What Are Black Sphinx Dates?

Black Sphinx is Arizona’s homegrown date legend — an heirloom variety that appeared as a chance seedling in the Phoenix area around the 1920s and has been treasured there ever since. The fruit is smaller than Medjool, very dark, thin-skinned and honey-soft, with a short season and a delicate constitution that keeps it close to home. Most of the crop comes from a scattering of Phoenix-area palms, and it sells out locally nearly every year.

Why you can’t find them

Black Sphinx is tender. Thin skin and high moisture make it a poor traveler and a poor warehouse date, which is why it never became a supermarket variety and why it’s mostly sold in and around Phoenix — Sphinx Date Ranch in Scottsdale is the best-known name attached to it. That scarcity is real, not marketing.

We grow these. Golden Zahidi Dates — Nutty, Less Sweet, Never Sticky | California Farm-Direct from our family farm in Sky Valley, California — from $15/lb, shipping included. See them →

We don’t grow Black Sphinx — here’s what’s closest

Our grove in Sky Valley, California grows three varieties chosen for how well they ship farm-direct: jumbo Medjool, golden Zahidi and seasonal Barhi. If the Black Sphinx profile is what you’re after — dark, soft, honey-forward — the nearest things we ship are:

Fully ripened jumbo Medjool — our cold-stored Medjool is the deep-caramel, melting experience most people are chasing in a dark soft date. In stock from $19.

Barhi at tamar — small, butterscotch-sweet and creamy, the closest texture cousin. Seasonal; the harvest waitlist is here.

Related reading: Khadrawy and Black Gold — two other soft, dark dates people hunt for — and our honest guide to Arizona dates.

Written by Jason Shopshear, who grows Medjool, Zahidi and Barhi dates at Desert Sun Dates in Sky Valley, California.