Winter citrus! These are Mandarinquats, tiny Kishu Mandarins, and a Fremont Mandarin.

Kishu Mandarins are so wee that the segments are about half the size of a quarter.

They’re very sweet, with barely enough tang to feel like you’re actually eating citrus.

Fremont Mandarins tasted similar to the Kishus, but larger, with a brighter peel that would make lovely zest. Also, they have seeds.

I was most excited about the Mandarinquats, which are a Mandarin-Kumquat hybrid. They’re supposed to be similar to kumquats, which have a super sweet peel and tart fruit. Kumquats are about the size of grapes, so you just pop them in your mouth whole, and I love them.

I do not love Mandarinquats. They’re pretty, but the peel is nowhere near as sweet as a kumquat, which means you’re just eating an orange peel. But! If you’re a bartender who wants to make a kumquat drink, these would be less time consuming to juice I guess. Also pretty in floral arrangements?

Meh. Mandarinquat, you are no friend of mine.

Bon Appétit just published an interview with me on their site, A Mighty Girl’s Quest to Taste 1,000 Kinds of Fruit. Isn’t that cool? I think so too. Go have a look.

Taste 1,000 Fruits is an item on my Mighty Life List. I’m currently inching my way through the first hundred.

These are Kiwiberries, and they are rocking me out. They’re grape-sized Kiwis without the fuzzy exterior, and you can just pop them in your mouth. I’m pretty sure Willy Wonka was involved somehow.

They’re delicious, by the way — sweeter and more intensely Kiwi-flavored than their larger Kiwi cousins, and so effing cute. Cute, I tell you!

Inside, they look just like tiny Kiwis, with the seeds and everything. I want to have a party just so I can use them to garnish Kiwi-themed cocktails.

Whooo’s a tiny little kiwi? Wuzzah-wuzzah.

This is a starfruit.

The flavor is light, more like a perfume than a solid taste. They’re juicy, citrusy with a slightly tangy aftertaste. The texture is like less crunchy celery, if celery didn’t have strings.

Taste 1,000 Fruits is on my Mighty Life List, so Intel paid for my starfruit. Thanks, guys.

This is a tamarind pod.

Inside, the pod has a paste-like brown fruit around its seeds.

It doesn’t look particularly appetizing.

The fruit is very sour, but not like a lemon. There’s sweetness there too. It tastes almost like Crystal Light powder. But more delicious.

You suck the fruit away from the seeds. They’re hard, and clack together in your hand, almost like heavy coffee beans. Delicious.

Intel is making my site more interesting by sponsoring my Mighty Life List over the next few months. This trip to Puerto Rico is adding a few more fruits to my 1,000 fruits list.