I have appreciated reading about how various apples taste and finally have had the opportunity to purchase a few of the more interesting varieties from an orchard in CT. I sampled these apples with three other people and recorded our tasting notes along with brix measurements that were taken with a brix refractometer. I also added references to the USDA database for anyone interested in that information.
| Apple Variety | Source | USDA Link | USDA Brix | Tasting Brix | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cox Orange Pippin | CT Orchard zone 6a | PI 588853 GRIN-Global (ars-grin.gov) | 12.1 | 14 | Sweet and tart, aromatic with one taster noting a honey element. Generally well liked by all tasters. |
| Golden Russet | CT Orchard zone 6a | PI 589892 GRIN-Global (ars-grin.gov) | 21.2 | 18 | Sweet and sour. Generally well liked and ranked as favorite by one taster. |
| Ashmed’s Kernel | CT Orchard zone 6a | PI 589654 GRIN-Global (ars-grin.gov) | 16.9 | 14 | Sweet and tart with some spice elements. Generally well liked and ranked as second choice by one taster. |
| Wickson | CT Orchard zone 6a | PI 613818 GRIN-Global (ars-grin.gov) | 16.5 | 17.5 | Golf ball size. Very flavorful. Both sweet and tart with some spice elements. Ranked as favorite by one taster and second choice by another taster. |
| Pink Pearl | CT Orchard zone 6a | PI 588980 GRIN-Global (ars-grin.gov) | 12.7 | 12 | Nice color with spots of pink throughout. Flavor was not exciting but was not bad so nice eating apple. |
| Hudson Golden Gem | CT Orchard zone 6a | PI 590157 GRIN-Global (ars-grin.gov) | 12.4 | 12.5 | Sweet, crisp, low acid, little to no typical apple flavor. We could see how this is often compared to a pear. Ranked as second choice by one taster. |
| Firecracker | CT Orchard zone 6a | Recent Cornell release not in grin | 12 | Had a bit of an aftertaste which some thought was bitter while others perceived as a spice flavor but generally not exciting. | |
| Norther Spy | CT Orchard zone 6a | PI 588872 GRIN-Global (ars-grin.gov) | 14.8 | 14 | The largest apple in the group. Two tasters noted a strong leading note that one described as mandarin. The other two tasters did not experience this. Generally well liked. Ranked as best by one taster. Overall the best apple when averaging opinion of all tasters. |
| Winesap | CT Orchard zone 6a | PI 588799 GRIN-Global (ars-grin.gov) | 13.3 | 11.4 | Nice eating apple but did not stand out. |
| Esopus Spitzenburg | CT Orchard zone 6a | PI 588785 GRIN-Global (ars-grin.gov) | 14.9 | 11.9 | Nice eating apple but did not stand out. Was tried at same time as Winesap and considered about equal. |
| Cordera | CT Orchard zone 6a | Recent Cornell release not in grin | 13.5 | Nice flavor with cider/spice elements. Favorite of one of the tasters. | |
| Cortland | Grocery store | PI 588848 GRIN-Global (ars-grin.gov) | 14.8 | 9 | Bland. Worst of all of the apples but this was the only store bought apple and likely not reflective of Cortland as an apple type |
| Grimes Golden | CT Orchard zone 6a | PI 588791 GRIN-Global (ars-grin.gov) | 15.1 | 13 | Mild, sweet, not very sour. Resembled store bought golden delicious but with additional flavor |
| Baldwin | CT Orchard zone 6a | PI 589884 GRIN-Global (ars-grin.gov) | 13.2 | 15.5 | Generally tasty, had a berry flavor element resembling cranberry. One taster thought it tasted soapy and wasn’t a big fan but the other three tasters liked it. Ranked as second choice by one taster. |
All of the farm stand apples were good. The one store bought apple was tasted at the end after the farm stand apples and was comparatively very bland which was supported by the low brix measurement. Northern spy was the overall favorite based on average ratings. Hudson Golden Gem was the most surprising with it being sweet and crisp but lacking normal apple flavor. Cox orange pippin, Golden Russet, Ashmed’s Kernel, and Wickson were very flavorful and noteworthy. Baldwin was unexpected relative to the USDA observations coming in at 15.5 brix and having a strong cranberry note. I’m not sure if this was actually Baldwin and would be curious if anyone else has experience with a Baldwin variation with these characteristics. Based on the brix and tasting notes, I suspect that the Winesap and Esopus Spitzenburg were not optimal examples of those varieties. Cordera was nice and might be worth trying as a more recently released variety. I have Golden Russet and Ashmed’s Kernel in storage in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator and plan to sample those apples over time to see how storage impacts the flavor development as I understand that those varieties may improve with some storage.