The Planetary Extreme Baseball Alliance

Is there any apple called Tote? It's yellow. I think that's what is in my fridge right now from a local orchard. Not bad, a little bland.

Cyclones wrote:Is there any apple called Tote? It's yellow. I think that's what is in my fridge right now from a local orchard. Not bad, a little bland.

I can find no reference to an apple called "Tote". If you haven't mistaken the name, I would guess that it's an orchard's local name for a differently named apple. Orchards sometimes utilize unique local names for apples to increase their market appeal. For instance, one of my local orchards calls Mutsu apples "Crispin", presumably because they believe the name is more appealing to their consumers. Another case where you'll see local names is when a recently developed cultivar hasn't yet received an official name. For instance, I should have a chance to sample an apple next week that still goes by its developmental name, "NY428". Understandably, orchards aren't too excited to sell an apple named "NY428", so early adopters are applying local names like "Garnet Spy" and "Sister of Fortune". Makes researching these things challenging... and fun.

New apple reviews!

• SnowSweet (1.5, #85) - As a lover of tart apples, any apple with "sweet" in the name is pretty much DOA for me. Still, it's my God-given mission to sample every apple variety I can get my hands on. I did my duty here, but I can't say anything good about this U. of Minnesota-developed apple. It's even worse than Sweet Sixteen, the U. of Minnesota apple I reviewed last time.
• Spartan (2, #71) - I am told their are people that actually like McIntosh apples. I find this hard to believe, but if it's true and you happen to be one of these people, you could do worse than Spartan, which at least has a hint of tartness and firmness.
• Grimes Golden (6, #29) - Believed to be one of the parents of Golden Delicious. Grimes Golden is vastly superior to that overrated apple, though. It's got a bright, sunny taste to it; not at all an overpowering flavor, but mildly pleasant. This is an apple you actually might find at a local orchard. If you're looking for a "safe" apple that's going to be good, I recommend Grimes Golden.

Good info. I will see what I can discover.

I was proud we had a local apple in our kitchen. LOL.

EDIT: I THINK the variety is Ginger Gold, which is #75 on your list, not so good. Then again it could be Ginger Crisp??

Well, despite my plan to sample many varieties from the produce stands or orchards, I think I have missed the prime apple tasting season. Earlier in the year my wife and I were hitting the local produce stands rather than the grocery store for our fruit and vegetables. We got away from that practice later in the year and I never went out of my way to find other apple varieties.

For most of my life I have been an apple lover (not nearly as devoted as John is though). I'm almost certain to have eaten more than an apple a day on average. But this season, my desire for apples seems to have faded.

My favorite for many years has been the Fuji, followed in second place by the Gala. I'll settle for Golden Delicious if it's the best available. I despise Red Delicious (despite my childhood impression that Red Delicious was the definition of apple) and avoid Granny Smith (much too tart for my tastes). But any apple is still better than none.

I did try (thanks to John's posts) a few varieties, new to me, from the grocery store.
1. Pink Lady has become my new favorite, edging out Fuji. Unfortunately I don't think it will be available year round as the Fuji seems to be.
2. Honeycrisp is very good and nice for a change from the Fuji. I still rank it slightly below the Fuji in my taste preferences. Though I will definitely seek them out when in season.
3. There was a third variety that I tried, but can not remember the name of the variety. As soon as I got home from the grocery store I tried to find the variety name in John's list and then on the internet, but was unsuccessful. So I believe that it was one of those local names or names that the grocery store slapped on instead of the official name. In either case, it was a good variety, but had several flaws (mainly too mushy).

I have let more apples go bad this past month than I have eaten. Definitely a sign that my interest in apples has diminished. But I think if I take a break from then, my taste will spark back up some day not too far in the future.

The apples you mentioned, Jim - Fuji, Gala, Red and Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Honeycrisp - form the group that are carried in every grocery store in America. Unfortunately, these grocery store versions represent the bottom of the apple barrel. Apples from the grocery store are built to ship, not to eat. They're treated with chemicals that preserve them for unnatural lengths of time. You can practically scrape the wax off of them. Worse, most of these varieties represent the low end of quality amongst apple varieties.

