Oil Content and Taste of different Coconut Varieties

[FtLaud]

I would like to grow an additional Coconut Palm tree in South Florida and am looking for information on the oil content and taste of different varieties. I am mainly interested in using the mature coconut. I make coconut milk and use it for making Ice Cream, so fat content and taste is important. I also shred and dehydrate the meat to make coconut butter and in recipes.

The coconuts on the tree I have now are good, but hard to husk and remove the meat from the Shell. I have tried some Fiji Dwarf and Maypan Coconuts and these husk much easier and it is very easy to separate the meat from the shell - I just crack it all over with the back of a meat cleaver and some falls off that way, and pry out the rest easily with a knife.

I thought that I heard that the dwarf varieties of coconut don't have as much oil content - is that correct?

I would like to find some data on the oil content of the different varieties that grow here in Florida so I can avoid a low oil content variety. Also if people could comment on the taste of the mature coconut meat of different varieties that would be great - e.g. which ones have that distinct tropical coconut flavor. Comparisions to Fiji Dwarf and Maypan would be good if possible.

Also any information on time from sprouting to getting coconuts would be goods. I expect this would be 3-5 years. I will plant on the lake shore so it can grow fast.

Thanks/Steve

[kinzyjr]

@FtLaud Welcome to the forums!  I can't tell you that I know a lot about the difference in the oil and meat content of each specific variety since I have to worry much more about cold snaps than taste.  Fiji Dwarf is a true dwarf so no issues with people getting clonked on the head.  Maypan is a pretty robust grower as a few of us have them here in my neck of the woods and they seem to handle chill fairly well.

[JohnnyKarelian]

@FtLaud Hi! I am not very experienced in knowing the different varieties of the coconuts in flavor. But I use the coconuts for the same purposes as you, oil, butter, milk, ice cream and other desserts or savory dishes. 

Here on my side of the world I generally get the idea that coconuts from true tropical places are sweeter and their fat content higher, for example Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand.

Where I live I taste a difference from the nuts grown in central/northern regions (which are subtropical) and southern regions(tropical). Also the Winter and Summer harvest here are significantly different in sweetness. 

Those are my observations on the coconuts I've had from here in east/south-east Asia, I hope it is of any help to you !