Blood oranges, have they been altered?

Glad it’s not just me.

I liked Ortaniqes. Not seen them in decades

The same thing has happened to Clementines- too much sun, too high temps and not enough water, and they become too sweet and lose that 'wonderful tang'. They are trying to grow new species in Corsica, but it takes about 20 years.

Same is happening with grapes for wine all over the world. The Champagne region is getting too warm for Champagne productors. they bought lots of land in Southern England for this purpose but (yep- the truth- so here goes), Brexit has put an end to easy, frictionless exports to EU.

I bought blood oranges a couple of weeks ago and they were so disappointing ....... didn't taste anything like I remember from years ago. They were rather soft, as if they were overripe and not particularly red in the flesh despite the peel being very dark.

I thought that it was me .
Lots of foods don't taste the same !
It's true - blood oranges don't have that wonderful tang anymore .

Climate change is affecting all types of citrus fruit. They ripen too early, and there is an awful disease affecting all cittus production in California, moving to other regions too.

I bought some Ippolito oranges from Waitrose that were disappointing.
Slight tinges of red, soft skinned, easy to peel,very very juicy but not much flavour.
Style over substance.

There are different varieties that have slightly different taste.

I think also the degree of redness varies according to temperature - the colder it gets the redder the oranges.

There are three main varieties of blood orange; Moro, Tarocco, and Sanguinello. Moro provides the deepest red flush, while Tarocco tends to produce a a slightly sweeter flavour - they are both native to Italy.