I miss Jonagold. They were a common Michigan variety that simply does not seem to be available on the west coast. Same for Mcintosh. We used to go pick those along the Lake Michigan coast.
But as mentioned above, if the name says delicious, it is lying.
Honeycrisps here. We have a commercial orchard near our new house and we can go pick them off the trees and get them weighed and purchased. I am looking forward to a summer of fresh apple recipes. Anyone ever make applesauce?
Pink Lady is my favorite, having a touch of tartness added to sweet and crisp. Fujis come in second, seemingly always being sweet and crisp, though I did get some not so crisp recently. Yes, Red Delicious can be bad, very mushy, though they can look so beautiful in the display. Having worked for my uncle’s orchard, I can testify that if fresh off the tree, they can be very good.
Here in the last year, I’ve grown fond of pears. Not that I’ll turn my nose up at an apple. I love apples, but for years I couldn’t stand pears and all of a sudden they’re yummy. Go figure.
Braeburn, Honeycrisp, Cameo, Winesap/Stayman, Gala, Fuji (these have gotten worse over the past decade, similar to how Red Delicious went downhill earlier)
“By 2017, nurseries started with 300,000 WA 38 trees. Growers requested 4 million, which led to a drawing system for allocating the first available. Within three years, the industry had planted over 11.5 million trees and invested over half a billion dollars in the effort.”
I have been really anticipating this apple showing up. I would always look through the Winco apple aisle - which btw, is full of about 8-10 varieties, and I kept wondering when they’d show up.
My first bit was a big WOW with the crunch. I love a crunchy apple and this crunch was out of this world. It is so satisfying to bit into. Lots of juiciness with that crunch!
But, then a little bit of bitterness started to creep in and the more bites I took, the bitterness had an accumulative effect. Minutes go by after I finish it and I can still taste that bitterness.
So I wait a few days and try it another apple. Same thing. GREAT crunch, nice juices, and the initial taste is fine, but that lingering bitterness. Next apple I want to try & peel it first to see if it’s the skin or in the fruit of the apple.
I didn’t realize the Cosmic Crisp was some new thing. I ate a bag of them over the course of a week and liked them quite a bit. Most notable is that the ones I got were huge, but unlike other large apples they weren’t mealy at all. They tasted like jumbo sized Braeburn apples (a long-time favorite), which have been impossible to find locally for a couple years, so these are a welcome addition.
Jonagold are another fantastic variety. McIntosh are a variety I don’t really see out west, but were a major Michigan variety. Also one of my favorites. There are sub varieties of McIntosh that you can get at orchards, but not generally at stores. A lot of varieties in the western Michigan farmers markets.