So if you're looking to rediscover your love of apples, I would definitely recommend taking a trip out to your local orchard and seeking out either late-season varieties that are new to you (e.g. Stayman Winesap, Braeburn, GoldRush, Suncrisp) or orchard-fresh versions of supermarket favorites (e.g. Fuji, Gala, Honeycrisp). The difference in quality will astound you, I promise, even when comparing orchard vs. supermarket like-kind apples.

As for my apple mega-rankings, I've just recently wrapped up the 2011 taste-testing season. My list is up to 110 ranked apples. There may be some position jostling over the next few days as I make my final adjustments, but I can definitively say that the big finds of 2011 were Saint Edmund’s Pippin, Albemarle Pippin, and the yet-to-be-officially-named NY 428. The very worst of the new varieties I sampled was Auvil Early Fuji. I have yet to find a Fuji that I like, though I recommend Fuji KIKU to Fuji fans as the best of a bad lot (you can find Fuji KIKU at Whole Foods, though as always, it's not as good from the supermarket).

All in all, 26 new apples were added to the list this year. If I want to add that many next year, I'm going to have to hit the road - I've pretty much exhausted the depth of my local orchards. New York and Virginia may be targets. In the future, I'd like to take a trip up to New England during apple season and visit one of the many heirloom orchards in that area. For now, I hope my mega-rankings give you some food for thought and inspiration to seek out new apples when the season rolls around again.

This is how to eat apples.
My wife made it from scratch for Thanksgiving, using Staymen Winesap apples. Yum.

Amen brother!

Ghosts wrote:This is how to eat apples.

My wife made it from scratch for Thanksgiving, using Staymen Winesap apples. Yum.

The only downside to our recent trip was being away on Thanksgiving day. I can't wait to spend next Thanksgiving back in the States with our friends/family and a couple full days of football. Hope everyone enjoyed it!

John ,


Have you ever tried Organic apples? we get some here called Daisey farm Organic apples, Does not tell us the type of apple it is though.

Crushers wrote:Have you ever tried Organic apples? we get some here called Daisey farm Organic apples, Does not tell us the type of apple it is though.

Unfortunately, there are no local organic apple growers in my area. I can purchase organic apples from the grocery store in the standard varieties (Red/Golden Delicious, Fuji, Granny Smith, Braeburn, etc.), but buying from the grocery store (which means buying from across the country or even the world) is exactly what I'm trying to avoid. While I target organic produce whenever I can, I'm willing to thoroughly wash my apples before eating them so that I can have a much wider variety of locally produced apples.

I'm quite surprised by that, John. The farmers markets in Portland are seemingly exclusively organic (at least most stands advertise as such). I can't recall seeing any of the more unusual/heirloom varieties as not being sold as organic.

Yes, Portland is renowned for the extensiveness and diversity of its farmers' markets. I would love to check them out. Actually, Cleveland has a vibrant farmers' market scene of its own, but sadly, we have no organic apple growers in the northeast Ohio area, and few growers of heirloom varieties. I've pretty much exhausted this area's resources. Next year, I'll need to extend into other states to expand my list of apples.

PEBA Commissioner wrote:Yes, Portland is renowned for the extensiveness and diversity of its farmers' markets. I would love to check them out. Actually, Cleveland has a vibrant farmers' market scene of its own, but sadly, we have no organic apple growers in the northeast Ohio area, and few growers of heirloom varieties. I've pretty much exhausted this area's resources. Next year, I'll need to extend into other states to expand my list of apples.

Wait a sec, NE Ohio? I thought you lived in Asheville, NC? Have I been duped?

Sandgnats wrote:

PEBA Commissioner wrote:Yes, Portland is renowned for the extensiveness and diversity of its farmers' markets. I would love to check them out. Actually, Cleveland has a vibrant farmers' market scene of its own, but sadly, we have no organic apple growers in the northeast Ohio area, and few growers of heirloom varieties. I've pretty much exhausted this area's resources. Next year, I'll need to extend into other states to expand my list of apples.

Wait a sec, NE Ohio? I thought you lived in Asheville, NC? Have I been duped?

Yes, I thought the same until recently. Turns out Asheville is the home of PEBA headquarters only.

Which explains John's strange affection for a certain team.

Ghosts wrote:Yes, I thought the same until recently. Turns out Asheville is the home of PEBA headquarters only.

If you're going to create a fantasy world, I say go all in and make it a liveable place. Somewhere out there, there's an alternate reality where Commissioner John Rodriguez, Jr. is running the PEBA out of Asheville, NC offices.