I was just reading about the apples in Kazakhstan and how some of them tasted strongly of anise. Then I recalled folks on this forum writing of modern cultivated varieties with anise flavour. Which ones are of strong anise flavour ?
3 Likes
A couple that come to mind right away: Freyberg and Milo Gibson.
Some folks experience anise with Sweet 16, though there are many other flavors described for it. Mine seem closer to cherry candy, but I do get a hint of anise as well.
8 Likes
My Sweet 16 were very cherry-candy flavored and I didn’t care for it. (Shame because the graft took so well - I may just switch it over to something I really like, such as Karmijn, Rubinette, or Ginger Gold -all clear winners this last year.)
2 Likes
I hated it also until I learned it taste good to me if I didn’t let it get dead ripe on the tree.
2 Likes
Freyburg and Fenouillet gris are supposed to be anise flavored.
(It’s not a flavor I particularly like.)
Haven’t eaten the “16” apple, but I do have Frostbite, one of the parents.
Only fruit so far I harvested before it ripened enough.
To me, the recent “Opal” apple has some hints of fennel in it.
2 Likes
I was disappointed in Freyberg after reading very positive reviews here about it and decided not to keep in in my orchard. I’m not fond of strong anise flavored apples either and probably wouldn’t enjoy any flavor mixed with the fruit that wasn’t another fruit. Well, I don’t know- Vanilla? Chocolate?.. maybe ginger.
Got to work breeders.
That true…some acid might improve the anise flavor.
I had pizza once covered in fennel…not my thing, but tried it.
Breeding…red flesh crosses I’ll be playing in earnest this spring as I’ll have 6 or more red fleshed cultivars in bloom and a couple dozen other apples…many for the first time.
Well, at least things aren’t setting up for an early spring at this point- always a good sign for fruit growers in most regions- as long as cold to cool holds for a couple more months. .
Setting up for an early spring? No sign of spring here in northern Wisconsin. A couple nights of minus 17 F. In the forecast the coming week. Early springs usually are a disaster with a late frost wiping out the fruit. I prefer a gradual and late spring.
2 Likes
My comment was missing two letters and an apostrophe, reversing its meaning into an absurd statement.
1 Like
Now it makes sense. 
1 Like
Not counting the red fleshed, I actually have a Kaz apple that may fruit this year. Be interesting to see.
frostbite, a parent of sweet 16 has the anise profile as well. hopefully mine fruit for me next summer.
4 Likes
Ellison’s Orange is a late flowering Cox offspring from UK that is supposed to have an anise flavour that develops in storage.
3 Likes
I don’t think that I’ve detected an anise component in the Frostbites that I’ve grown here, for what it’s worth. Quite an interesting apple, though.
3 Likes
There are several on Pomiferous, and I have found them listed elsewhere. Mostly French or English origin, not necessarily an American-loved flavor. I adore fennel and licorice, so I am hoping what I have grafted lives. Freyburg, Fenouillet gris, Fenouillet rouge, Milo Gibson, Anis, Pomme de Anis, Mutsu, Sweet Sixteen, Ellison’s Orange, Dr. Mathews, Merton Delight, all are mentioned as fennel or anise flavor. Depends on cultivar, ripeness, your soil…
5 Likes
Indeed. I grow Doctor Matthews as well, and while it’s a fine apple and well worth growing, it doesn’t have a noticeable anise taste here.
1 Like
I really enjoy my Frostbite fruit. I detect a lot of flavors, but I can’t say anise is one of them. Definitely the most unique flavored apple I’ve eaten.
5 Likes
The Geneva repository has a “Fenouillet de Ribours”. I assume any Fenouillet will have a black licorice flavor like anise or fennel. It’s interesting how certain distinctive flavors manifest in nature.
I like fennel seed in Italian sausage. I’m a fan of Freyburg, and suspect the flavor and quality vary with conditions, perhaps more than others.
Veering to a tangent off topic, Howard Miracle is a distinctively flavored Japanese plum. People say they taste pineapple, I think I’ve tasted some grapefruit and a bit of peach in it. But this past summer, with the extraordinary heat of 115 plus, unprecedented here - I shared some fruit with visiting relatives and they said it tasted like rose water. I tried it, and darned if it didn’t - and pretty strongly. They were quite taken with it.
3 Likes
i believe its shows itself in much colder environments from what ive read.
1 Like