I’m a big fan of avocados, so I like to see how they compare to each other. I’ve found several of avocado: Hass, Fuerte, Gwen, Pinkerton, Reed, Bacon, and Mexicola. I knew I had to get some and compare them. Here’s some general thoughts, observations, and Avocado Reviews on these different varieties, and some of my other avocado tips.
Do you love avocados as much as I do? You want to make sure to check out some of my recipes using the green fruit! 4 Layer stuffed avocados, Guacamole and Tuna Stuffed Avocado, Air Fryer Avocado Fries, and The Best Avocado Sauce are some great ones to start with!
Clockwise from top right: Reed (large and round), Gwen (round but smaller than the Reed), Hass (black skinned), and Pinkerton (has a pointy end and is more slender in shape)
How to get a good avocado
Try to find avocados with a little bit of the stem in the pointy end. If the stem is missing, the avocado has a good chance of having some rot inside where the flesh was exposed to the air.
To tell if it’s ripe, gently press on the fat end of the avocado. If it gives to slight pressure, it’s probably ripe and ready to eat.
Avocado Reviews
Hass Avocado
The standard grocery store avocado is the Hass.
It has a nice hard shell that makes scooping the flesh easy. The shell goes from green to black when this variety is ripe, making it really easy to spot the ripe Hass at the store.
I think that’s one of the main reasons that this variety sells so well at the store.
The Hass has a great flavor (creamy and buttery) and texture (soft but not watery). They can often be very small, and for me, they tend to have some problems over ripening or being too hard even when they look and feel ripe.
Fuerte Avocado
The Fuerte is my favorite! It’s got soft buttery flesh with the perfect texture.
They aren’t watery, and are full flavored. They’re the perfect size with a well-portioned pit inside.
They have a soft shell that isn’t as easy to scoop without breaking the skin. But, with gentle pressure, you can get all the flesh out without getting the skin in your guacamole.
The skin of the Fuerte doesn’t turn color when this avocado is ripe.
Reed Avocado
I bought a new variety of avocado at Mother’s Market the other day (at least it was new to me). The Reed Avocado. An organic variety. The sign said it was a summer time variety.
The Reed avocado is much bigger than the other varieties, and therefore yields more flesh. And, it tastes wonderful. A contender for my favorite avocado.
Very large fruit with a well proportioned pit. A great flavor.
It was about twice as big as the Hass that I bought (though I know that Hass can vary greatly in size). The skin looked like the skin of the Hass, but a brighter green with a pebbly texture. When I bought it, it was soft when pressed, so I knew it was ripe.
I cut it open a few days later, fearing that I had waited too long. To my delight, it was still good. Only one small brown spot. So, it lasted well on the counter (always a plus!).
Comparing prices, I paid $1.49 each for organic Hass, and $1.99 each for the organic Reed. The Reed avocado had twice as much fruit as the Hass, so I’d say it was a really good deal. And, if you were throwing a large party, I’d definitely seek these out, because they would be less work to make a big ‘ol bucket full of guacamole.
The Reed Avocado gives the Fuetre (my favorite avocado) a real challenge. In fact, when I plant an avocado tree, I’m thinking it might be the Reed that I plant, because it fruits in the summer, where the Fuerte fruits fall through spring. That way, I’ll have avocados pretty much year round, Reed from my tree and Fuerte from friends’ trees.
Gwen avocado
A hard skin makes it easy to scoop all the meat out of this avocado. The flesh was soft and creamy. The pit was well portioned to the size of the avocado.
The flavor was a little light, and I suspect that if you did a side by side taste comparison, the Gwen would be lighter in flavor than the Hass or the Fuerte.
The skin of the Gwen doesn’t change color when ripe, so you have to check for ripeness by feel only.
Pinkerton Avocado
The farmer described this avocado as “smokey”, and I was very excited to try it. Good. Slightly watery. Hard skin, making it easy to scoop out.
The flesh was not as soft as the Gwen, but it was creamy and not fiberous at all. I didn’t get a smokey flavor at all.
But, it did have a slightly off-odor when I cut it open. That odor went away when we ate it; I think the fragrance was a smokey one, so it was just an odor that I wasn’t really expecting. I thought if it were smokey in flavor that it would be fun to make a chipotle guacamole to show off that smokiness.
Bacon avocado
I bought this variety a couple of months ago. It was very good, and reminded me of the Hass.
Soft and creamy without being too watery. Perhaps it was a little light in flavor.
It also had soft skin that didn’t change color when ripe. The pit was very large inside the avocado, and therefore, it didn’t have much flesh.
This variety didn’t seem to be a good deal for the money because of the over-sized pit.
Mexicola Avocado
The other day Dan came home with some avocados from a co-worker of his. These avocados were beautiful! Smooth dark black skin with small dark pink spots on them. I immediately asked what kind of avocado they were. He didn’t know; she didn’t say. So, of course I had to investigate.
Turns out these are {affiliate link} Mexicola Avocados. They originated in 1910 in Pasadena, CA. They’re ready for harvest from September to October. And, in my reading I found out that the skin of these avocados is edible as well.
When she gave them to us they weren’t quite ripe. But, after a couple of days on the counter, they were perfect. I cut them open to show a very large pit, so there isn’t much meat inside these avocados.
Oh, but the meat inside these was delicious. Rich, buttery, and full flavored, not watery or fibrous. I tried the skin, and it tasted bitter, so I don’t recommend eating the skin, but it was interesting to try.
The skin was also very thin, and it was a bit difficult to peel off; it left a bit of black color on the flesh of the avocado, but since the skin is edible, I figure it doesn’t really matter if it left some on the avocado. And, the residue didn’t make the flesh bitter at all. If you see any Mexicola Avocados at the market do yourself a favor and buy them. They were great!
Want to learn more about avocados?
Want to read more about avocados? Take a look at the California Avocado website for several varieties of avocados and the nutrition of avocados.
I love avocodoes and knew of only two different kinds. I didn’t know there were more varaities. I’m changing the subject now, it’s about Mangos. I thought that there were only one kind, but was in Wally World Monday and found out that they carry the larger greenish red ones and a smaller yellow one. I tried the smaller yellow one and enjoyed it. I prefer it to the larger mangos. Even though it is smaller I got much more fruit off of it than I do the larger mangos. Sorry to get off the subject.