What is the best fig?  Is it a rare fig? Is it a jammy fig? Is it a drier fig?  Is it a fig grown commercially?  Or, is it a common fig?

When it comes to taste - that is a personal preference .  Some like dark, some like light.  Some like a berry taste, some like a figgy taste.  Some like them sweet as honey, some like less sweet.

Maybe it's the fig we grew up eating as a child, maybe it's the first fig we ate as an adult.

I think the best fig is the fig people fell in love with when they fell in love with figs.  Going by the numbers (completely my own opinion and not based on any hard evidence) it just might be the ....

Brown Turkey!

The answer is up to you! My best fig will be the one that I put in-ground in zone 6A and makes it uncovered.
Taste is a secondary factor for me. Florea is high on my list for its cold hardiness but people who value taste fest and foremost may find it insepid.

I do reserve 20% of my trees for pot culture. Ones I know aren't hardy enough but they taste good.

Jo Ann,

I have never had a fig I never liked. But if I had to choose one it would be the RDB hands down.

I can honestly tell you there are two people here that are crazy about the Brown Turkey figs. Any strain or any variant. If it has Brown Turkey on the label then they are in love with it!

Those two people are Jason ( satellitehead ) and the Boss ( Jon ).

You just don't have any idea how nuts those two are about it. To me, just another fig. But who am I to speak for them?

joann, 

best fig is a fig that i never tasted and just dreaming about. of course, after the first bite, my dream bubble might burst :)))

The best fig is the one in your hand heading for your mouth.

Rafed, John wont admit this but the brown turkey and callie brown turkey, were super excellent last year at UCD.

And whatever you do Joann don't ask Mr Robin that question! He loves them all!

As for me, there are several that stand out for my zone. They are Excel, RDB, Del la senorya, Toni's Brown Italian, Smith, Aubique Petitte, Florea, Black Maderia, Improved celeste, White triana, and a few others that excapes my mind.

Sorry for the typos! Im testing out my new color nook rooted with Andriod Ice cream sandwich.

DJ, They were the best BTs I have had, but that is NOT the same as great.

A wise man once told me "the best fig, is the one in your hand ready to eat"

sorry, I know it's not what you want to hear. 

So Jon, does your dislike (er, I mean, "love") of Brown Turkey extend to English Brown Turkey also?

Mike 

I was leaning more towards a philosophical approach.  Yes, we have our own tastes and preferences when it comes to what WE like for ourselves.  When it comes to a fig that is not readily available like  the RDB, VDB, or Excel, and even my own LSU Purple, only a handful of people like ourselves will research other varieties and go down the road less traveled to experience the flavors and textures of these wonderful varieties.  Now, look down the more traveled, to see the Brown Turkey for instance.  As far as availability to the masses it is.  You may not be able to get them in every grocery store, but you could find them in the better grocery stores or the stores with a more diverse population they cater too - Italians, Middle Easterners, Greeks, Indians etc.

The not so tasty fig (to us) from the grocery store may actually catapult someone into the world of figs and learn about new varieties.  I saw this happen where I work.  I made fig tarts with brown turkey figs that came in from the produce vendor.  The tarts looked great and with a bit more sugar from the glaze they were pretty darn good.  I had dozens of guests who never had a fresh fig, never heard of fresh figs fall in love with them! 

Do I think the brown turkey fig is the best for me?  Not the ones I have had by a long shot!! 

But it is better then no fig!