I like honeycrisp quite well, though it is not my favorite. I think the ridiculously crispy texture is nice, and usually they have plenty of sugar. If only they had more flavor and more acid, they would be truly great. Around here basically everyone prefers HC to anything else.
The Goldrush I ate off my tree this year are leagues better than any HC I’ve ever had, but in a grocery store the HC will usually be better than most other stuff that is out. But even then, a decent grocery store Pink Lady is usually preferable to me.
I had the chance to eat some locally grown Evercrisp, a descendant of HC. They have a lot in common with HC but have maybe a little more flavor. The ones I ate were 20 brix, almost too sweet without more acid to balance it out. Same place had local pink lady, and these were better than Evercrisp I think. Probably I like more acid in my apple than the average eater.
When Honeycrisp was still unknown to the public, I had some superlative ones from a farmer’s market in Yakima, and follow-ups were quite good.
Maybe my tastes have changed, but I think the ones available here are subpar. Apples from my own trees are better, but not great. They do have more sugar, but not as good a texture. Generally, for me to get excited about an apple it needs to be at least 15 brix.
I’m a bit curious about the marketing behind honey crisp. As many of you have said, I’ve never found them to spectacular. Even those who like them seem to agree that they are just a really good apple, but very few claim they are light years ahead of other apples. Yet they have truly become the most famous apple in the world. I noticed a candle this week that was “Honey Crisp Apple” scent. I saw apple juice (might have been cider) that said “Honey Crisp blend” but when you looked on ingredients honey crisp was the last apple in the ingredients, many less of it than the others. A person I work with who admitted that until now all she has known about apples is there are green, red and yellow ones but couldn’t name anything but granny smith. Now she tells me has started looking for honey crisp “because I keep hearing on all the cooking shows that they are so much better than other apples”. And its true…its all you hear and read…HC HC HC. How does one apple, which even fruit experts here-on average- don’t rate at the very very top of the list- even of store bought, shipable /storable apples. So how has it become so famous? Why is it the one apple almost anyone can ID and so many people ask for. And growers/sellers aren’t stupid…its always the most expensive apple in the store. I doubt they cost that much more to produce- its just that demand is so high. But how? Is there some Honey Crisp Brand Marketing campaign or advertising company that has created this market? If its taste really isn’t spectacularly better than other apples, why has it taken off instead of others (pink Lady, for example)?
Obviously I’ve been curious about this for a while.
I think Honeycrisp also arrived at the right time. For many people I know, Honeycrisp was the first grocery store apple they remember enjoying after that period when all you could find was cardboard Red Delicious.
I remember when I first tried them my reaction was “Ah, so that is how a fresh apple tastes!”. I had a nice HC on M26 (in the ground) I had to leave when we moved. It was highly productive of usually decent apples aside from some bitter bit at times. I grow them now mostly to give away. I now usually prefer a more complicated flavor. But isn’t that how it goes when we become connoisseurs?
I have honey crisp planted on 111 rootstock 15+ yrs old.
They are a very manageable size, 8- 10 ft. With little pruning .
Other varietys ,on same rootstock ,soil, age, twice that size.
So they are a natural dwarf.
They get weird yellow areas on the leaves sometimes,
I now understand that this is a " physiological disorder "
Thinking of putting in a new row on seedling,kick it up a notch ?
Why is pop music so much more popular than Jazz? Hell, elevator music is much more popular. Honeycrisp is popular because it isn’t challenging or distinctive, except for being as crunchy as a potato chip. Potato chips are more popular than HC apples- way more. Honey Crisp- the healthy alternative to potato chips.
I think it is distinctive in texture. A good HC has a fantastic texture unlike a lot of other apples. Maybe its not the sweetest nor does it have a very distinct flavor. But its a good refreshing apple. I can’t say that for most other grocery store favorites that when blindfolded would be hard to differentiate from one another. Such as cameo, breaburn, and most of the club apples like Jazz or kiku. I’ve definitely come to realize that there are far more interesting apples from a flavor standpoint. Goldrush is my new favorite. And I’ve enjoyed golden russet and newtown pippin. But if still take Honeycrisp over Macintosh, Golden Delicious, Fuji, and most other grocery store staples.
More bad news with my HC. I just pulled a bag from the fridge. All were spotless when I put them in there 3 months ago, but now most show bitter pit starting. I was more surprised when I cut some open. The outer half of the flesh has a light-brown tinge, but the flesh is still firm. I assume this is also from the mineral issue.
So far it has been nothing but disappoint for me. I got some good ones from the neighbor down the road a few years ago that had some honey like flavor . I guess I’ll give it few more years to prove its potential. In any case, it has more issues than any other apple I’ve had experience with.
Isn’t a lot of the point of Honey Crisp that it’s crisp, sweet and clean tasting EVEN AFTER being essentially frozen in an oxygen free cooler for a long time? I thought it was bred to taste fresh after modern storage methods, am I wrong? No one has mentioned it…
No really quite the opposite. It was initially released from the U of Minnesota program to mostly small u-pick and small northern operations (not WA and MI). The Gopher apple program mostly has a historic goal of breeding cold hardy apples for the north. Now the UMN program is more focused on large commercial releases because funding is scarce and they learned from Honeycrisp. But still the goal is to produce hardy apples that do well in that climate. I believe another goal is to give the operations there around Southern Minn. and SW Wisconsin competition with the WA and MI etc growers.
Yeah, they learned that small growers do a terrible job of popularizing apples- the biggest apple hit since Red Delicious, but by the time it was famous their patent was over. Patent laws for some things need to be rewritten- if it was about realizing a certain amount of profit before the expiration, instead of entirely about time, it would fuel more research. However, the law is being stretched in favor of enterprises that have already made huge profits but are giving a percentage to politicians- especially pharmaceutical patents.
This year my Honey Crisp tree failed to produce even a single apple after having a good crop last year. My HC tree consistently takes at least 3-4 weeks longer than my other trees to come out of dormancy. Last year I had this thread with my concerns: http://growingfruit.org/t/jury-still-out-on-the-honeycrisp-apple-for-me/7052
If that HC tree does not do better in 2018 I may take a chainsaw to it.
