There are several figs that not many folks are fond of.  I just wonder why?  The figs I'm talking about are:

Brown Turkey NOT!
Improved Brown Turkey
Black Jack
Texas Blue Giant
Black Spanish
Red Isreal

This year, I got to taste all of these and I am truly surprised why folks do not like these.  In my climate, they are excellent.  Over the past 3 weeks, I have been picking these every day!  

Black Jack is my favorite of the bunch.  It is the largest-- very sweet and very dark almost black skin.

Improved Brown Turkey is has an enlongated shape with reddish color and is sweet.

Texas Blue Giant comes in second.  It is large and little darker than Black Jack---almost blue black if you know what I mean.  It is very sweet.

Black Spanish is mostly dark red all over and a little smaller than Black Jack.

My Brown Turkey Not is really a medium size small black fig that looks like Black Bethlehem.  I got it from Virginia.

If you've seen my previous post you will see some pictures of these except Red Isreal.  You have to cover these figs up with organza bag to keep the gnats out because these figs have large open eyes.  Despite that, they taste great!

Next year, I will hand pollinate these figs just to play around!  But they should be drop dead amazing.

Dennis,

For me Black Jack is Hit or Miss and seems more dependent on weather conditions when ripening than many others. Some of the Black Jack I have eaten rank among the worst almost tasteless to very pleasant and refreshing. It's never really intense flavor like some smaller figs. I have noticed the figs this year seem to be much better than last year which might be because this year it is in ground.

I'm pretty sure my grandparents had an insipid Brown Turkey in the back yard.  I avoided that fruit like the plague!  And to me, figs were just plain awful until I discovered there are so many really tasty ones out there.

I don't own any on your bad fig list because I'm easily influenced, and members here have spoken against growing these types. 

I'm glad you find them tasty.  Me?  I'll pass! :-)

Suzi

Phil, you are very much correct my friend!  Last year, and the previous year, our July and August were very rainy and the figs were just awful!!!  But this year, we are in a semi drought and its very hot!  So, these figs I listed are great!  If you wait till Black Jack gets marshmallow soft, it will be horrible!!!!  So, I do see your point.

Suzi, you need to come with Jon and me to UCD and taste a caprified Brown Turkey and a caprified California Brown Turkey.  If you do, you won't want another fig to eat!  Why?  Because they are very rich and flat out amazing!!!  I'm curious how a caprified Black Jack or Texas Blue Giant taste!

Dennis is your Black Spanish VdB/Negronne like? I picked up once from Whole Foods a few weeks back as it was the only one of its kind with that specific label and only one with those kind of edgy fingerlike leaves. None of the other trees there had similar leaves and some were definitely were mislabeled.

I agree what has said snagplus, caprified BT are very sweet and tasty.
This variety needs hot and dry summers for ripen good fruits, and althoug it's suitable for cool climates, in cold climates don't give good fruits.
For example i think that longue d'aout, altough sweet, is not as good as many people says.
If you have many varieties, will tend to choose some, discarding others.

Dennis

Haven't tasted any on your list so I can't say about those.

But it does seem to me that how the fig turns out depends on a lot of factors including weather, soil mix, watering/feeding schedule etc ....

So it is easy to blame the fig when it could be something the grower needs to correct. 
Of course there is also the right fig in the wrong environment as well.  Can the fig be blamed if the grower chooses the wrong fig for their environment?

You said Brown Turkey Not is not most folks like much. What is the difference between Brown Turkey and Brown Turkey Not ? I have recently planted Turkey Brown in ground as I was told TB is one of the best in Vancouver, B.C. Very confusing !

Texas Blue Giant is a real good fig down here, it is my wife's favorite, high on my list.  The one that we had must have been good, it was stolen from my yard, replacement is good as well.

That’s funny, all of those figs (except BT Not, never tried it) are super-duper nice in CA. 
Maybe that is the weather or the wasp or both, but they are top notch. 

For those who don't understand what "Blank Not!" means it is this. Here in Charlotte, we are starting to see a lot of fig trees being sold as "Brown Turkey". When you find a fig named one thing and you know it isn't you add the suffix "NOT!" at the end of the name. I've got 8 or 10 fig trees labeled Brown Turkey but they have leaves just like Valle Negra or Nero 600m or Brunswick. And the figs look nothing like brown turkey. The figs are jet black and ripen later than Brown Turkey. So I call it Brown Turkey Not!. Here is a pic.

