# Favorite Apple Variety **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 11, 2009, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-apple-variety/517235 "2009-11-11T21:35:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-apple-variety/517235/41 "2009-11-12T21:07:44Z")
Another here who’s never heard of Honeycrisp, but will now kill …well, maim, to try one. Someone, please, describe the taste and texture if you can. ---
**Author:** ![AndyPolley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@AndyPolley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyPolley)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-apple-variety/517235/42 "2009-11-12T21:13:01Z")
> [@Zjestika](#): > > Honeycrisp, no contest. But also [Jazz](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_%28apple%29)! I’m a Fuji & Braeburn fan, but when my local markets get Jazzys, I stock up. A thin slice of a Jazz apple stacked with a slice of extra sharp cheddar is a snack of the Gods. ---
**Author:** ![otternell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecc23a/32.png) [@otternell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/otternell)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-apple-variety/517235/43 "2009-11-12T21:16:56Z")
The Honeycrisp is crunchy and crisp, with a nice sweet / tart flavor. I am eating one now (jealous?) and I just can’t think of how to describe the flavor very well. I think they are a bit more tart than Gala. Maybe similar to the Golden Delicious? ---
**Author:** ![nikonikosuru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@nikonikosuru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikonikosuru)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-apple-variety/517235/44 "2009-11-12T21:23:05Z")
Like otternell said, a Honeycrisp is very crispy and sweet. It’s not mealy at all and when you get a fresh one it’s insanely juicy. There are times where I’ll have apple juice run down my hand or arms eating a good Honeycrisp. ---
**Author:** ![Mahna\_Mahna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-apple-variety/517235/45 "2009-11-12T21:27:22Z")
Honeycrisp, hands down. They never seem to stay in stores for long, though… so I generally overdose on them during the couple of weeks that I can find them each autumn, and then settle for Cortlands or Spys the rest of the year. Red and Yellow Delicious get a bad rap because they don’t store well, but eaten straight off the tree they’re a thing of beauty. It’s been years since I’ve had a chance to go to a pick-your-own, though. ---
**Author:** ![Iggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Iggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggins)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-apple-variety/517235/46 "2009-11-12T21:56:03Z")
I’m a red delicious person, but I have noticed that it is getting harder and harder to find good ones. I’ll eat any available apple, though. I have easily averaged more than one apple a day over my entire life. When I get small apples, I have eaten up to 10 a day! ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-apple-variety/517235/47 "2009-11-12T21:59:08Z")
Macintosh. The one, the only. All others are pretenders. I almost never see winsap any more. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-apple-variety/517235/48 "2009-11-12T23:40:52Z")
Macintosh is my go to apple, when they are in season and a good size. Honeycrisp are nice. This summer I discovered Zestar…a very tasty apple ALSO from the Univ of Minnesota (like honeycrisp) [http://www.apples.umn.edu/zestar/index.html](http://www.apples.umn.edu/zestar/index.html) [http://www.apples.umn.edu/honeycrisp/index.html](http://www.apples.umn.edu/honeycrisp/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2009, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-apple-variety/517235/49 "2009-11-12T23:45:53Z")
I don’t really like crispy apples - it’s not that I like them overripe or mealy, but many of the older varieties are at their peak for flavour once they have softened a little in proper storage. I do like Cox and many of its offspring. I _really_ like Ashmead’s Kernel - a russet-skinned apple with an almost pear-like fragrance. ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-apple-variety/517235/50 "2009-11-13T03:56:29Z")
> [@Kingspades](#): > > Hands down [ginger gold](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginger_Gold). Damn straight. Ginger Golds have all other apples beat on texture _alone_. The local orchard has about a hundred Ginger Gold trees, and I’ll pick them from late August (a few weeks before anyone else wants to eat them - I like 'em tart) until late September, or whenever there are no more on the trees or the ground. I will eat ten pounds of these apples a week and wish for more. I planted a single Ginger Gold tree this year - I wish I had the room for more - and it is surrounded by three concentric fences to keep the #%#%#$% deer and rabbits away. I cannot bear the thought of losing that tree. Gold Rush is a not-terribly distant second; Zestar! is quite nice, as are Cox Orange Pippin, Mutsu, Spitzenberg, Dolgo Crab, and Calville Blanc d’Hiver. The eight months a year that I have to rely on grocery store apples is a slow torture. I have been irreversibly spoiled by having a fantastic orchard only a few miles from my house, with something like a hundred and fifty varieties to choose from, available from August all the way through the start of November. I’ll be going back this weekend to buy from their cooler in bulk; probably the last trip of the year (sob). ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-apple-variety/517235/51 "2009-11-13T04:54:27Z")
