Very good, if not great, apples are a commodity now. With a dozen or more varieties you can barely distinguish if you were wearing a blindfold.
When something becomes a commodity and you can substitute between them, the price is going to come down to the lowest common denominator.
When Honeycrisp stood alone and nothing was like it, it wowed people. Not so the dozen plus daughters of Honeycrisp. Gala and Fuji are not going to move over and let them take over.
Very true. The spawns of the Honeycrisp, Gala, Fuji and whatever blends they can come up with are in the stores now. Tasting pretty much the same. Not a lot of " WOW, that was a great apple. What was that one called again? We need to buy more of those."
I still see Honeycrisp apples at $3.99 a pound in some stores. They are huge so just one apple is probably $5 or more. Novelty to buy and give away at best.
I donât think the Cosmic Crisp apples are all that special. The taste is not to my liking and kind of funky to me. Same with the juiceâstrange flavor, and not enough tart. I prefer the other orchard cider blends sold without pasteurization or sulfites. Sure the CC keeps well, butâŚ
It seems to me those Washington state apple growers are investing way too heavily, perhaps, on such a funky-flavored apple. Some people still actually prefer a variety in their tastes, and not just the same apple day after day.
I want to know what pesticides they spray on the non organic CCâs. The wax was strange too. They had a very odd taste at the skin
I got organic ones this year that were the best grocery store apples i have ever bought. No strange taste on the skin and regular wax
Last year I bought Cosmic Crisp on M27 to grow in my miniature fruit tree garden. Iân not sure what shape I will give it. Leaning towards bush, but maybe pyramidal. I think a lot of the promotion etc was because the apples are generally good and keep for a very, very long time. Itâs an apple bred for modern growers, and to stay good in current shipping and storage conditions. The cultivar has good genetics, so maybe as a home grown apple, fresh from the orchard or garden, it will be a nice addition. Time will tell.
There are so many excellent apple varieties, with interesting histories, great flavors, various textures and ripening times. I think Cosmic Crisp was reported to be somewhat disease resistant, which is a big bonus for me.
The one that I bought from the grocery store was huge, pretty, very sweet, tart, and crisp. Not all that âappleyâ however. But considering it was likely grown in high desert, heavily irrigated, fertilized, stored in atmosphere controlled refrigeration for who knows how long, I donât think a grocery apple was the best test of itâs full potential for the hobby grower. Those conditions donât bring out the nuances of local terroir. I have other grocery store favorites (Braeburn, Gala, Opal among others) but am still excited to be able to test Cosmic Crisp in my own garden. I hope it will be as good as, say, Liberty or Akane or PRI apples like Pristine or Priscilla, which would be nice. The Enterprise parent is a PRI disease resistant apple (hence the âpriâ in Enterprise) with genetics from Malus floribunda, Golden Delicious, Rome Beauty, and McIntosh. Sounds to me like good potential.
This year I hope to let my little tree get, maybe, one apple. It still needs to do some growing before I let it bear more.
this summarizes my thinking as well. I had my first pristine last year and was blown away by them, amazing apple other than being in stone fruit season, so the enterprise parent made me happy. here the only resistance we need is scab and it should have that. mine are M26 and will live in #25 pots
Iâve had a lot of cosmic crisp from stores, some have been very good and some have had an off, even bitter flavor in the skin. itâs not my first choice but it goes on sale to around $1.50 or even .99/lb and itâs great at that price
Iâve had the same experience with you on store bought apples. Although the good rate has been a lot better than Honeycrisp for me.
I wish they routinely gave taste samples, so I would know on that trip to the store, whether the batch they have are any good.
I wonder if that bitter flavor is related to chemical treatments. I donât know. That is a good reason to grow oneâs own as well. It could also be the local growth conditions.
Itâs amazing how Honeycrisp went from being the âItâ apple of the decade, âMoneycrispâ for its developers, to being and example if a not so great apple.
I would still like to grow one, but they donât like my conditions.
But Honeycrisp IS a great apple! Unfortunately it is a finicky grower in certain locations.
Someone find me an apple that beats a GOOD HoneycrispâŚand Iâll gladly eat it instead.
Honeycrisp is still super popular, with many devotees, and demands a premium.
I donât get it, based on the apples available in WA. The texture is great, but it is sour, one note, and low sugar. Not worth it for the texture to me.
I think I would like them if grown where they sweeten.
Opal, Lady Alice, Smitten, Lucy Glo
Well, at least they beat the Honeycrisp here. I havenât had a good Honeycrisp in years, usually under 11 brix. The 1st ones I had were a revelation though.
I wonder if West Coast grown Honeycrisp tastes different? Have you had Honeycrisp from the Northeast? Itâs interesting how regional weather and growing conditions affect the taste of some apple varieties.
I wonder if Cosmic Crisp taste better in colder region like Z4 or 5.
I live in MA. My Honey Crisp was planted 11-12 years ago. So far, it has given me fruit about 5 - 6 years (very prone to bi-ennialing with the rootstock it is on)
The result has been mixed. When we had dry weeks leading to harvesting, they were excellent. Two years ago, we had so much rain, it tasted so diluted that I took a bite and threw it away. So far, quality has not been consistent.
Two weeks ago, I bought CosmicCrisp and Sue Bee apples from my local supermarket. CC was all right. Crisp/crunchy, somewhat bland with tart than sweet. Sue Bee was excellent. Crisp, sweet witha hint of tartness. SB left CC in the dust that day.
I think west coast probably are worse. I live in WA state, where majority of US apples are grown. Unlikely to find retail Honeycrisp from out of state.
Interesting about the dry vs. wet before harvest. We had an incredible harvest of HC last season on our semi-dwarf trees (M-111). Our standard trees have been much less productive & inconsistent quality. Last season was average summer temps but dryâŚand we donât water our apple trees but have very âwetâ soil (clay).
My HC tree is well established so I do not water it. My HC ripens around 3rd week of Sept on. If he have frequent rain in Sept, its quality suffers. I donât throw my fruit away easily. That one particular year, HC tasted was awfully bland.
That was not the only years it tasted subpar, either. It is a rather inconsistent and biennialing prone tree to me. Unknown rootstock but I suspect a M111.
Iâm in southern Ontario and it took a while for the honey crisps to catch on here. They went from super-premium, to able-to-buy-b-grades in only a couple of years, but part of that may be that they seem to grow well here but itâs hard to get the A level grading.
They are still quite pricey as Aâs, in season but we can consistently get 1/2 bushels of bâs for $12-$15.
Which we love, since I like them better and they are cheaper this way than Mutsu, the only other apple I really liked. The small surface freckles that push them to B donât bother me at all.
I am curious about when weâll see the CCâs here. Some things donât seem to ever make it across the border. Or if they do, it is only in small amounts at a few premium stores.
My best Honeycrisp was the first one I ateâŚcame as tree ripened from orchard in Hendersonville, NC. They are good from the market, but not worth a premium in my view.
But, thatâs true of most apples from cold storage.