Dennis : Thanks for the clear picture about Brown Turkey NOT. 

Hi Dennis, all of them (expect Black Spanish and BT Not) are most common verities for us in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

Black Jack, Improved BT and Red Isreal are producing medium to big fruits year round.

I agreed that they are good in hot and humid weather.

My Khurtmani/Red Israel were pretty good.  They were early and don't know if I have any fruit left now but they were not very red in my climate here but they were large, sweet, and pretty tasty.  My tree is still small so I'm hoping for more good things from this fig.

Dave Wilson sells Improved Brown Turkey but I can't find any other reference to what makes this "improved".  I am growing California Brown Turkey which is the one you talked to me about at Wolfskill last August, Dennis.  Even though it's a new tree I already got fruit and they were pretty good.  Not a rich flavor but sweet and pretty good.  John Preece told me it's his favorite! :)

Harvey, I grow both Improved Brown Turkey and California Brown Turkey side by side.  They are the same tree.  I remember John saying that about Ca Brown Turkey too!  I like it a lot.  Jon Verdick likes it too...but he won't admit it!  HA!

I've gotten 6 or 8 fruits from my Black Jack this year (2 yr old). They were OK and worth keeping if only because they are so large. But I must admit they are nothing compared to my Negronne and Hardy Chicago. But one of my goals is to have figs ripening at various times to lengthen the season. I also have an unknown that is probably a BT, it too is OK, but is much later than my other figs and so is probably worth keeping.

I have this fig tree in pot. It was the first tree that I bought about seven years ago when I moved to my new house.
 When I purchased it I was asked by the nursery in Austin, TX if I wanted a light or dark fig and settled on a white fig. So I never knew for sure what I purchased as I was not a connoisseur at that time.
 It was sitting on my porch and doing nothing, being treated like shrub. The flavor was nothing to brag about. Last season I decided to finally prune it and feed it LOL.
 This season it produced over thirty fruits, but the surprise was the inside of the fig as it was deep red and the flavor was amazing.
 I'm willing to bet that any of these varieties mentioned above if in their right environment would probably get great reviews otherwise they would've became extinct due to the fact that no one would want to grow a bad tasting variety.
 
 

Black Jack has become one of our favorites. It's a 2 year old tree, and 1st year in ground. Now I've seen the difference of what putting a fig in ground does for the taste and production, big difference from last year. 
 

Gene, you are absolutely correct! It is so hard to beat Hardy Chicago and many others out there. To me, these "unlikeable" are different and are in a class inn their own. They're stil worth growing. They are very prolific. Next year, I will attempt to hand pollinate my Black Jack along with a few others.

Awesome pics Simon!

I may be the only person here that likes Brown Turkey's.  They are definitely not as sweet but when ripe are sweet enough.  What I do like about them, for me anyway, the classic fig taste comes totally through.   Maybe it's a lower sugar content.  Don't know.  I compare them to VBDs, Celestes and what I believe to be a Nero.  

Dennis, I have this tree in pot that is not ripening the figs for the second year in a row. What would you do?

Interesting to hear what folks like and don't like. I am going to graft three trees as they are wild figs but I did not know that when I got starts three years ago from an old homestead that is long gone. Three neighbors have brown turkeys. avoid or not to avoid this fig? We think my closest neighbor has desert kings. I will definitely try them. They are two hundred feet from my figs and produce profusely and I think they are very tasty.But to be honest they were the first fresh figs o have ever tasted. The only thingi knew before that about figs was they came in a cookie and I wouldn't touch them. ;) Does anyone have thoughts on the desert king? I will have 6 more choices as soon as they find the list of what they planted. Its a huge community garden they literally have to write down what they have.

Well you could send the tree to me. Ha! Just kidding....

Your tree could have RNK. It could have fire ants. But if it was my tree, I would up-pot the tree in December to a larger pot after root pruning it. And in early Spring, give it a weekly dose of fish emulsion and start pinching it till mid to late August. It should explode with figs next year.

I've learned so much from this forum...particularly about waiting as long as possible to pick figs. Makes a big difference. Even "lesser" varieties picked at the right time in the right conditions can bowl you over. One of my favorites this year was probably an EBT. Lord it was good!

My dad always said something wasn't fit to eat if he didn't want to share it.