7k varieties of apples and the 18 you need to know about (2013) | Hacker News Reader

7k varieties of apples and the 18 you need to know about (2013)

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Wait, no Pink Lady apple?!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cripps_Pink

I know it's a hybrid, but it's got everything going for it.

- Reliably crisp

- Sweet, but not overly

- Just a tad tart

- Big enough to be a good snack but never oversized

Seconded. It’s one of the best apple varieties ever.

Pink Lady was my favourite apple until I happened upon a Lady Alice!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Alice_(apple)

Interesting. I've heard of it, but hadn't paid much attention to it. I'll try to check it out. My favorite apple blogger gives a review here: https://adamapples.blogspot.com/2010/03/lady-alice.html

He gives it 2 stars, which is a very high rating for him. He does have a few other modern apples that he gives an equal rating to, but he's only got 5 apples rated higher: Ashmead's Kernel, Cox's Orange Pippin, Macoun, Reine de Reinettes (King of the Pippins), Wickson. He has Pink Lady at 1 star, which is perfectly respectable.

What do you think of Gravenstein, ravenstine?

Apples don't breed true, all varieties are hybrids.

(orchards of a variety are grown from clones of a single tree that are grafted onto root stock)

I'm increasingly convinced that climate also matters quite a bit. There are some Honeycrisp that are a lot better than others.

with apples, they keep them in cold storage under nitrogen for up to three years (when they then juice them to dispose). So the fresh apples are so much better, and yes the terroir is always improtant with fruit veg flavour

I love this kind of apples, never seen them outside of Eastern Europe but they are absolutely delicious. Very hard texture, tart and acidic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonovka

I dislike most of the red apples, especially the ones you can find in malls - they are too squishy and too sweet.

> I dislike most of the red apples, especially the ones you can find in malls

My dad likes Starkrimson. I did not but he gave me a big bag of them mixed with Florina so I find them eatable now, after eating all the Florinas. The juice is great though. Not that acidic. My favourite for eating is Fuji but I also like Gala and Florina. It seems like most of apples we eat in Eastern Europe are in fact intended for cooking? Normaly I'll get them from my family's orchards or the farmer market. Jonatan and Jonagod is really common here, but too acidic for eating raw, great for apple pie.

I don't remember trying Antonovka but we sometimes do get a fair share of Polish apples in the supermarket. I'll look for it. But if it is anything like Granny Smith I'll probably dislike it.

Yeah Jonagold is very popular here as well. If that's too acidic for you then you won't like Antonówka :)

Never tried Starkrimson I think? But it looks similar to the ones in malls from the photos.

Both my grandpas had like a dozen different kinds of apples (one tree of each) - I think they planted them more to have apples through the year than for their taste. The early summer ones (papierówki?) were awful. Small, totally white, very squishy and tasteless (not acidic and not sweet).

Starkrimson looks a bit like Red Delicious whoch you see in the supermarket but it's smaller and harder at first. Like Granny Smith hard. Not acidic and it tastes a bit banana flavoued. It's also too hard when picked off the tree, I think you need to keep in in the cellar for at least two weeks. It's best used for juice, but rather sweet. Might be very useful in a blend to balance acidity of other apples. I think my dad accidentally combined it with Florina and got good juice out of them.

Yes, I know the summer apples. Horse and donkey food. Some people like them though.

Poland has very good apples and possibly the best apple cider I had. Dorbonski, I think, not sure though.

The closest kind of apple to Antonówka that I found in England is Bramley apple, or more generally, various kinds of cooking apple.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bramley_apple

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooking_apple

To a first and second approximation, no one in America has ever eaten an Antonovka. But strangely, it's also one of the more common apples planted in America! The explanation for this apparent contradiction is that Antonovka is one of the most common "standard" (ie, full size) apple rootstocks. So they are planted, but almost never allowed to fruit. Instead, the tops are chopped off and a different apple is grafted on top as a replacement.

They are used as rootstock because they are deep rooted, drought tolerant, and very cold hardy. Conveniently, Antonovka are also one of the few apple varieties that tends to grow true from seed. This makes propagating them as rootstock much easier, since it's very fast and easy to plant seeds rather than making clones. Here's an article that talks up the use of Antonovka as a rootstock: http://www.kuffelcreekapplenursery.com/rootstocks.htm.

