I have not eaten many apple varieties. I do grow my own Honey Crisp and like it a lot.
However, of all the store- bought apples I have eaten, Opal is by far, the best. It Is sweet, crunchy, juicy and fragrant. It is a large, attractive, beautiful yellow apple.
I hope Costco will carry it again this year. It is a " club" apple. I wish it would be available to backyard gardeners soon.
Have you thought about growing out some seed and hoping for a miracle??? I’m doing that with sweetango and pazazz…just grow them out enough for bud wood and graft that over to a mature tree… who knows what i’ll get but i’m not out much if its a failure.
That’s a good idea. I’ve never grown apple from seeds. Do I need to stratify the seeds in the first first or can I just put them in potting soil? Any advice is appreciated.
When Costco sell it again, I’ll do that. Thank you.
Yeah…just take the seed out…wash them off…wrap them in some moist paper towel and put them in a ziploc baggy and into the refrigerator. Keep an eye on them because they’ll sprout and start growing right in the refrigerator—maybe start checking after 2 months…apples are very easy to grow from seed.
That is the trick that the University of MN uses to test new varieties quickly. No idea if you’ll have success because God only knows what pollinated what…but your out nothing …i’m just going to shoot for one branch from each seedling. I’m doing this with pluot seedlings so then i don’t have a million trees growing…i just put them all on one tree…although i’m risking that tree with all these varieties dying 
…as i like to say…oh well.
M…
I tried these from Costco but unfortunately the only thing I liked was the crisp.
Taste of 6 from two different batches was sweet but blaahh bland.
Just my pallette I am sure is not universal.
Mike
Thank you. If nothing, I could have rootstocks
It looks like I should have waited a day before commenting on Ruby Frost. I picked at least a bushel of Ruby Frost about 3 weeks ago. I’ve been using them slowly over the past 3 weeks. Today was the first time I noticed a hint of Honeycrisp like flavor to them. 
Maybe they need a months storage or left on the tree longer to develop flavor. It makes me wonder if Snapdragon is the same way. I only got a small amount of Snapdragon because they are for fresh eating only. I still have about a dozen Ruby Frost, so I’ll wait a week more to see if the flavor develops further. If this apple is easier to grow and stores better than Honeycrisp, maybe it does have some commercial value over Honeycrisp.
I also confirmed that Ruby Frost resists browning when exposed to air. I had a bowl of slices out for about 45 minutes and they were still the same color.
Thanks for the follow-up information, AJ. I have seen reports that Ruby Frost improves with storage (“Once designated New York 2 by Cornell University breeder Dr. Susan Brown, Ruby Frost is the tarter apple of the two and was found to taste best after a couple of months of storage.”) Dr. Brown is doing interesting breeding R&D at Cornell and I look forward to seeing how these cultivars fare over the coming years.
There was a new apple called “Sonya” that the market i was at today… Didn’t buy any but they looked nice.
Oh, my. If they make it all the way through digestion without color change, that really is resistant. 
[quote=“Vohd, post:169, topic:1842”]
I have seen reports that Ruby Frost improves with storage (“Once designated New York 2 by Cornell University breeder Dr. Susan Brown, Ruby Frost is the tarter apple of the two and was found to taste best after a couple of months of storage.”)
[/quote]Oops. I wish I had known that. I would have waited a month before I started using them. It would have been nice if the orchard had that in their description.
[quote=“MuddyMess_8a, post:171, topic:1842”]
Oh, my. If they make it all the way through digestion without color change, that really is resistant.
[/quote]Haha! Bowl/bowel.
I spend many of my work days putting one apple in my mouth after another, so I suppose I need something dramatic to get my attention. I don’t have a favorite apple either, there are too many good ones. Sometimes eating two varieties at once creates a special eating experience not acquired by a single one.
I really don’t understand how anyone could have a consistent favorite apple to eat based on their flavor off the tree- they vary from year to year but more important there are just too many great tasting apples.
However, this year, at this point, Esopus Spitz is the biggest standout. I was at an orchard yesterday with a photographer friend shooting some photos and we had quite a range of varieties to sample- and it didn’t stop at that one orchard. He is as crazy passionate about apples as I am.
We tried some ripe Golden Russet, Northern Spy, Baldwin, Fuji, etc. They were all at about peak flavor but Spitz was the standout for both of us. Sampling one after the other, he said the Golden Russet was a very good apple but the Spitz had much more dimension. Aromatics and acid, I think, were the difference.
But then, Spitz was a little riper on a year when things are a bit behind normal. Maybe next week will bring slightly different results. Earlier in the season, Ashmead’s might have taken the day.
I have plenty of Spitz to eat right now but I still enjoy other varieties. I don’t have any Spitz on my own trees, but am really enjoying my Baldwins and would rather eat them off the tree than Spitz out of the fridge.
However, by January, it’s a pretty good bet that Goldrush will be my best apple. This year I will have some Spitz to compare them to, so we shall see. It may be that Spitz has simply had a great year around here, because it never grabbed my attention so much before. I even removed a branch on one of my own trees because it was placed too high.
Those of you who base your apple choices out of what you buy in the store or even from the you-pick really have some great days ahead when your own apples begin to ripen off your own trees. It will change your choices, I’m sure.
I’ve never stored apples for eating later. But my question is, does the texture change while in storage? Obviously the flavor does because I hear it said so many times how apples like Goldrush really shine after a few months in storage. Do these same apples lose crunch or crispiness? To me texture is as important as flavor. If an apple is mushy or mealy then I want no part of it. I know I’ve bought apples that I’ve left in the crisper and forgotten about and a couple of weeks later they were inedible to me. I don’t remember specific varieties but I know the texture turned to shit and the skin would wrinkle when pressed.
I can tell you that Liberties soften notably in about a month or six weeks (stored in tightly sealed poly bags at low 30’s) and also become sweeter, less acid. But even so, an occasional Liberty will turn up in February or March that is still firm and sharp. Go figure!
So true as the season changes so does my favorite Apple. Gravenstein was the best early on, then my favorite Macoun, then Liberty. Then Jonagold and to finish Goldrush. These are my biggest croppers so that may be why. As others start to give me more my opinions will change.
My liberties are making a better cider for me as they age and sweeten up a bit.
I’ve tried storing McIntosh and they turn to mush pretty quick. Macs seem to have a very short time where they are good and then bam…game over. I’m probably going to remove most of my mac and graft it over to something else.
Rob,
I have heard that Scott like Rubinette apple. You should try to graft that variety on one of the branch.
Tony
Per Orangepippin website, Runibette is “probably one of the best tasting apple in the world”. It is also one of few that is rated “Exceptional” for its flavor quality.
Although taste is subjective, getting that high praise from that site and from Scott,Rubinette is worth being looked into. .
I’ll write that down and look into that one. Best tasting apple in the world is pretty strong statement!