I feel it’s been diminishing returns for some time now. I theorize that they are being planted in non-ideal locations due to demand and price being high. Could also be compromised genetics. In any case, the past 2-3 years I’ve seen HC apples that lack the fresh snap that they made them such a great apple. Pink Ladies ate well this year here.
On a tangetial note, the U of MN also created and copyrighted the Zestar! apple, and the copyrighted name includes the exclamation point.
new delicious apple for me: Smitten. Crisp, great balance of sweet and acidity.
Just bought kanzi again. Really lovely apple.
Honeycrisp from Apple Hill, Eldorado County, CA in the Reno market as low as .99/lb. Made great apple sauce.
agree that recent Honeycrisps aren’t as good, and recent Envy apples not as good, either. Had some nice Lady Alice recently, and a Pinata.[/quote]
I feel it’s been diminishing returns for some time now [with Honeycrisps]. I theorize that they are being planted in non-ideal locations due to demand and price being high.[/quote]
I addressed this in post #5, above.
Why would there be any question if site plays a role in flavor and quality? It does with just about every other fruit or vegetable I can think of.
The Honeycrisps I’ve gotten this year have been very good, equal to their quality when they were first introduced, IMO. I get mine from Wegan’s and a local farmer’s market grower. I still like Sweetango, but their season is short because it’s not the great keeper that Honeycrisp is.
FYI, for fruit lover everywhere, look for Sumo brand citrus this winter; they’re a cross between mandarin and (I think) navel oranges, are somewhat similar in flavor to Satsuma mandarins, but are better.
Despite its outstanding texture and sweetness, I am not enamored with Honeycrisp or it’s progeny SweeTango. I have grown and tasted a lot of apples in the upper-midwest and seek out apples with flavor. My favorite is Sweet Sixteen.
I’ve been enjoying Snow Sweets from my local farmer’s market. Their Honeycrisps on the other hand have been mediocre.
My current favorite is Ambrosia - not quite as tart as Honeycrisp (which I find a bit shrill at times) and not quite as crisp.
Too many places growing Honeycrisp in climates/areas where they don’t belong just to get on the bandwagon.
I recently had some SugarBee (derived from Honeycrisp) and they are great!!
I like the SugarBee as well.
Organic Opal apples have been great this year- crunchy, super sweet, and good acid.
I had a Cosmic Crisp earlier in the year which I loved but I can’t find any organic.
I’ve been eating Ambrosia apples. They are excellent in season but they don’t store well.
My family grows honeycrisp commercially, so we had a lot sitting around. So, I cranked up the food dehydrator and we’ve been enjoy the most amazing apple “chips” from them. Highly recommended for this use, as I think the crisp texture (even when they’re starting to go soft, which ours were) make for a really great dehydrated product.
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Really digging Crimson Crisp apples
I planted apple trees 4-5 years ago. Honeycrisp, sugar crisp, and a golden delicious (the “crisp” varieties are not self pollinators)
The trees are absolutely loaded this year. I have only picked about 5-6 dozen so far, and that is about 1/3 of a tree.
These are some of the honeycrisp. They are really tasty. Now I gotta decide what to do with them. I’ve already given a few dozen away to my nurses at work. Maybe I’ll try that apple cake recipe posted here!
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Homemade applesauce is easy, delicious and easily frozen!
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Can’t go wrong with tart tatin. HC may not be the ideal choice but I suspect they’d work well enough.
Yet again I’m finding that the Honeycrisps available locally are not up to the quality they were a few years back. Larger perhaps but less crisp, and much lighter and less dense. I wonder if they are now being planted in places less appropriate for this variety, or if the genetics aren’t as good as they once were. On the more positive side, we went to a local orchard and picked a number of good apple varieties, the best of which is Gold Star, a gold-green apple with a somewhat mottled and rough skin, it has much of the crisp and sweet/tart qualities found in the best of Honeycrisp, though perhaps slightly less crunch.
I had a pazzazz apple today , a derivative of a honeycrisp. First time for me . Pretty good-would buy again .