I've eaten three of them: Ashmead's Kernal, Braeburn, and Gravenstein. I (and the rest of my family) loved Ashmead's kernal, which is sweet, tart, crunchy, and good-flavored. But I'd never grow it commercially as it's also small, ugly, somewhat russeted, and tends to be misshapen. the only "eating apple" that I've tried that is smaller is the lady apple. I liked Braeburn well enough, but didn't love it. The sample I had was probably over-ripe. It is also a sour apple, and the flavor is nice. It's supposed to be a cooking apple, but I haven't tried that. I keep trying Gravenstein because people (on this list) say nice things about it, and I keep being disappointed. I may be eating it too late in the season. I've had both Gravenstein and Red Gravenstein, and they are similar. They are soft, sour, and have okay flavor. They made perfectly fine sauce, but nothing that we got excited about. (The pink gravensteins, which we cooked with their skins, made a nice pink sauce.)
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