Citruses are my favourite fruits. I like many other fruits too, but the citrus family keep releasing banger after banger.
This is my ranked list of citruses, in order of how much I like them:
1) Oranges
2) Limes
3) Blood oranges
4) Clementines and other mandarins
5) Lemons
6) Yuzus
7) Others I haven't tried
195) Grapefruits
Oranges are excellent in every way. I have a plan to eat more oranges, since every year I feel like orange season will pass me by and I haven't had enough. It will be enacted by bringing oranges to work as snacks to have during the afternoon breaks throughout the season. At home, I might just forget about the oranges I have. But at work, I'm eager to actually *be on break* while I'm on break, and eating fruit provides an excellent distraction from any annoying tasks I'm dealing with. And in my endeavour to save money, I will capitalise on the fac that in-season oranges are very cheap. In terms of the fruit itself, I will give it the maximum 10 points in every category, winning it the Best Citrus Ever Award. Some may claim peeling an orange is annoying, but I ignore that whole thing. I just cut them in slices with a knife.
I don't eat limes on their own (with one exception - the slice of a lime you get with a pad thai, that one I'll sink my teeth into for fun). But they're excellent in drinks, and all sorts of baked goods. Small, punchy, tasty, and they have that sour edge to them.
Blood oranges are tasty, and they're just different enough from oranges to be an exciting change every once in a while. One of my friends tried warning me against blood oranges once, claiming they were bitter and unpleasant, but I'm pretty sure she meant red grapefruit, which is called "blood grapefruit" in my language. Also, I should commit to the bit and buy a blood orange for my snack for Thursday. It's a tiny little Halloweeny touch to raise my coworkers' eyebrows when I'll be talking about spooky stuff anyway. A little blood (orange) will fit in just right.
Clementines are your typical tasty little fruit. Easy to peel, easy to take apart, easy to eat. And they are very tasty too. They are the obvious easy option for those who value comfort. Nothing wrong with that.
Lemons are given more fanfare than limes without being that much better to justify it. Lemon flavours in sweets and bakery stuff are wonderful, but the lemon loses to the lime in the raw fruit department - the fruit itself, and its juice, they aren't as tasty as the lime. This is my hot take.
Yuzus, I haven't actually ever had a yuzu. I've inferred the flavour from yuzu-flavoured things I've sometimes had the chance to buy. The position on this ranking could change wildly once I get my hands on one, someday.
I haven't tried a grapefruit in years. My memories tell me it's bitter and unpleasant, but my palate might be quite different nowadays. I've even learnt to eat olives, who knows what else I might learn to like?
I have gotten a taste for bitterness. I think our repulsion to bitterness stems from a mildly silly thing evolutionarily, where our bodies decided that bitter=poison, but so often it isnt the case. From drinking black teas and coffees, I feel like the bitterness of a grapefruit can become a positive aspect for it. Or just eat the flesh with sugar on top the way I used to as a kid.
Love grapefruit. bitter yes, but somehow it's never been a big problem for me.
Have you ever tried pomelo? They're just like grapefruit, but much milder and slightly sweet. The first time I tried one I thought I was hallucinating, or maybe just that I landed on a big batch of weird grapefruit.