What does everyone consider to be the top 3 sweetest crabs?
Grafted Chestnut and Whitney this year, but wanted to get a feel for what I should be lusting for next.
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Trailman is nicely sweet.
The tree I received from Stark Bros. labeled as Whitney crab is very sweet (18 brix this fall), but it also has some tannins and āsharpnessā as well. It is not the Whitney crab I knew as a kid. My tree doesnāt have ripe fruit until mid-late September and the fruit will hold on the tree into winter. The Whitney crab I knew as a kid ripened in late August/early September and dropped fruit very quickly. They were quite sweet with very little tannin or sharpness. For a kid with a sweet tooth, they were awesome. They had to be used quickly or they turned to mush. I have no idea which Whitney is the ārealā one.
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Wickson is supposed to be sweet. I havent tried one yet,but i canāt wait for my tree to produce some.
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Are you asking for just sweet tasting crabs? Many have lots if sugar but also acidity that āhidesā how much sugar you perceive. Either way Centennial is another good one that hasnāt been mentioned yet.
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Good point. The best for fresh eating.
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My tree hasnāt fruited yet, but with any luck my Pipsqueak from Fedco will have a couple this year. Fedco says a large fruit āmay approach two inchesā so Iād call it a crab. The description certainly sounds like Pipsqueak will be great for fresh eating.
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Im in the same boat with pipsqueak. I grafted it last year on an established tree and it grew probably 36" or so. Looking forward to tasting it as itās a seedling of Frostbite.
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Thatās one I was looking at next. Wickson Iām a little sketchy on. Most people growing it only have luck on the west coast.
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Im growing wickson but havenāt fruited it yet so i have no comment on flavor. I have high hopes for it but if its not good for my area itāll just get grafted over to something that is.
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From what Iāve read on here everyone likes Wickson. It just has a lot of cropping issues on the east coast. I was looking at it because it was so much later than the other crabs.
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thus far iāve had a dozen-plus of both trailman and chestnut, i am very fond of both although they are quite different. Trailman is very sweet and very juicy, it almost drips when you biteā¦not a ton of complexity but very tasty all the same and pretty sweet
where you are matters, not sure Trailman would be near as nice in coastal NC, for example, although i do not know it would not.
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I am also growing Wickson, but it hasnāt fruited yet. A guy I know about 40 minutes southeast of me has Wickson producing fruit. He wasnāt super impressed with the flavor, and I think he had some issues with cracking in high rainfall years.
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My highest brix crabs are Chestnut, Wickson, Heweās Virginia. Chestnut tastes the sweetest out of these since it is relatively low acid
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Isnāt wickson noted to be a good keeper which would be a big plus
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I donāt have a lot of experience with crabs or even apples in general. Based on local reviews, Wickson and its seedling Pineapple Candy are very popular here. Once my Mutsu bench grafts grow up, I am thinking of adding some interesting crabs like Wickson, Clarkās Crab and Pineapple Candy
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I have several young bearing Wickson trees. Iāve not found it to be hard to grow, by any means. If anything, they seem less bothered by bugs and disease than most of my other varieties.
In terms of flavor, itās very high sugar, but has such an intense flavor that the flavor doesnāt read as āsweetā at all. Reputedly, it can get up to 25 Brix, which is incredible. Iāve not tested mine for Brix, but I can tell you thereās a LOT going on there, including lots of acidity. Somewhere I read a long time ago that perceived sweetness of apples is better indicated by acidity than Brix, with high acid varieties tasting less sweet, irrespective of actual sugar content.
I enjoy Wickson, but itās pretty sharp for fresh eating, and I think it lbs best blended for making cider. Overall, Iād say Iām a fan
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I am in SE Michigan zone 6a. Wickson does great here.
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Right now Eden is my favorite. Itās another Etter variety similar to Wickson but ripens earlier. I think the flavor is even more intense than wickson
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Well if sweet is all you want Alma Sweet. Some people even say that it is too sweet with little else.
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My pipsqueak graft from last year has been quite precocious. It has already set out leaves all along itās length. No other leaves yet on that tree. Iām hopeful it continues to do well and like you, anxious for that first taste.
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