Curious to hear how your backyard trees have grown and on what rootstock if known. How has the fruit tasted compared to store bought?
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Great question. I’ve eaten more Cosmic Crisp apples in one year than all the apples I’ve ever eaten my entire life. With fresh ground peanut butter. Welcome to the forum!
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Search @Vincent_8B a d cosmic crisp. He has a great old thread that shows his cosmic crisp from planting to fruiting. It seems to be a good one.
Mine has set lightly, but I have trained it hard which slowed it down some. This year is the year. I can taste it.
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Cosmic Crisp was one of the most hyped of the recent apple releases, even before it was available in the stores. Now that they have been around for a few years, I find myself wondering what all the fuss was about. I have not grown it, but buy a few each season. They have a great texture, that crisp, breaking snap like the good Honey crisps used to have. Other than the texture, I find the flavor bland, mildly sweet and utterly forgettable. I will admit that I am used to eating really good apples from my orchard: Cox’s Orange, Karmin de Sonneville, Ashmeads Kernal, etc. Is it just me or do others think this apple lives up to the hype?
Vor
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I’m with you. Cosmic Crisp has been disappointing because sweetness is highly variable and tanginess is lacking. Fuji is mostly sweet but has flavor nuances I like. Gala is just a spit-out-da-mouf bad apple to me. It has a very unbalanced flavor usually lacking sweetness with overwhelming tartness.
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I’m eating one now. They’re so tasty and perfect balance. Every time I try another apple I just want to eat a CC. I wonder if you’re in Washington state? When I lived up there for a short time 25 years ago I couldn’t find a good tasting apple they were all exported for the big bucks I heard.
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Cosmic Crisp is my favorite of the commercial apples. Every one I eat tastes great. I live across the river from Washington State. They don’t have to travel far to get here.
John S
PDX OR
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Also eating a Cosmic Crisp right now. While it is good it isn’t a large leap above others. I think the Autumn Glory apples this year are beating it out. At least from my local market.
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I’d love to try some you mentioned above. Not a lot of apples grown here I assume not cool enough but there are some big growers about 45 minutes north called Apple Hill I will have to check out this year.
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That’s quite the endorsement!
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Interesting. Cosmic Crisp seems to always have plenty of acid to me. Sweetness is quite variable, texture variable probably from sitting at room temperature too long sometimes, but worst is a bitter aftertaste in the skin that must be from treatment.
That puts me off and keeps me from trying it more often. That and my daughter turned on them so I try to buy ones she’ll eat. But I’ve also had some really outstanding ones. It kind of reminds me of Honey Crisp 20+ years ago, except it was a freak one of a kind a the time.
Now there are a bunch of apples with insane texture.
Wild Twist is the one I’m currently enamored with. But even with it I’ve had some duds.
@JohnS where do you usually buy your Cosmic Crisp apples?
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@murky @JesusisLordandChrist I never eat the skins. They sell them in for very inexpensive here in a few of the big stores. I don’t trust anything the packers use to spray any fruit. Maybe I wouldn’t like them as much with the skin idk.
Oh wow. For many fruits much of the flavor is at the skin. Maybe I’ll try skinless Cosmic Crisp, especially if I have a bad batch.
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We’ve been eating CC for some months now. Here in western Montana they are probably from Washington state. They’ve been reliably flavorful and juicy, and of course crisp. Actually, I’m surprised how well I like them.
But when I have them I prefer Rubinette, Karmijn de Sonnaville, Cox’s Orange Pippin, Wealthy, Haralson, to name a few.
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Although nutrients greatly vary by variety and environmental factors. Apple skins generally contain vitamins and minerals. Such as vitamin C, vitamin A, potassium, and manganese. Which the body needs premote immune function, vision health, and overall well-being.
Just a side note… It really disapoints when storebought apples are coated with something that can’t even be scubbed off. And it’s even more disappointing that its mentioned on the bottom of the bag. My wife wouldn’t have bought them if she had known they were coated with anything. But she didnt think to look at the bottom of the bag. She said she will next time though.
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I meant to say I never eat store bought apple skins. I eat them off my friends trees. If they’re good.
I have been a bit in the middle the last couple of years on cosmic crisp. Mush and bland if it wasn’t the first batch in. For whatever reason this year, the apples are huge sized with amazingly sweet rich flavor. It was like a different fruit.
They also seem to be perpetually on sale for 99 cents a lb around here. My family and I have been regularly surprised by this year’s grocery store quality cosmic crisp apples.
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Same here.
Just local grocery stores: Fred’s, WInco, etc.
John S
PDX OR
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