North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Brungardt, Sam" <Sam.Brungardt@state.mn.us>]

Honeycrisps (mostly from Washington and Michigan) are still in the
stores here in Minnesota, where the cultivar was developed.  In fact,
they've been selling for $2.49/lb., but a large chain (Cub) has  a
special in the Twin Cities this week for $1.69/lb.

Several weeks ago I took some to Kansas, which I'd bought on sale in
Windom, and gave each of my siblings a few.  They really liked them,
especially one of my sisters, who asked me to get her two large bags.
Well, I'm a little resentful of paying $2.49/lb., so I sampled possible
alternatives and ended up buying a bag each of Jonagold, Ambrosia and
Honeycrisp.  I sampled an apple from each bag and found I liked the
Ambrosia's flavor best of all because it had a complexity, a rather
spicy aftertaste, that Honeycrisp lacked, although admittedly its flesh
was not as breaking. -- Sam Brungardt, St. Paul, Minn.

-----Original Message-----
From: nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Mark or Helen
Angermayer
Sent: Sunday, November 05, 2006 10:52 PM
To: North American Fruit Explorers
Subject: [NAFEX] taste test-grocery apples


A few nights ago my wife, kids, and I had a taste test of some apples I
got from the store.  We originally did it just as something fun, but as
an afterthought I decided to pass the results on.  I know many would
rate commercial apples inferior to non-commercial varieties, as may well
be the case, but we tested what we have easy access to, and for us right
now, it's the grocer.(My new apple trees are still several  years from
bearing.)

Anyhow, I bought the following apples-Fuji, Gala, MacIntosh, Honeycrisp,
Braeburn, and Pink Lady.  They were all grown in the U.S.  It was a
blind taste test(except for me, since I set it up).  All of us
independently rated the apples from best to worst.

Every one of us rated the Honeycrisp at the top.  And three out of four
of us rated Mac at the bottom.  However in defense of the McIntosh, it
was mushy and that might have contributed to it's low ranking.  As for
the rest of the apples, their rankings were fairly scattered.
Personally, except for the best and worst apple, I had trouble ranking
the others which were all good.

I know it's all anectdotal anyway, since so many factors can affect
taste, i.e. picking, soil, rootstock, local climate, etc.  Still, I
wonder if we'll see more of those Honeycrisps on the shelves?

Mark Angermayer
Zone 5 Kansas

P.S. Thanks to everyone who offered suggestions for mulching
strawberries. Athough the suggestions were across the board, maybe a
very light covering of winter mulch will offer a bit of freeze
protection without rotting the plants.  Thanks.


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