating one as a three part experience with an citrus oil tang from the skin as you first bite into one, a sweet flavor as you chew into the main fruit, and a little sour finish as you get down to the very center of the fruit. Can you tell I'm one of those people?! The kumquat admirers believe it's a lovely tree and like the aesthetics since it is a frequent bloomer and the fruit are gorgeous but don't much care to eat them. I notice a lot of difference in the flavor of my trees and believe those who don't just love the flavor just haven't tried the right one yet. Steve here says the root stock has a lot to do with the flavor. I know for a fact that my best tasting tree is on trifoliate orange because I just removed a couple of suckers from the root stock the other day. I THINK my other two are as well but I don't know that for a fact.

I also have a calamondin. It also makes a really nice shaped tree and should do fine in-ground down there. Mine fruits prolifically and is finally big enough to make enough fruit to juice and freeze. Eaten right off the tree, the fruit are really sour but you can eat them peel and all, like the kumquat, and must be loaded with all sorts of healthy antioxidants and such!

For eating right off the tree, I'll also put in a good word for the Satsuma orange. I don't know if they offer them in your area...maybe you already have one?

I have3-4 satsuma which we greatly enjoy. Don't have a kumquat. Tried one and didn't like it but don't know what kind it was. Being a good looking tree w/b a plus as it will go in a high visibility area. Thanks for suggestions.

My Satsumas are taking this year off I think. I'll miss the fruit but looks like they are catching up on leaves. Maybe the three nights we got down in the 20s stressed them out or maybe the really mild January and early leaf out threw off my fertilization schedule. I wound up fertilizing while the Satsumas were in bloom and I hear that can reduce setting of fruit.

If you tried a kumquat and didn't like it because it was sour, try a Meiwa before you skip kumquats. If the kumquat you tried wasn't that sour but you just didn't care much for it, maybe you should plant something different! It's not a citrus but do you have a Japanese plum (loquat)? It's a neat tree for this area because it blooms in the dead cold of winter with really fragrant blooms and has ripe fruit in early spring. The fruit taste more like an apricot than anything else I can think of....very sweet, juicy, and don't keep well off the tree as they bruise easily.

I was looking at a var. loquat (for looks) but not loving flavor. 2 neighbors have reg. Loquat and the bloom frag. is lovely

I grow Calamondins. My favorite citrus.

Bossyvossy, that calamondin coating sounds very interesting! I'll have to google that...

I googled salt lime chili powder apple coating and there's all kinds of data. I gained two pounds from all the salt in it but I'm sure it will be down by next time I weigh. Not for folk on salt restricted diets. It is so yummie but a once in a blue moon kinda treat. Appears that some Asian cuisines do it too.

It always surprises me that people haven't had it before. The most common brand I see is Tajin but there are many brands sold in Hispanic grocers as well as Trader Joes even has a knock off of it now. Its really tasty sprinkled on fresh fruit and I won't enjoy jicama without it or being pickled, cucumbers are also fantastic with it. Its common to see at fair's with vendors selling cups of fruit and having different brands of seasoning to sprinkle on top. I haven't had it on a caramel apple but I bet it would be delicious. I always stalk the ethnic aisle at the store but they rarely have it, so I have to make my way to a Hispanic mart and pick some up, along with an assortment of chilies and Oaxaca cheese. I love salt so it doesn't bother me, the strongest flavor is the chili. It looks like they even sell a low sodium variety too. and while googling the website it looks like its sold at target, so that's convenient.

I have calamondin as well. I make a jam with calamondin n kumquat combined

Could one make a calamondin ade with calamondin juice and sugar (or sugar substitute)? Or is it too sour even for that?

I'm excited! I'm about to get my first calamondin flowers!

I made a key lime pie today with my limequats and as it turned out, I needed a tiny bit more juice. Instead of grabbing a persian lime, I opted for a few calamondins. I used four and squeezed out their juice...it was definitely more orange than the key lime juice, but the pie was excellent. I did not notice any difference in flavor...nice and tart...delicious.

Calamondin makes a dandy lemonade type drink. For people with the sweet tooth, the average ratio is 1 cup calamondin juice, 2 cup water, up to 1 cup sweetner/syup. Put it all in a pot, heat it up, stir it up good, chill it in the fridge, enjoy it cold. I've used manuka honey making that and it works OK (used much less than 1 part honey). That's when I make it for others. I don't use sweetener for myself.

I mostly like to just squeeze some calamondins in ice cold club soda water, or in unsweetened iced tea. Very refreshing drink to me. After going on a no-sugar diet, I've lost the taste for sweet things. Sweet tea now taste kind of yucky. Only sweet things I still like are fruit, honey, sweet potatoes.

I have one Calamondin.

I just bought one! It's loaded with fruit and a few flowers! I think it was this thread and Laura's cake that made me opt for that one amongst the dozens of varieties the nursery had!