I've got 20 Antonovka ordered for next spring that I'm planning to graft to. Perhaps I should leave one whole and see what it produces --- like most Americans, I've never eaten one.

you could leave one branch Antonovka, and graft multiple different varieties to the same rootstock

Boskoop is very popular in Germany , e.g. for baked apples.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belle_de_Boskoop

I miss russets. in OZ, not considered viable in the market, russetting is actually used to reject fruit for sale. in the UK, a russet apple and wensleydale cheese can't be beaten. But, neither exist in Australia.

I haven't heard of russet apples. Only russet potatoes. But apparently russetting is a phenotype of some apples and pears (presumably among other things):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russeting

The moar you know! :D

Now why that term was applied to the russet potato... is not so clear to me. Seems like a misnomer given that they all appear brown.

/tangent

"Russet" itself is a brownish color, such as that of the eponymous potato.

"Russeting" is the appearance of mottled spots of that color, like on the apple and pear.

"Russeted" might have been more accurate for the fruits, but I suspect there's a phonological reason it's not actually used.

Russets (in apples and pears) tend to have a more crunchy nashi type flesh. The brown skin can be a bit sandpaper and thick. It has a distinctive mouth feel as a fruit all of its own which somehow sets off perfectly with the chalky white crumble which Wensleydale and some Cheshire has.

yes, I find the AU apple market very limited in the cities, and only a bit better in the actual apple growing regions. Its all fuji and pink lady

I want to agree.. but I also happen to love Fuji...

https://www.flavogram.com/

Interesting

I like the Winter Banana apple. Uncommon but grows well here in Seattle. Once picked it keeps amazingly well, stays crisp for months in a cool basement. Moderately sweet out of hand and good for pies and baking.

My old place in NorCal had a "My Jewel" (Winter Banana x Newtown Pippin). Most delicious apple I have ever eaten.

Wow. I am going to have to have some of those.

What about cosmic crisp?

I’ve got no idea why people eat anything else. Says on Wikipedia that it only got to the public in 2019, so maybe that’s why this older article omitted it.

Because I've never seen that apple. Only once did I see Honeycrisp, and that seems to have been a trial by my supermarket, two weeks later it was gone and never came back.

(I'm living in Germany)

My favorite is Berlepsch, and if I buy in normal stores, Holsteiner Cox, Braeburn or Boskoop.

For what it’s worth, I live in California where both Honeycrisp and Cosmic Crisp are readily available (among a healthy gamut of other varieties). I LOVE Honeycrisp and it’s my favorite. I have not even bothered to try Cosmic Crisp, because from all I’ve heard it’s not any better than Honeycrisp, but just has a longer shelf life. I have no issues with the shelf life of Honeycrisp and am skeptical that shelf life can be extended without giving up some other quality.

They're typically 1.5-2x more expensive than other apples here (eastern Canada) depending on season

From Wikipedia "A $10 million consumer launch of the product was funded by Washington State agriculture promotion funds through the Washington Apple Commission and other agencies.[5] The two taglines for the apple were "Imagine the Possibilities" and "The Apple of Big Dreams".[1] It is said to be the largest campaign in apple industry history,[16] and included payments to social media influencers and a partnership with a touring children's production of Johnny Appleseed.[17] The term "Cosmic Crisp" is trademarked.[1]"

The guy at my indie Seattle produce stand said that Big Apple is shilling Cosmic Crisp and it's all a scam. Maybe you're one of their underground campaigns?? I'm on to you, BIG APPLE

Trademarking the name can work out great for consumers if it keeps poorly grown apples out of stores.

Has anyone heard of Kanzi here in Australia?

It's a cross between Braeburn and Gala, same as NZ's Jazz.

It's a bit more expensive than Gala or Pink Lady, but it has a firm crisp texture and maybe a tart skin but with an easier bite than Pink Lady, quite scrumptious.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanzi_(apple)

Ambrosia is one of the best for eating - last all winter if stored cool, firm and tastes just like a honey crisp (slightly less sweet).

You should try "Envy" apples, though they may not have been around in 2013

Envy is now my go-to apple. I eat two apples most days, and they have been reliably sweet and somewhat tart, crisp with a few exceptions, but even when they haven't been crisp they've still been tasty. I usually just toss a non-crisp apple.

