Blood Oranges Are Back! Here’s How We Pick the Sweetest

Today, I helped give a tour of The FruitGuys’ South San Francisco facility along with Nicole, our operations manager. She stopped beside a big case of oranges, grabbed one, and pulled out her refractometer to demonstrate how we test a fruit’s Brix.

Meet Brix: A Shortcut to the Sweetest Fruit

Brix is a measurement of the sugar content in a piece of fruit. You drop some of the fruit’s juice onto the refractometer and look through the viewfinder to check the amount of sugar. Generally speaking, the higher the Brix, the sweeter the fruit. We aim for a specific Brix range for each type of fruit we deliver, so the refractometer might read 12°Bx for a banana or 14°Bx for an apple. We Brix our fruit to make sure it has good flavor and will be ready to eat when it arrives in your fruit delivery.

Nicole was using a blood orange for her demonstration. As she sliced it open and its dark red flesh caught the light, I couldn’t help but think, “What a beauty!”

Seasonal Fruit Is Always Best

I know it’s silly, but the last blood orange I ate—way back in the spring of 2025—wasn’t nearly as pretty as this one. It was so late in the season that we weren’t even carrying blood oranges at The FruitGuys anymore. I had to get one at the grocery store, and the moment I took a bite, I knew that its magic had faded. I should have given up on that last taste and said, “See you next year!”

So today, I was truly excited to watch Nicole cut open that gorgeous blood orange. It was incredibly juicy, with a perfect blood-red color on the inside and a deep, rich red blush on the outside. You’d think that after 17 years in the business I wouldn’t be awed by a piece of fruit—but it turns out I can still surprise myself! The orange Brixed at 16°Bx, which is within the range that we look for. As the season goes on, we may see those sugars increase.

Side note: This year, I’m determined to say goodbye to blood oranges when their season ends. Seasonal fruit tastes better and is better for you, too. Check out our blog “Why Seasonal Fruit Is Good for You” to learn more.

Blood Orange Benefits, Recipes, and More

Blood orange season is just starting, so we have lots of time left to enjoy them. Like a lot of citrus, they have great nutritional benefits. Vitamin C, fiber, and antioxidants like anthocyanins (which give the fruit its red color) are just a few of them. You can eat one out of hand, juice it into a glass of water, or add it to a salad like this one.

My favorite part of eating a blood orange actually isn’t the health benefits or even the taste. It’s pulling off the peel and inhaling as its amazing citrus scent fills the room. In the winter, there’s nothing better than fresh citrus for engaging all of our senses.

Welcome back, blood oranges! Oh, how I’ve missed you.