An apple a day: My personal ranking of apple varieties

[Denny]

Spotted this story today about the rise and kinda-fall of one of John's least favorite apples. It's interesting that from the sounds of it in this story, earlier in its history it actually *was* a good-tasting apple.

[John]

I loved this article so much, I'm going to pass it along to a few growers I'm friendly with. They uniformly detest Red Delicious (and rightfully so). Think they'll get a kick out of this.

By the way, I'm still updating my apple rankings. One new apple has been added so far this year: Silken. It's a Gala-like apple, mildly sweet and medium firm. I am no fan of Gala, so this didn't strike me well. I gave it a 2.5 (#94 overall). Silken becomes apple #148 on my ranking list. Two more to 150!

[Leones]

Saw this in the NY Time today, thought you guys might enjoy it:

An Apple a Day, for 47 Years
Apple Picking Season Is Here. Don't You Want More Than a Macintosh?

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/23/garde ... ket-region

[John]

Saw this in the NY Time today, thought you guys might enjoy it:

An Apple a Day, for 47 Years
Apple Picking Season Is Here. Don't You Want More Than a Macintosh?

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/23/garde ... ket-region

Loved this so much, I just forwarded it along to my apple-growing friends. Going to see if we can get it trending amongst their social media followers. :)

[Apollos]

At the local farm market today, I managed to get my hands on John's numbers 9 and 17 - the Stayman and the Winesap. I've never tried either but am very much looking forward to sampling both varieties this weekend It's worth noting that as I browsed the offerings, I pulled up your list as a reference guide, John.

[John]

At the local farm market today, I managed to get my hands on John's numbers 9 and 17 - the Stayman and the Winesap. I've never tried either but am very much looking forward to sampling both varieties this weekend It's worth noting that as I browsed the offerings, I pulled up your list as a reference guide, John.

Excellent! I'm glad to know that my list is contributing to your apple discovery, Brian.

[Lions]

Because this thread deserves a bump at least once every 2 years...

I recently had family visiting for the holidays and they returned from the store with this to declare:

I bought more apples! Red deLICious! Yum yum!

Yes... there's emphasis on the second syllable. I successfully managed to suppress my reaction and then sadly foisted these upon my 4 year old until they were gone. Hey, kid's gotta learn to eat nasty food sometimes, no? He has since asked to try the yellow, "opal" apples now available, although I'm not a big fan of these either. The good thing is, he asks for fruit!

I should also say that I think Honeycrisp are going to be this generation's Red Delicious. The quality seems to be declining.

[John]

Honeycrisp are ridiculously difficult to grow. They are susceptible to virtually every apple-afflicting disease known to man. That's part of the reason why they're so ridiculously expensive (the other part being the enormous demand for them). I'm of the mind that, while Honeycrisp is a decent enough apple, there are better and cheaper options out there for sweet apple lovers. Russets are a great option if you can find them and don't mind an ugly apple.

As for Red Delicious, I'm sorry, Frank, but you are an objectively terrible parent for foisting those on your child. I kid, I kid! Yes, learning to love apples trumps all. But seriously, maybe a Braeburn next time!

And while I'm here, be it known that the apple ranking list in the original post is 100% up-to-date. You've got about seven-and-a-half months until apple season, so do your research now and be ready when the time rolls around!

[kiersteadmo]

John,


I am glad I found this post. I have been amazed at the difference between apples in the states and in China. Chinese have a habit of pealing everything fruit and veggie they tend to eat, unless it is boiled in a hotpot. The big difference is that the amount of time it takes for an apple in the states to go bad compared to here. I cut up an apple last night and set it in a bowl for the wife. The next morning she is eating said apple that had little to no brown on it at all. I do not know if it is the way they take care of them or what hey use to grow them. Any thoughts?

[John]

The rapidity of an apple's browning has nothing to do with its quality and everything to do with its variety. Certain varieties are naturally resistant to browning. More recently, there has been work done to create GMO strains of apples that are browning-resistant. If the apples you're cutting up aren't browning, then they're resistant to that process for one of these two reasons.

[kiersteadmo]

Thanks John

[Denny]

One of my Facebook friends posted this apple-related story on their timeline so of course I must put it here as well :)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/20 ... 807464001/

I thought it was a bit of a hot take in places--they aren't simply different BRANDS of apple, they are genuinely different varieties (unlike Bananas, where the standard yellow ones in stores really ARE all one variety, the Cavendish) which have different taste, consistency, and other qualities--but also had some interesting info, including the first actual picture I've ever seen of a Knobbed Russet (I understand why they are not sold in stores now ). All in all an interesting piece.

[Lions]

I think you're going to see more branding with things like peaches and pears. My local big chain supermarkets all carry a good 4 different varieties of pears, and my wife has a business partner who sends her a box of Harry & David Royal Riviera pears for Christmas. They're delicious. Our farmer's markets have all sorts of varieties of peaches. I think the big challenge with these fruits, though, is that their shelf life is much shorter and their harvesting season isn't long. Some of the varieties only show up at market for a week or two before they move on to something else. Sweet Sue peaches are my wife's favorite. Apples obviously hit the sweet spot for consumers and retailers alike.

[John]

I think you're both right. The article seems to conflate "variety" with "brand," which isn't correct, though it's certainly true that certain varieties have established a particular cachet that affords them superior market share. I can tell you for a fact that if you want to sell a new variety of apple these days, your best bet is to tack the "Crisp" moniker to the end of it. Crispness seems to top all other considerations among apple buyers, or at least American apple buyers. Honestly, I expect you could call your new variety "SkunkCrisp" and people would buy it after double-checking with you that it really is crisp.

And yeah, I think we'll start seeing other produce growers try to capture that Honeycrisp magic by labeling their fruit with distinctive names. They're going to find the going harder, though, particularly because of the shorter shelf life, as Frank suggest. Plus, you can't really tack "Crisp" onto the name of a new pear variety, now can you? Well, not unless it's an Asian pear.

[Lions]

10. Zestar!

I found Zestar's at Portland's main Saturday farmer's market downtown yesterday, which had me immediately excited. They don't look quite like the one in the picture at the link, though, so I'm not sure if they're quite the same apple. The ones I found have less green and more white, but they are crisp and light. You pick one up and feel like half of it is filled with air.