It has a fairly complex flavor profile, just delicious!

I love Honey Crisp, but it's tart enough that my teeth can get sensitive after eating too many. Pink Lady has also been a good one. I just recently tried the Sugar Bee because I couldn't find Envy the last trip, and it was a reasonable alternative to Envy, but one of them had some bitterness in parts.

Cox orange and Ingrid marie is my favs, most modern capitalist robot apples sold are just too boring and hard, bred to survive machine picking and storage for years.

I've got fond memories eating Cox Orange growing up. No other apple has that same flavour.

COP is my favourite too.. but it's worth mentioning a lot of the modern 'club' varieties that have come on market in the past decade probably do retain a lot of the favorable logistic traits but are also a far cry from the sorry later red delicious sports and actually quite interesting and yummy. See envy, jazz, pink lady, kanzi, smitten

I find both Granny Smith, Jonagold, and Gala absolutely uninteresting, but I'm not very fond of apples…

The only apple I eat regularly is Nicoter (Kanzi's organic sibbling).

Granny Smith is a baking apple. I don't know anyone who eats it raw. It's great for pies and crumbles and apple crisp.

Here in Denmark Granny Smith is pimped as a regular apple for eating raw. When you say it's a baking apple, it makes more sense that the taste is so unappetizing when eaten raw.

Edit: typo

Yeah, the balance of sweet and tart that you would expect from an eating apple is missing from Granny Smith, because that would be lost when you dump it in a pie crust with a cup of sugar. It also explains why the apple is so firm, because it's expected to soften when baked. You can eat it raw, I just don't know why you would.

No, the Granny Smith is an eating apple (for instance this BBC Good Food page -- https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/glossary/apple-glossary -- lists it in the eating apples, not in the cooking apple list with varieties like Bramley). It might not be to your taste, but some people like it. I have other varieties I prefer but I'll happily eat a Granny Smith if that's what's in the fruit bowl.

Edit: in fact, I just picked one out of the fruit bowl. Yes, it's not the sweetest apple in the world, but not everything has to be. And the crunch of biting into it is good.

It was my go to apple as a kid, but that was back in the day when the other options were red and yellow delicious.

Even with an abundance of options today, I still enjoy them on occasion.

To each their own ;-)

In the US it’s a mainstream eating apple. Which isn’t to say it’s great for eating, considering the ultimate mainstream eating apple is the awful Red Delicious. In for example a gas station, they will stock Red Delicious and Granny Smith so you have your choice of red or green apple. Granny Smith is a better apple than Red Delicious: it’s sweet and pleasantly tart. It’s got a weird texture though. And it’s too hard, as you point out in another comment.

Better second-tier mainstream apples here are Macintosh and Golden Delicious, before you start getting to the premium apples like Gala, Fuji, and the varieties people are loving on in this thread.

I've always found the popularity of Granny Smith in particular to be bizarre. They are really horrible apples, good only for cooking. Cox's Orange Pippin is superior in every way including a much more interesting and rounded flavour.

Actually, I do have a theory why it's so popular. It's because of the phrase "an apple a day keeps the doctor away". People regard them as medicine rather than a treat, so it makes sense for them to be disgusting.

Apple farmers I've worked for your me they reckon its market share is just about having something that contrasts with the other colours on the shelf in the supermarket.

A few years ago I discovered snapdragon apples.

Not sure if they existed in 2013, but they and gala are the only two varieties I enjoy eating raw.

Lady Alice apples appeared recently at our local grocery store and they are now my favorite.

Compared to Russet and Cox Orange, some of the apples on this list are insipid.

Go Rome or go home.

This is useless. Recommends Red Delicious!? Doesn't mention Cosmic Crisp or Macoun?

Red "Delicious" should be taken out behind the shed and put out of its misery.

Needs to experience a chainsaw massacre.

Yeah, smash 'em up! Hurt it with fire! Then add a little cinnamon...

Huh, pretty much any other apple is better for baking..

When life gives you meh apples, make applesauce!

Cosmic Crisp apples weren't available commercially when this was written [1].

[1] https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/05/03/525421226/wa...

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