Yes, that might be too late for here. My frostbite dropped 9/24 and we ate it 10/4. It was very firm though pleasant. I’m guessing it maybe dropped early. It’s a balance between wanting fruit late enough for storage but early enough to ripen and harden off.
Sue, Frostbite has tended to drop apples for me, not all of them wormy. I had fewer than half of my original crop remaining when I harvested a few days ago. All of them, including the drops, were tasty, though the best are those that remained on the tree the longest. I’d wait a couple more harvests before I became concerned none of the crop will ripen up properly for you.
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Resurrecting this thread -
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Reviews on taste since 2017?
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Im having a problem with vigor with this tree. Its lagging behind big time. Been giving it extra tlc but its a real stringy runt. Its on G41 from cummins. Anyone else have this?
Mine’s on G.935 and is growing okay. It I haven’t noticed issues with vigor. It fruited and was excellent even though I picked it early. Looking forward to trying more this year.
Im holding out hope - i wanted this tree for 3 yrs before i got around to getting space cleared.
Will keep at it.
If i have to reorder maybe i will go with 935
My tree is only 4 yrs old, on standard Antonovka from Fedco. It’s small but is healthy with reasonable new growth. I think it’s naturally a small tree. The last two years mine blossomed vigorously. I let it keep 3 apples each. 2017 the fruit dropped mid Sept and we ate them mid Oct with very good flavor. Last year they had cracks near the stem I was concerned about so I picked them, too early, end August, and they were OK but not a lot of flavor. Seems like as Neil said they need to hang till ripe. I read somewhere an opinion that they need to freeze on the tree a few times to get max sweetness. I’ll have to wait another year to try that because no blooms this year, which is probably good considering its young age. Sue
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Thanks Sue.
Im going to crop one eventually lol …
Gonna baby this one see what happens.
I know this is an old thread, but figured I’d post on it instead of starting a new one.
My Frostbite tree produced it’s first two apples this year. All I can say is that they are the most “unique” tasting apples I’ve ever eaten. Definitely a burst of molasses flavor to my palate. Crisp, crunchy, juicy…but weird. When I read Fedco’s description of what people taste when eating Frostbite, I can relate to most of them. Olives, molasses, sugar cane, tobacco juice…yep
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I agree. Frostbite is great and unique. I ended up grafting a large tree (m.111) of it in addition to the dwarf tree I started with.
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I have two on a graft. They are likely to ripen later this week.
I like it but I don’t have refined taste buds. Your ability to detect those flavors are amazing.
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I don’t really think I have much of a palate, but the flavors in my Frostbite are incredibly unique. It may be that the tree reaches it’s peak of “weirdness” in more northerly locations.
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I truly love this apple, I’ve tasted nothing else quite like it. I think Fedco’s description is spot on.
Today I discovered that I still had a bag of them in the bottom drawer of the fridge. I must’ve moved them to the drawer to make room for other things – finding them today was like digging up a hidden treasure. I purchased them mid-November and thought they were a bit on the sweet/less complex side at that time… felt somewhat disappointed but still enjoyed them, they still had that “malty” kick. The flavor in November really reminded me of Sweet Sixteen, minus the anise/cherry notes. (If I recall correctly they are related?)
Fast forward to today… they tasted very strongly of green olives. It is SO. GOOD. Between bites I found myself laughing with amazement because I know that is how Fedco describes them. Until today I struggled to understand how an apple could taste like that and still be enjoyable for eating.
Unfortunately, I don’t know when they were harvested as I bought them from a local co-op.
Frostbite’s flavour is a real shapeshifter and I’m 100% here for it. I’m going to be gobbling through these all day working from home! lol I will absolutely be putting one of these on my new espalier in the spring but I don’t know if that will be enough to satisfy my craving. Really great little apple… in my opinion. 
Edit: I have had Frostbite a few other times in the past and would definitely chart my prior flavor impressions as: molasses, malt, umami. I think I tend to eat through them before I hit the “green olive” stage, but now I know to pace myself.
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I noticed a few Frostbites were on the ground this morning while doing some other orchard work. I picked a few and brought them back to the house, figuring there was no way they could be ripe yet. The seeds are brown. I’d say they could benefit from another week of ripening, but my wife and I each ate one and were quite pleased with how they taste. Definitely a weird little apple. They are ripe at least 3 weeks early this year. I guess that’s what heat and drought do to an apple crop. I will likely pick the rest of them soon and put them in the fridge.
edit…now I’m wondering if my Keepsake and Prairie Spy fruit are ready to pick. Those shouldn’t be ripe for another month either
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Well if the yellow jackets and other wasps are any indication then my Frostbite are ripening early as well. I’m thinking I need to get out there on a cool morning or evening and try to save what I can before they all get eaten.
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I don’t know if the drought and heat have been the same over your way as they were here this year, but that’s the only thing I can come up with for my mid October ripening apples being fully ripe now.
FWIW…I picked a Prairie Spy yesterday and brought it back to the house. The seeds were brown. I’ve had Prairie Spy hang until the third week of October before the seeds turned brown in cooler/wetter years.
edit…I didn’t pick a Honeygold yet. I’m betting they’re ripe too.
One last thought on this topic…I picked and sampled a Northwest Greening yesterday. The seeds were still white.
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I ate the first Frostbite off my tree yesterday, but did not get the flavor experience I expected. It had some sweetness to it, but no sugar cane or molasses flavor. I’ve still got another 20 on the tree so I’ll let them go another week or two and try one. My Honeycrisp are still a few days away, so I may have tried this one early.
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From the iffy taste reviews of this apple it does not appear to taste consistent from what everyone says and from what the " catalogs" describe the taste. I know this happens to some apple varieties but there usually is a consensus if it is one to have in your orchard or not. I had looked at getting one for my orchard but now I will not get one. It sounds like it would be a waste of growing space for me.
I appreciate everyone’s honest reviews.
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You can always graft a branch to try out and decide for yourself if its a variety you’d like to keep.
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I’m not sure if I’d grow Frostbite in a zone any warmer than 5a. I think it’s an apple best suited to colder areas.
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I’m happy to disagree with you. I’m in zone 7. While Frostbite was bred to perform well in colder zones, it also does well, very well, in the heat, as do many U of Minnesota varieties. It’s excellent here, where summer daytime temps are mostly in the 90’s up to low 100’s from July-August. Nights are comparatively cool, mostly in the low to mid 60’s during that stretch, which likely helps.
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