Going to move this to CS.
Absolute favorite as well, hands down. They’re only available for a short time each year so they are extra special. Then probably Jazz, Granny Smith, and Galas. Honeycrisps are good, but not in the top 5.
Fuji apples are a staple at our house. Pink Ladys are also a favorite.
My personal favorite is Ambrosia. They should be appearing in the grocery store anytime now.
I don’t know that I’ve ever had a Honeycrisp. I’ll keep an eye out.
For everyday, I sure do like a Fuji.
Arkansas Black.
The article makes a reference to this apple being an “excellent keeper,” but I wouldn’t know ANYTHING about that. They don’t last long enough to keep!
~VOW
This is going to be very hipster-like of me, but the best apples I’ve had were Champagne apples from Dixon Apple Orchard in Cochiti Canyon, New Mexico. They went out of business after the big Las Conchas fire and subsequent flooding last year, even though many of the trees did survive.
Among generally available apples, I do agree that the Honeycrisps are very good. I’m just happy that we’ve come through the “Red Delicious is the only eating apple available” era.
Absolute favorite as well, hands down. They’re only available for a short time each year so they are extra special. Then probably Jazz, Granny Smith, and Galas. Honeycrisps are good, but not in the top 5.
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I had a roommate in college who drove a truck/worked a fruit stand for farmer’s markets. One day he brought home the most amazing apples I’d ever eaten. Before that day, I had no idea that apples could even be amazing. That was years ago and all I remembered about them was that their name started with an “M” and they were only around for a brief period each year. I came in hoping for an ID and now I’ve finally got it. Thank you.
Macouns! They’re what a Macintosh wants to be. BTW for those searching for them, I’ve also seen it misspelled Magoun or even Macgowan. Once I was at a farmer’s market in Michigan that had a HUGE number of apple breeds for sale (including Arkansas Black). I asked after Macoun and the farmer said he didn’t grow them. His assistant asked “Macoun? What’s that?” The farmer replied “oh, it’s sort of like a Macintosh, but bigger, firmer, crispier, more flavorful and juicier… shit… why don’t I grow those?”
Next up (and more widely available) are Empire and Cortlandt and Northern Spy and Winesap.
Honeycrisp are ok. Too sweet for me. I rarely buy apples out of season, but if I must I’ll go for Granny Smith since they’re tart and rarely mushy.
I’ve never had a bad Honeycrisp. But I’ve had sour Granny Smiths, my previous favorite.
Honeycrisp apples are my all-time favorite fruit. We have 2 trees but the early heat wave this year followed by late hard freezes finished off most of the crop. We had to buy them from the store!
Granny Smiths should be sour.
Honeycrisps are our favorite and we have a lot of them here in the Evergreen State but they are ridiculously expensive. We can get Fuji’s for about 1/4 the price. But when we feel like splurging or find a deal, then yeah, Honeycrisps are the best. I doff my cap to the U of Minn for coming up with them.
Zestars are really good eating apples also.
They also make a cross between a Honeycrisp and a Zestar called a Sweet Tango.
A lot of orchards around the metro have all three.
I came here to herald the Mutsu apple, was sad to see no one has mentioned, but at least we have another person here who shares appreciation for the Arkansas Black (hey, how’s it going, VOW ;))
Agreed, honeycrisps are great.
I really love a fresh Winesap–it slaps you in the face and shouts, “I’m an APPLE!”
Lately we’ve found freshly picked Mutsu apples at the farmers’ market that are extremely good. They’re enormous, but we slice them up and share.
I like *all *varieties of apples. The only kind I don’t like are mealy ones. That being said, I do prefer sweet-sour or tart tasting apples over others. Although it’s not considered an eating apple, one of my favorites is the Northern Spy. However, they are tough to find (even in Washington where I live).
I like Winesaps too but it’s been a long time since I’ve eaten one. It’s one of those apples that used to be fairly common in grocery stores but seemed to have disappeared.
McIntosh apples are my favorite. I’ve had some that put candy to shame. Red Delicious apples are an abomination before God and nature. I can’t get a decent apple here in northwest TN to save my life. In Pittsburgh I was spoiled by the freshness and availability.
Granny Smith all the way. I love how the tartness plays off the sweetness and the cold crunch of one after it’s been in the fridge for an hour - yum!
I’ve had several kinds of apples lately and I’d rank them
- Gala or Golden Delicious? Can’t remember, but I think they were one of those. I went back to buy more but since I couldn’t remember I got honey crisp.
Pretty simple apples, not a super strong taste, but they were very crisp.
- Honey crisp
Fantastic. Impeccable texture and great taste, though perhaps missing the elegant simplicity of my top choice.
- Pink Lady
Very good.
- McIntosh
Very disappointing. Not nearly as crisp as expected.
- Red Delicious
Terrible. Mushy and terrible. Probably shouldn’t even be on the same list as any of the others.
You got a bad one. A Red Delicious should be really crunchy.