@alan … yes my Early Mc is not a long storage type apple at all. If you pick them mostly red with a bit of green still showing… they are very crisp and definately more tart than sweet. They might last on the counter a week…
I have never tried storing them in the fridge.
Once they are all red they are still crisp and the tart/sweet sort of balances out.
Once bright red changes to a deeper red with a purplish tint… they are no longer crisp… more like a red delicious… less tart and more sweet.
We pick them with a little green still on for fried apples… awesome.
They ripen with my illini blackberries late June… and apple blackberry jam is very good.
The thing about Macintosh is that the variety have drifted quite a bit. If you are lucky enough to find an early version of the tree they are superior and even a good candidate for cider blends. What they do commercially for the supermarket seems to be grown for looks rather than eating quality.
I’m talking about trees genetically close to the 1811 specimen from where they spawned. Over the years the variety has drifted with a lot of them nowadays being different than the original.
A lot of it might be the fact that the fruit is picked early and stored for months , sometimes upwards of a year at 35 degrees in inert gas. Then they ripen them with ethylene.
There’s a reason Mac was THE standard for NE orchards after the demise of Baldwin. They are really nice picked tree ripe in the fall. The texture is so fine grained and the flavor is fabulous considering the apples that had come before. But they never attain that flavor and quality picked early and artificially ripened. The texture is off, the skin is leathery, they’re just not the same. Just the nature of the commodity market…
Many of the Mac offspring are really good too. Cortland and Macoun are both great in their own way. Cortland more as an all purpose utility apple, Macoun more as a dessert type. I’ve had ‘early Mac’ and it’s a good one. I have a variety called ‘Mantet’ that is very similar. I think Mac may come somewhat true to type, as I’ve found seedling trees in wayward places that are very nearly identical.
Rosemary Russet sounds amazing from what I’m reading about it. Definitely will need to look into getting this one if possible, thanks for the suggestion!
Our own tree hasn’t produced fruit yet, so my tasting experience comes from Daring Drake Farm about fifteen miles north of us. We were advised of its intensity before taking our first bite. I had heard a lot about Karmijn, so I was prepared, but that sampling was enough to convince me to grow our own. I know folks in Vermont that successfully grow it as well. The first tree grafted fine onto M7 in 2020. I can’t remember now the cause, but the young tree broke in half in the spring of last year. Probably high winds. I made two successful grafts onto another M7, and both took. When we might get our first apples, I don’t know.
Karmijn de Sonnaville, Suntan, Gold Rush, Wickson Crab, Court Pendu Plat all grab me by the tonsils & won’t let go.
Claygate comes a close second. If my mystery tree actually proves to be Orléans Reinette, it may be added to one of these lists. If I ever get to enjoy Rosemary Russet (grown somewhere else), it too may be added.