@MES111 Did you get brix this time? Or did it crumble apart before you could like last time?
That was the Redlove ERA apple last year. I did not have any ERA"s this year ao I son’t have an answer for you.
Actually, I can’t believe that a commercial grower would markwt an apple that gies mealy like mine did. That is why I am giving the Redloves some time to grow up.
The freaky luck with the Odysso was fantastic.
This year I did not pay much attention to the Redloves just wanted to give them a chance to “beef up” a little so I took off all the fruitlets early on.
Somehow I missed rhe Odysso and sure wa verrrry pleasantly surprised by the ONE fruit that escaped. Good for me!!!
Mike
2 Likes
I went ahead and ordered one… even if it isn’t a great apple the idea of a red apple is amusing to me. This will likely be my last tree to plant for a long time.
1 Like
i ordered one also this spring. figured if it was too tart id use them in some cool looking cider or applesauce. friend of mine has a huge crabapple that puts out many bushels of solid red 2in crabs. his wife makes jelly and he does hard cider with them. both are excellent. i will eat some strait when they are dead ripe after a few frosts. went by there 2 days ago and theres still some hanging on that tree. he says grouse come and eat the hangers over winter. i plant to graft some R.I Greening apples on mine to give it contrast.
1 Like
I don’t know if it’s true for all Redlove ™ apples, but I found that Era™ mellowed quite a bit after a month in the garage.
I had set aside one apple, which I had pollinated with pollen from an Urban series columnar Apple for my mad scientist experiment. That month in the garage made it less in lemon level sour, more like just nicely tart.
Maybe other apples in the series will improve with storage. It’s not unheard of.
1 Like
I’m guessing your sensitivity to tart is higher than average. None of the apples you mention are tarts and Fuji, to my palate, is queen of dense low-acid high sugar apples which Japan seems to specialize in. Honeycrisp has a bit of acid, perhaps sweet-tart but I couldn’t describe it as sweet, tart. The latter seems to provide more equal emphasis.
You are not far from my palette with those comments. I’ve tried very tart apples a few times and can’t stand them unless the flavor is balanced with some sugar. However, I’ve had Fuji that were nicely tart as well as sweet.
There is a similar paradigm with tomato taste. Sweet, Tart, Balanced, and Robust are the flavors I normally describe.
Sweet tomato eaters are usually satisfied with varieties like Sungold and Hibor.
I often refer to tart tomato lovers as “lemon suckers” because one of the common traits is that people who love tart tomatoes usually like to suck on raw slices of lemon. My daughter is a lemon sucker and also tart tomato lover. I usually recommend Green Zebra, Goose Creek, and Jaune Flammee for tart tomatoes.
Balanced flavor is a bit more nuanced needing enough sugar and enough tartness and enough robustness. I usually find balanced flavor in pink tomatoes such as Crnkovic Yugoslavian or Brandywine.
Robust flavor is that old fashioned rich tomato flavor that makes a Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato sandwich so good. It is the acidic rich flavor that I find in Akers West Virginia and the original Rutgers.
There are a few other tomato flavors such as the “dirty socks” taste of Smoky Mountain Red or the utterly bland flavor of most commercial tomatoes today.
Now what do you think is a really good balanced flavor apple?
2 Likes
A perfectly ripened Baldwin, but I’m also biased for dense fleshed types. There is also a kind of balance in Newtown Pippin, another favorite sweet apple of mine.
When I was in my early forties, Fuji was my favorite apple, but I was only beginning to explore the possibilities then so I can’t know how much the change in my tastes has to do with more experience.
1 Like
I’m currently keeping a spot open in my espalier planning for a red fleshed apple but am reluctant to commit to any variety without an opportunity to taste. I had previously heard they were bland and poorly textured from a horticulture professor years ago, but watching SkillCult’s YouTube videos I’ve become more curious about their potential.
My cousin has an acreage “back home” in eastern South Dakota. He’s been researching N E Hansen’s work — apparently Hansen introduced a red fleshed apple called Almata. I think he’s trying to get scions and I’ll wait to see how that tastes. I don’t mind tart, texture is usually the dealbreaker for me.
2 Likes
I have only one fruit of Odysso left…it is the largest one I’ve seen , tennis ball sized…but shaped closer to a red delicious. Shiny solid red all over.
Drops and birds took out the others, but this one is bagged and I’m hoping to
let it get ripe. Last year mid Sept. and Odysso didn’t seem ripe (or if it was ripe, then the variety isn’t any good). If it hangs, I’ll give it 'till first of October this year probably.
3 Likes
Nope, limb broke (spur limb from trunk) and the fruit is in my kitchen…probably unripe.
Did Odysso fruit for you? Have you tried it?
Odysso has budded up nicely, 2 trees and limb on Frankentree…no blooms open yet…but Redfield has been in bloom about 15 days and about finished.
3 Likes
I think the apples you get are probably much different from what’s available here.
I infer that you put Honeycrisp in the “sweet” category, I’d put it in the tart while agreeing with you about Fuji. The Honeycrisp available here are usually not over 12 brix while crisp, and often under 11 from the grocery store. They have plenty of tartness, in fact, that’s about the only flavor.
I grafted Newtown Pippin because I heard it was the principal variety in Martinelli’s cider, which I enjoy. But they are too sour for me off the tree. I don’t think I’ve grown any good enough quality to store for a significant period to see if the mellow.
Rubinette, Freyberg and Golden Russet are flavorful and nicely balanced to my palate. I could name several club apples from the grocery store that fit the bill.
1 Like
@murky
Jafar,
As to the Newton Pippin… Growing them in New York, Nassau County zone 7b, I picked them between Thanksgiving and Christmas and then I STORED them for 30 days which made them crispy fantastic. However, I did not find them too tart right of the tree. I love a good pucker (of any variety).
Mike
3 Likes
I’d love to try some regional apples at their peak. It’s a mixed blessing living a few hours drive from the Yakima Valley.
I can handle a lot of acid and a fair amount of astringency as long as there is proportional sugar to go with it. But can only take high acid with low sugar in small doses. I don’t object to the experience, it just wears out my palate really quickly.
I have only tried the store apples. What I can say about the store apples is Cosmic Crisp has some really good apples and some ok but are not consistent, honey crisp I would not call tart but would not call sweet either (my mother loves them but I am not impressed with the sweetness of honey crisp), Fuji you can have a amazing super sweet fuji or a one similar to honey crisp ( I think it is due to the fact they do not have to label the different strains so one strain you may have the OG Fuji and the next you may have a earlier ripening strain), Gala was just disappointing to me and I only had it once, Pink Lady I like the taste of reminding me of a sour patch kid with it being super tart then super sweet but I can only have a few of them a day because of the tartness which is likely a good thing honestly. I agree the tartness needs sugar to balance things out.
I agree with much of your descriptions although I suspect growing conditions more than cultivar on the bland Fuji. Fuji also isn’t as crisp as some of the newer apples. It has great texture for a time, but can be ruined.
I’ve had Gala 5 or 10 times and don’t think I looked forward to finished any of them. I’m mystified at its popularity. Although the last 10 Honeycrisp I’ve had weren’t very good either, but decades ago I had truly outstanding ones.
Seems like Pink Lady, when very red, is as you describe and really good if you like dense hard apples like me. And Cosmic Crisp can be anywhere from a 3 to a 10 on a scale of one to 10, with commodity Red Delicious being a 3 or 4. Seems like very dark coloring is a prerequisite for being over a 7 for Cosmic Crisp.