The Apple Showdown

While an apple a day may not necessarily keep the doctor away, it’s such a great, nutritious snack. Packed with fiber and antioxidants, they are filling and have many health benefits. In fact, eating an apple before a meal can help you consume less and reduce your daily caloric intake.

The challenge is what apples to choose. Strolling through the apple section of the produce department at the grocery store is overwhelming. I remember when the selection was limited to the classic red or golden delicious apple, the tart granny smith green apple, and maybe a few others. Now, there are so many varieties that it’s hard to keep up. In fact, in my home state of Washington, the Cosmic Crisp apple was recently created by Washington State University.

I randomly buy apples based on either look and/or what’s on sale. I never really keep track of the ones I like, or even recall which ones I’ve bought. So, I set up an apple tasting to finally nail down what should go on my future shopping lists.

I opted for a total of seven different varieties. And, I was curious about the difference between an organic version versus it’s standard counterpart, so I decided to test that out with the Honeycrisp apple, making the total number of apples to taste at eight. That’s a lot of apple slices! But I had help from from my husband and a friend of ours, and I’ve got a plan for the leftovers, which is the reason for using foil on a large cookie sheet to lay the apple slices out. More on that after the tasting results! We also added a 20-year aged Gouda and a hard apple cider to keep it interesting.

In tasting the apples, we looked for crispness and texture, sweet and tart flavors, and overall depth of flavor. The factors we had to set aside included the transport, storage, and handling of the fruit. Each apple was likely harvested at different times, could have been on the shelf at the store longer, etc., all of which do have an impact on how the fruit presents itself.

As we compared notes, it was apparent that I prioritized the combination of sweet and tartness to create a balanced flavor, while my husband favored an apple that leaned stronger on the sweetness scale. So the apple you prefer will truly depend on what flavor profile you like.

The Tasting Results

Below are the collective notes and averaged grades from our tasting.

Fuji: While this apple was one of the least favored of my husband and our friend, I wasn’t all that mad at it. It offered a decent balance of sweet and tart notes and overall flavor and texture was pleasant. For an everyday eating apple that is more reasonably priced than the others ($1.99 a pound versus $2.49 for most of the others), I would buy it again. (Rating: B-)

Envy: We all agreed this was a bit mealy, which could be the result of factors mentioned earlier. I also noticed that this apple had a different skin texture. It was almost like a very fine sandpaper, and in my research I found it should be glossy and smooth. The flavor was just okay, and was a bit one-dimensional, leaning toward the sweet side. Given possible storage issues, I’m giving this one a hall pass for now. (Rating: C-)

Sweet Tango: This apple was the most divisive. I found it to be bland and boring. It was like a granny smith apple’s sweet cousin. However, my husband had this as a favorite of his, given the sweetness. So if you favor an apple that is mostly sweet, this is a good choice. (Rating: C)

Cosmic Crisp: All three of us gave this apple a solid thumbs up. It was the most crisp and juicy of the contenders and offered good balance of flavors. I learned that one of the “parents” of this apple is the Honeycrisp, which I loved for the sweet/tart balance, so it’s clearly inherited that! (Rating: A)

Pink Lady: None of us had anything great to say about this apple, but neither did we have anything particularly negative. If I had to give it high points on anything it would have been the crisp factor, but the flavors fell a bit flat. (Rating: C)

Honeycrisp: We liked the crispiness and juiciness of this fruit. It has a good sweet/tart ratio and like the Cosmic Crisp, was one that we all agreed upon. There may be a reason that this apple was selected to as a parent of the Cosmic Crisp! (Rating: A)

Organic Honeycrisp: Of all apples, this had the most pronounced balance between sweet and tart flavors. It was obviously similar to the standard Honeycrisp, but I found my saliva glands responding to the tartness on the finish. I ranked this as my first choice, as did our friend, but my husband wasn’t a fan at all, feeling that the finish was sour. At $1.50 more a pound, we agreed that the difference did not warrant the markup, unless an organic status is a high priority. (Rating: B+)

Sugar Bee: After we finished the 7 apples, I remembered I had bought Sugar Bee apples a couple days prior so we added this in as a late entry. And how glad we were that we did! Like the Cosmic Crisp, this apple is also an offspring of the Honeycrisp. Seeing a theme here! My husband and our friend rated this the highest, and I had it aligned with the Cosmic Crisp. This was the clear winner. (Rating: A+)

What to Do with the Leftovers

You can freeze apple slices and use them later, directly from the freezer, in muffins, pies, or an apple crisp. Place leftover slices on a cookie sheet if you didn’t use one for your tasting, squeeze some lemon over the slices to prevent browning, and put in the freezer for a few hours. Then transfer to a freezer bag or use a vacuum sealer.