McIntosh. They’re my absolute fave. Perfect texture, awesome balance of sweetness and acidity. Unfortunately, they seem to be totally unavailable in the Pacific Northwest—one of the major apple-growing regions in the US. So… I’m stuck with lesser apples. I had Cortlands for a week (now no longer available). They were pretty darn close. We do have some Northern Spy here for the moment, which aren’t bad (better for pies than hand-eating, but I don’t have time for baking at the moment). Also Spartans. Not as good. Tried the Mutsus, Spitzenbergs, Cox’s Orange Pippins. Underwhelmed. Sigh. I miss New York apples. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-apple-variety/517235/52 "2009-11-13T06:39:21Z")
I like all varieties of apples. The only kind I don’t like are ones that have gone mealy. However, I do have a preference for apples that are tart with a bit of sweetness. > [@toadspittle](#): > > McIntosh. They’re my absolute fave. Perfect texture, awesome balance of sweetness and acidity. > > Unfortunately, they seem to be totally unavailable in the Pacific Northwest—one of the major apple-growing regions in the US. What part of the Pacific Northwest do you live in? Where I am, I’ve seen some local growers selling McIntoshes. > [@toadspittle](#): > > So… I’m stuck with lesser apples. I had Cortlands for a week (now no longer available). They were pretty darn close. We do have some Northern Spy here for the moment, which aren’t bad (better for pies than hand-eating, but I don’t have time for baking at the moment). I really like Northern Spies but they’re tough to find. The same is true for Winesaps which used to be fairly common but I haven’t seen sold in stores for years. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-apple-variety/517235/53 "2009-11-13T10:54:19Z")
Oh man, I haven’t seen a Winesap since our apple tree died twenty years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-apple-variety/517235/54 "2009-11-13T13:36:29Z")
You know those plastic tags they put on the bags to close them? [These](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3426/3360450162_930d899754.jpg) things. When I was little, my dad would take those and put them on the first button of my shirt. Then he would call me Miss Winesap. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Not\_Appearing\_on\_This\_Site](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7cd45c/32.png) [@Sir\_Not\_Appearing\_on\_This\_Site](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Not_Appearing_on_This_Site)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2009, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-apple-variety/517235/55 "2009-11-14T00:35:44Z")
McIntosh are my favorite. I get them here in Seattle, but they are all imported from British Columbia. I am convinced the Mac’s I got back in Michigan were better. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2009, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-apple-variety/517235/56 "2009-11-14T00:43:10Z")
> [@otternell](#): > > My employer buys apples and bananas and puts them in the breakroom for all employees, but unfortunately, the woman that is tasked with this generally buys Red Delicious. This week she bought Honeycrisp - YUM! > > Anyone have any favorite or least favorite apple varieties? > > I don’t really care for Red Delicious - too mealy. > But I love: Gala, Jonagold, Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, Granny Smith. > > Nothing like a fresh apple! Oh, Honeycrisp is the crystal meth of apples. Baby Royal Galas are lovely. Fujis are pretty good. Spartans are all right. Rome Beauties are great for pies. ---
**Author:** ![Countrypolitan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/858c86/32.png) [@Countrypolitan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Countrypolitan)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-apple-variety/517235/57 "2009-11-16T02:26:00Z")
The last time I had a Stayman (winesap) was from Easy Way produce in Memphis at Thanksgiving last year. The local orchard had Arkansas Black, which I didn’t get a chance to try. Anybody had one? The local Harris Teeter (Charleston) has Cortlands. Publix doesn’t have a very good selection in produce, and I haven’t checked Whole Paycheck yet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-apple-variety/517235.md?page=2)