Atlanta? You do make a few trips to Ellijay every fall for apples, don’t you? If not, you should. I live in S. GA, and make the annual apple pilgrimage there at least once a year.
Doing a little research, it appears royalties are still payed but only in other countries and it is per tree not per fruit so that isn’t the cause. This article goes into why they still cost more then other Apples. The short answer is: it’s harder to grow then other apples.
Well, that was fun! We chatted far too long about russeting and apple varieties. There are actually apple varieties bred to reduce/eliminate russeting, including a Golden Delicious variety they’ve had in the orchard for >40 years (the orchard is multi-generational).
When the Golden Delicious was first grown, russeting was the primary drawback to the variety.
I also learned that there is an apple variety currently only grown in Washington state and there are no plans to sell the tree anywhere outside of the state.
Actually, the real answer is because the market will bear a higher price. A lot of customers are willing to pay a premium for Honeycrisp.
I think they aren’t too hard to grow in Minnesota, where they were bred. They are grown in lots of places outside their ideal range because customers are willing to pay extra for them, so it’s worth it for orchardists to deal with their quirks.
So am I- most of what I mentioned is readily available at Kroger, and certainly at Whole Foods, HEB Central Market or Sprouts Farmers Market.
The local farmer’s markets don’t have many potatoes (or apples either), probably because they don’t grow too well here. We do get some stellar tomatoes, peaches and strawberries when they’re in season though, as they DO grow very well here.
Honeycrisps are usually $3.50 a lb. Pink Ladies are $2 a lb. Another reason I get Pink Ladies.
Not six hours after I posted this … I went to our regular ol’ down-the-street grocery store. Not even a Whole Foods or anyplace fancy like that.
And I see they now stock NINE kinds of apples 
The two Deliciouses, Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, Gala, Fuji, another one I forgot … and now the Cosmic Crisps so many in this thread have been raving about 
Might not have nine varieties locally all year round … but I will sample what’s available.
Oh, yes. Mercier Orchards near Blue Ridge has a fall varietal called “September Wonder”. Last time we were up there in the fall, I came home with a ten-pound bag of those and another of Braeburns. I’m also partial to the Apple Barn’s Arkansas Blacks.
A couple of relatively recent arrivals around the DC area are the Envy and the Kiku. Very sweet, typically very crunchy.
I used to eat Honeycrisps and Pink Ladies, but after a bit of experimentation I found that they were the primary culprit in making the inside of my upper teeth sensitive when being brushed, so much that I can’t bear to eat any sweet apple at all. Which is just as well, because they tend to be more expensive when not on sale (though Honeycrisp often are on sale). I prefer Galas as my everyday apple, though I prefer other fruits when I can get them on sale.
Nonsense. It’s an easier drive to Gay, where my cousins grow the sweetest apples around. Try to time your trip to coincide with the Cotton Pickin’ Festival, and be sure to get some sweet onions while you’re there.
Honeycrisps are pretty good and I like the crispness, but I still prefer a Macoun or, lacking that, a Macintosh, even though Macs get mushy quickly. I guess I like apples that have a bit of tartness, which is why I always looked for the pre-ripened apples on the trees around here when I was a kid.
For baking, Northern Spies. They are very late apples, keep quite a while if they’re refrigerated, and they are also used for cider. They do have a cider-y flavor to them. Again, has a tart element. They are difficult to find and, of the local orchards that grow them, are sold in limited quantities. They’re not expensive; it’s just that they are a very old variety and most people like newer varieties, so they are grown in fewer places.
I also like to mix in some Granny Smiths when baking.
I’ll have to try some of the other varieties mentioned.
But someone mentioned peaches upthread and I like peaches a lot more than apples. So now the apples have been ruined for me. Give me the peaches.
Aru? <<ears perk up>>
Where is Gay, and what’s your cousins’ orchard called? If it’s not too far from Atlanta, I might check it out.
You can PM me, if you’d prefer not to identify them.
Well, if you haven’t had EverCrisp apples you haven’t lived. Combo of HoneyCrisp and Fuji. Best of both.
Braeburns are my favorite as I’ve said, but does anyone else like ginger golds? They’re tart though not as tart as a granny smith and excellent for baking. I think the best turnovers I’ve ever made were made with ones I’d picked at a farm nearby.
Bestest apple=Arkansas Black. Get them at the orchard. They are one of the very last to ripen, so look for them at the end of November. And apparently they only yield a marketable crop every other year. It is the crispest, crunchiest apple I’ve ever eaten.
Gravenstein right off the tree is almost perfect.
I gave up looking for crisp apples in the supermarket. Granny Smith are crisp, but almost tasteless except for sour. I really miss Pippins!
Honey Crisp is the first crisp supermarket apple I’ve found in years and years.
~VOW
I like them, but their season is short. I prefer a slightly tarter apple, but Ginger Golds have a nice rich flavor.
I find it strange that the whole world seems to have run headlong after the notion that the best kind of apple is (what seems to me) a hard, crunchy, sour thing.
A good Cox/Pippin apple, stored in a cool, dark place for a month, is such a beautiful thing - crisp to bite, but not hard, juicy and with a softness inside that is not in any way dry or mealy; fully ripe with amazing aroma, sweetness and juiciness.
You can’t get these in a supermarket though. All you can get in a supermarket is apples that lend themselves to supermarket handling and storage processes - harder apples.
I’m pretty sure I’ve had a Cox variety since I picked up some Kentish apples one time when I was in London and they were indeed decently crisp and pleasantly-odiferous.
But in America I’ve found that apples tend to be more sweet, crisp, and juicy than that, to the point that I don’t like it unless they are freshly-picked so they still have the aroma.
“Hard, crunchy, and sour” to me only describes Red Delicious, which doesn’t strike me as something the world is enamored with so much as something the world puts up with because the industry finds them cheap and rugged.
I was literally summarizing an article that I linked to about why they cost more.