Opinion: Fig Flavors, What Is “Resin” & “Tannin”?

RosyPosy

RosyPosy

Well-known member
I’m refining my fig flavor groups and I was hoping I could get your opinion.

Bordeaux Berry and Tannin Berry—

Bordeaux is said to represent “resin”. Do you guys taste anything that says “resin” to you? This would be in VdB, RdB, Black Mission, etc. I’m assuming “resin” to mean something bitter, but it’s not something I’ve noticed, so I’m wondering if you all have noticed this “resin” flavor.

Like, what makes a VdB taste different from say a Black Madeira or Bourjassotte Grise?

Tannin is actually a mouth feel, not a flavor. It gives that dry, kind of cottony feel to the mouth. But is there a bitter type flavor associated with “tannin berry” to you as to why that word is being used? This would be in White Triana, Emerald Strawberry, Lyndhurst White, Conadria, etc.

I have felt the tannin in my mouth from figs, but it doesn’t represent taste, so I’m trying to pinpoint if people are actually tasting something calling that word to mind.

Thanks for your help!
 
Inflorescence said:
I’m refining my fig flavor groups and I was hoping I could get your opinion.

Bordeaux Berry and Tannin Berry—

Bordeaux is said to represent “resin”. Do you guys taste anything that says “resin” to you? This would be in VdB, RdB, Black Mission, etc. I’m assuming “resin” to mean something bitter, but it’s not something I’ve noticed, so I’m wondering if you all have noticed this “resin” flavor.

Like, what makes a VdB taste different from say a Black Madeira or Bourjassotte Grise?

Tannin is actually a mouth feel, not a flavor. It gives that dry, kind of cottony feel to the mouth. But is there a bitter type flavor associated with “tannin berry” to you as to why that word is being used? This would be in White Triana, Emerald Strawberry, Lyndhurst White, Conadria, etc.

I have felt the tannin in my mouth from figs, but it doesn’t represent taste, so I’m trying to pinpoint if people are actually tasting something calling that word to mind.

Thanks for your help!
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About twenty years ago I was into wine. Was even part of a wine club. My life has been very interesting to say the least.
I have forgot a lot. But I do not think I have had a fig with that Tannin feel yet. I will have to look for that next season.
 
Inflorescence said:
I’m refining my fig flavor groups and I was hoping I could get your opinion.

Bordeaux Berry and Tannin Berry—

Bordeaux is said to represent “resin”. Do you guys taste anything that says “resin” to you? This would be in VdB, RdB, Black Mission, etc. I’m assuming “resin” to mean something bitter, but it’s not something I’ve noticed, so I’m wondering if you all have noticed this “resin” flavor.

Like, what makes a VdB taste different from say a Black Madeira or Bourjassotte Grise?

Tannin is actually a mouth feel, not a flavor. It gives that dry, kind of cottony feel to the mouth. But is there a bitter type flavor associated with “tannin berry” to you as to why that word is being used? This would be in White Triana, Emerald Strawberry, Lyndhurst White, Conadria, etc.

I have felt the tannin in my mouth from figs, but it doesn’t represent taste, so I’m trying to pinpoint if people are actually tasting something calling that word to mind.

Thanks for your help!
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Could “Resin” be that classic figgy flavor more noted in dried figs. I know in dried black mission they taste very “figgy”
 
SpiritFarmVa said:
Could “Resin” be that classic figgy flavor more noted in dried figs. I know in dried black mission they taste very “figgy”
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Maybe? I know that pleasant bitter flavors are noted in some figs that people describe as chocolate or spice.

And I know that some figs are more noted for a bitter quality in the skin like LSU Purple, Nerucciolo d' Elba, etc. I had a 1st year Dolce Calderai that was end of season, so not perfectly ripe, that had an especially bitter skin.

So, I’m not sure if it’s this skin bitterness that people are tasting and calling “resin” or “tannin” or, if it’s something else?
 
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I’m into wine…. Not at this exact moment, but the night is young…. I’ve always thought of tannin as an aside from flavour. I think “feel” was mentioned. That’s probably a good description… but thinking about it… Given that they are astringent, it probably is a proper flavour (bitter) i’ve never noticed this quality in a fig… although now I’ll be looking out for it

Resin, for me is more associated with the stickiness…. The best example of that I can think of would be Smith. It’s difficult to describe…. Maybe “sticky chew”

It’s always very interesting to hear people describe what their pallets pick up on
 
TorontoJoe said:
Resin, for me is more associated with the stickiness…. The best example of that I can think of would be Smith. It’s difficult to describe…. Maybe “sticky chew”
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Hmm… now that’s interesting, the “stickiness”. Usually, resin is used to described a flavor likened to pine sap. But it’s also used to describe mastic, which is likened to an evergreen, herbal type flavor. Mastic is a type of gum from the mastic tree. I’m wondering if the latex in fig trees is what is contributing to that kind of taste description since it seems to relate to the sap?
 
