Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 29 Dec 2024

What is the best fruit for summer drinks and wine?

🍸 What is the best fruit for summer drinks and wine?


  • 🍋 Hands, down, Costa Rican Guava, or Cas Guava (Psidium friedrichsthalianum) takes the crown! This tropical gem from Central America is known for its intense flavor, making it perfect for refreshing beverages and creative drinks. The tree is incredibly productive - even young ones yield abundant fruit!

  • 🍋 We discovered this fruit last Summer. The tree was so productive (on the second year!), we didn't know what to do with so much fruit! So we made a concentrated drink and have been drinking it since then. It looks like the juice has antibacterial properties so it doesn't need to be canned, it stores for months in refrigerator.

  • 🍋 Plans for 2025 season crop: Homemade Cas Guava wine!
Next summer, we are going to try making wine with Cas Guava. Its bold, tangy flavor is sure to produce a delicious, unique brew!

💯 Why choose Cas Guava?


  • • Packed with vitamin C - four times more than lemons - for a powerful immune boost.
  • • Rich in antioxidants to combat stress and inflammation.
  • • Hardy and low-maintenance, thriving in poor soils and resisting pests.


🍸 Recipe: Cas Guava Juice Concentrate



Ingredients:
  • •  Fresh Cas Guavas
  • •  Sugar (to taste)

  • Instructions:
  • • Wash the guavas, cut in half and place them in a large pot with enough water to cover.
  • • Add sugar to taste and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5-10 min until the fruit softens.
  • • Let sit for a few hours so the fruit softens more.
  • • Strain the liquid through a colander to remove the pulp.
  • • Bottle the concentrate and refrigerate.
  • • To serve, dilute with water to your liking for a flavorful, tangy drink!

This concentrate doesn’t need sterilizing/canning and stays fresh for months, thanks to Cas Guava’s natural antibacterial properties.

🍸 Traditional Favorite: Agua de Cas



Cas Guava is the key ingredient in Costa Rica's famous Agua de Cas, a blend of cas juice, water, and sugar. It's a refreshing, slightly acidic drink that's perfect for hot days.

With its vibrant taste, rich nutrients, and endless possibilities, Cas Guava is a must-have for gardeners and culinary adventurers alike!

📚 Learn more:

🛒 Order Cas Guava

#Food_Forest #Recipes #Guava

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Date: 29 Jul 2025

Strawberry Guava for best Margaritas - the easiest fruit tree youll ever grow!

Strawberry Guava, Cattley Guava - Psidium littorale

🍓 Strawberry Guava for best Margaritas - the easiest fruit tree you'll ever grow!

  • 🍓 If you're looking for a cold-hardy tropical fruit tree that thrives on neglect, you’ve found it: Strawberry Guava, or Cattley Guava (Psidium littorale). It's our favorite Guava at Top Tropicals!
  • 🍓 This fast-growing, evergreen small tree or dense bush doesn’t mind poor soil, limestone, or salt. It’s hardy to the low 20s F, drought-tolerant once established, and can even handle short-term flooding. Great as a hedge, windbreak, or container specimen, it also adds beauty year-round with glossy green leaves, peeling reddish bark, and soft red new growth.
  • 🍓 You’ll get round, tangy-sweet fruit from spring through fall - perfect for snacking, jams, or jellies, juices, and adding to all kinds of drinks, especially Margaritas and Mojitos! 🍸
  • 🍓 The red and yellow types are both tasty, with the yellow often a bit larger and sweeter. The sweetest and the most flavorful Cattley Guava variety is Hawaiian Gold - Psidium littorale var. Lucidum. This one is our favorite for eating out of hand!
  • 🍓 Cattley Guava is productive, low-maintenance, and ornamental - one of the easiest tropical fruit trees to grow in poor or alkaline soils.


