North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Ginda Fisher <list@ginda.us>]

I'm in eastern MA, and the "local" apples come from zones 5 and 6, so my 
experience might be different from yours.  I've embedded comments after the 
ones I've eaten.

Ginda
 
On Feb 3, 2011, at 6:32 PM, refugia wrote:

> I'm looking a trying these apple varieties. Can any of you who've eaten 
> these apples attest to their merits? 
> 
> Williams Pride
Reasonably nice apple.  Didn't knock my socks off, but I enjoy it.  Supposed 
to be resistant to common apple diseases.  Nice crisp texture, attractive, 
looks a bit like golden delicious, but I've never seen russeting on it.

> Junaluska
> Liberty
A terrific apple, especially if you like a good Macintosh.  It tastes similar 
to Macintosh, but can be grown where it's too warm to grow good Macs.  
(Central Jersey produces good Libertys, and terrible Macs.)  It's on the 
small side, and attractive -- looks a lot like a Mac.  Relatively soft, like 
a Mac.  It keeps a little better than a Mac, but I don't consider it a good 
keeper.  The flavor is sweet, tart, and aromatic.  Overripe, it makes 
terrific juice.  (Very over-ripe, it develops weird off-flavors.)  This is 
considered a relatively easy-to-grow apple, as it's resistant to scab and 
some other stuff.

> Cripps Pink
I've only had these (pink lady) grown on the west coast and shipped east.  
It's an extremely pretty apple, but I wasn't wild about the flavor.  I found 
it a bit bland.  But it's very pleasant to eat with a nice texture, and seems 
to keep/ship well.

> Terry Winter
> 
> I'm in coastal California, Zone 9, 8-900 chilling hours.
> 
> Patrick