Inflorescence said:
Hmm… now that’s interesting, the “stickiness”. Usually, resin is used to described a flavor likened to pine sap. But it’s also used to describe mastic, which is likened to an evergreen, herbal type flavor. Mastic is a type of gum from the mastic tree. I’m wondering if the latex in fig trees is what is contributing to that kind of taste description since it seems to relate to the sap?
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I imagine there’s always some latex residue…. So makes sense
 
Inflorescence said:
Hmm… now that’s interesting, the “stickiness”. Usually, resin is used to described a flavor likened to pine sap. But it’s also used to describe mastic, which is likened to an evergreen, herbal type flavor. Mastic is a type of gum from the mastic tree. I’m wondering if the latex in fig trees is what is contributing to that kind of taste description since it seems to relate to the sap?
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I think of resin as burnt build up, usually something illicit
 
Pine resin was used to seal amphora filled with wine and added it’s taste to the wine, leading to some modern wines with added resin. For a resin taste, chew the sap from a pine tree.
I have eaten a few VdB’s. Taste varies with ripeness, of course and my palate is not refined whatsoever. I do often taste raspberry in the fruit and an astringency in the skin that may be resinous. It’s more something that lingers after the fruit and sweet (I do think brix needs to be involved in taste) taste ebbs.
It would be great if we knew what chemicals (anthocyanins can be bitter or astringent) contributed to flavors in figs


This article describes some bitterness in VdB.
 
I used to homebrew, and for beer, resin is typically described as a pine or cedar character that the sap gives off, or terpenoids from hops. Black currant can get extremely piney, so maybe it’s describing something like that, but I have never tasted black currant in a fig before.

Tannin berry I get because I have had a lot of tannic berries that dry out your tongue as you eat them: aronia, wild grapes, and to a lesser degree black raspberry. Oak and other woods also have tannins, which can get transferred into wines, beers and spirits unless the barrels are lined with wax.

I think the challenge with figs is that often the sweetness far out balances and masks any acidity, tannin or other flavors, so it can be harder to parse out those other flavor/mouthfeel characteristics.
 
I think of resin as a texture more than taste - a sticky substance that can be fig “honey”, pine sap, herbs noted above or what baseball pitchers use for grip.
 
Figocean said:
Black currant can get extremely piney, so maybe it’s describing something like that, but I have never tasted black currant in a fig before.
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It’s interesting you mention black current because I was reading on that having a resinous taste and was going to look into it. I thought maybe that could be part of the “berry” people are tasting.

I think the challenge with figs is that often the sweetness far out balances and masks any acidity, tannin or other flavors, so it can be harder to parse out those other flavor/mouthfeel characteristics.
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I agree. I think that’s why some of these are more noted in improperly ripened figs.
 
scott_va said:
Pine resin was used to seal amphora filled with wine and added it’s taste to the wine, leading to some modern wines with added resin. For a resin taste, chew the sap from a pine tree.
I have eaten a few VdB’s. Taste varies with ripeness, of course and my palate is not refined whatsoever. I do often taste raspberry in the fruit and an astringency in the skin that may be resinous. It’s more something that lingers after the fruit and sweet (I do think brix needs to be involved in taste) taste ebbs.
It would be great if we knew what chemicals (anthocyanins can be bitter or astringent) contributed to flavors in figs


This article describes some bitterness in VdB.
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Thank you for linking the article. It is interesting reading their taste descriptors. For VdB, they listed stickiness and astrigency. Both would apply to resin and tannin respectively, but in both cases are a feeling instead of a flavor.

They mentioned bitter and astringent for Ischia Black, another in the Bordeaux family. Again, both applying to resin and tannin.

Nothing similar was mentioned for Black Mission.

It was nice seeing them use stone fruit as a flavor category as that is definitely one of my categories and I feel it is sorely lacking in most flavor groupings for figs.

I noticed they mentioned citrus, and I have heard others describe some as having a citrus flavor, but I have yet to taste it myself in figs. I think they are referring to tanginess or brightness from acidity, which I have tasted, but to me it has represented other flavors so far.
 
You are correct, it was astringent for VdB, not bitter. I like that better. For me it’s not prominent or obnoxious, just a faint note that lingers. I think it’s in the skin, but I’ll have to wait till next summer to check.
 
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