🛒 Add a sweet guava hedge to your yard

📚 Learn more:


#Food_Forest #Guava

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Date: 24 Oct 2025

Guava beats banana in the potassium game

Tropical Guava - Psidium guajava

Tropical Guava - Psidium guajava

🍉 Guava beats banana in the potassium game

  • 🍉Everyone talks about bananas when it comes to potassium, but guava (Tropical Guava - Psidium guajava) quietly beats them! One cup of guava packs around 688 milligrams of potassium, compared to about 450 in a banana!
  • 🍉Potassium is essential for strong bones, steady blood pressure, muscle function, and a healthy nervous system. Adults need between 2,600 and 3,400 mg daily, according to the National Institute of Health - so adding guava to your fruit bowl is a smart move.
  • 🍉Guavas are common across the tropics - from Mexico to the Caribbean - with green or yellow skin and beautiful pink or off-white flesh. Sweet, aromatic, and easy to grow in warm climates, guava is one tropical fruit that truly earns its place in the garden and on your plate.


🛒 Your body needs potassium - your garden grows it on guava tree!

📚 Learn more:


#Food_Forest #Guava #Discover

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Date: 19 Mar 2026

Guava chili glaze: quick-n-fun exotic recipes

Guava chili glazed grilled chicken

Guava chili glazed grilled chicken

Guava fruit

Guava fruit

🍴 Guava chili glaze: quick-n-fun exotic recipes

  • 🔴Simmer guava puree with chili flakes and a squeeze of lime.
  • 🔴Brush onto grilled chicken


🌿 About the plant:


Guava is a tropical tree with fragrant fruit rich in vitamin C and aromatic pulp.

🏡 In the garden:


Thrives in warm climates, tolerates some drought. Responds well to pruning and can be grown in containers.

🛒 Grow your own guava tree

📚 Learn more:

Plant Facts

Psidium guajava
Tropical Guava, Guajava
USDA Zone: 9-11
Large shrub 5-10 ft tallSmall tree 10-20 ftSemi-shadeFull sunRegular waterWhite, off-white flowersEdible plantSubtropical plant. Mature plant cold hardy at least to 30s F for a short timeFlood tolerant plant
  • Guava trees in Plant Encyclopedia
  • Guava fudge: quick-n-fun exotic recipes
  • Six guava varieties that will keep you picking year-round
  • How to grow a Guava Tree: Practical Guide to Growing Guava
  • More about #Guava

  • #Food_Forest #Recipes

    🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

    Date: 31 Aug 2025

    Zero Sugar fruit: forget lemonade - new perfect summer drink discovered!

    Costa Rican Guava, Cas Guava - Psidium friedrichsthalianum

    Zero Sugar fruit: forget lemonade - new perfect summer drink discovered!

    • 🍋 Costa Rican Guava, or Cas Guava (Psidium friedrichsthalianum) is the boldest fruit you can grow for refreshing drinks. Its flavor is sharp, tangy, and unforgettable - perfect for anyone who loves acidic fruit. Cas Guava has sugar at all, unless you decide to add some.
    • 🍋 The trees are super prolific - even young ones fruit heavily, and we make gallons of juice at Top Tropicals.
    • 🍋 The best part? You can freeze the fruit or boil it into a concentrate with a bit of sugar. That drink lasts in the fridge for months without going bad, thanks to Cas Guava’s natural antibacterial punch.
    • 🍋 Cas Guava juice is Costa Rica’s traditional Agua de Cas - tart, refreshing, and perfect for summer heat. And if you save enough, you’ll still be sipping it through the winter.


    ♨️ Agua de Cas Quick Recipe


    We boiled this fruit and the drink lasted for months!
    • Boil halved fruits in water with sugar to taste
    • Simmer 5-10 minutes, let sit, then mash the softened fruit to release all the flavor
    • Strain through a colander, bottle, and refrigerate - just dilute with water when serving


    ✔️ Why choose Cas Guava?

    • • Packed with vitamin C - four times more than lemons - for a powerful immune boost.
    • • Rich in antioxidants to combat stress and inflammation.
    • • Hardy and low-maintenance, thriving in poor soils and resisting pests.


    🛒 Grow your own Cas Guava

    📚 Learn more:


    #Food_Forest #Recipes #Guava

    🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals