The article mentions it only in passing, but in 2019 we'll finally see Cosmic Crisps [0] on the market. These are likely to surpass the Honeycrisp in texture, sweetness, and tart. And unlike the otherwise excellent Honeycrisp, Cosmic Crisps are not susceptible to sun burn nor bitter pit (brown pits on the apple). I'm excited to try them!<p>[0]: <a href="https://www.cosmiccrisp.com/the-facts/" rel="nofollow">https://www.cosmiccrisp.com/the-facts/</a>
So this article is about east coast orchards complaining that a plant that was bred to grow in Minnesota doesn't grow as well on the east coast? Well duh. As Karina Gallardo, an agricultural economist at Washington State University was quoted in the article saying “There’s a higher investment and production cost in places that are not Minnesota,” And yet it seems these orchard still make money off Honeycrisp so I'm not sure why this article was written in the first place.
I have childhood memories of going into the woods around the park to pick blackberries. The flavors to be found in good blackberries are pretty sublime. The other day, I bought a container of blackberries. Somehow, they had been reduced to bloated, flavorless bags of purple sugar water. (I suspect this is why they were a sale item.)<p>Altering plants for better taste does have a place.
I just want to say that I spent my childhood eating terrible red delicious apples and honey crisp apples are a revelation and I don’t care if they cost $18/pound they’re still worth it.
Here in Los Angeles your typical store has 6-10 varieties of apple, almost all of them painfully similar.<p>Braeburn, Jazz, Fuji, Honeycrisp, Gala, Ambrosia, Jonagold, Envy... these are all the same basic apple: overly sweet, hard/dense, not a lot of taste outside sugar. Envy apples are the yellow version of the same thing. Pink Ladies are marginally better.<p>If anyone knows an LA area market where I can escape the tyranny of obnoxiously "crisp" sugar bombs in favor of Cortlands, McIntosh, Jonathan, or anything out of the ordinary... do tell.<p>If the Granny Smith wasn't available I don't know what I'd do.
1. Pink Lady > Honeycrisp (though Honeycrisp is very good).<p>2. "The Honeycrisp variety is now so popular, consumers will spend three times the cost of other apples to experience it." Wow, I'm thankful I live in Oregon. Our local grocery store has about 10 varieties of apples on sale and Honeycrisp are usually no more expensive than other varieties.
> <i>at a certain point the consumer doesn’t want to buy an apple the size of a grapefruit</i><p>Um... yes I do. Is the Honeycrisp itself not sufficient proof that apple growers have had absolutely no clue about what consumers really wanted, for decades? In the same vein, where have all the honkin' big seeded watermelons gone? You remember those, back when they had big black seeds, and <i>actual flavor</i>? Don't blame the consumer for not wanting to buy things they can't find in the store any more. The truth is that the apple infrastructure cannot pick and ship fruit that size, so they refuse to try, and then they blame the consumer for their choices.<p>It bears repeating that the first Honeycrisp tree was <i>thrown away</i>, without anyone ever tasting the fruit. Even now, remedying that error has basically led to just <i>one guy</i> tasting <i>all the apples</i>, to the point where he has to use special toothpaste to save his teeth from the malic acid, and making the clone or cut decision based on that one bite.<p>> <i>The demand for this one apple exceeds supply—it’s all consumers, and therefore supermarkets, want.</i><p>This is patently false. I frequently pass up Honeycrisp for other varieties (Fuji, Gala, Pink Lady), because the latter are $1.29/# and the former is something insane, like $3.59/# . I like Honeycrisp, but not three times more than other firm, tart apples. And I don't want Honeycrisp to be my only option for table fruit.<p>How often do we have to remind growers that monoculture is stupid? Stop cloning Honeycrisp everywhere just because it's a sure sale, and try out some new varieties. If it fails as a table variety, you can always make hard cider, or applejack, and sell it to Millennial hipsters.
Variety and regional specialty are good! This article seems to be complaining that things grow well in one place and not another place. Breed your own apples then!<p>There aren't any apples besides honeycrisp that I <i></i>know<i></i> I like for eating out of hand. The market wants better produce all around and most things you find these days were bred for qualities that are good for the supply chain instead of the taste and health of the consumer.<p>If the apples everybody likes don't grow well in your climate, fund research into finding new varieties that do.<p>There's no "curse". The best things will not suit everybody's tastes or needs. In fact it's a pretty good indicator that you're doing something right if some people really don't like it.
Target has 3lb bags of honeycrips at consistently low prices $2ish/lb. It is because they're smaller apples than what you get in the "pile-o-apples". But this works great for us because we have small kids and they can't eat a huge honeycrisp anyway.<p>If you really like a big honeycrisp but are more price conscious, I think the Braeburn is a damn close comparison for a much more reasonable price. And they're available at all the stores around me in Iowa. Just stick with the ones that still have a fair bit of yellow/green spackle and not too much or too deep of the red color. Too much red ends up being slightly less crisp with much less tartness. That is kind of true with honeycrisp but it is really true with Braeburn.
<a href="http://skillcult.com/" rel="nofollow">http://skillcult.com/</a> has an amazing set of blog posts and videos about a whole range of obscure and interesting apple varieties. He’s talked about apples that taste like fruit punch, bananas, anise, spice, etc. The range of possible flavors that apples can express is pretty amazing.
Personally, I'm a big fan of Fujis. And nothing beats a good Red Delicious if it's fresh. I know that Red Delicious is reputed to be the White Zinfandel of the apple world, but I like 'em, and I don't care what the apple snobs have to say about it. (Or the wine snobs either, for that matter.)
Here in Los Angeles (Specifically Sunland Produce in Sunland) Honeycrisps are available nearly year around for 99 cents a pound. Not on sale. It's insane, I've lived all over the place and the price actually shocks me every time i go in.
If you're in the Northeast, you should try a Macoun apple. More tart than Honey crisp, it's a cross between a Macintosh and some more crisp apple.<p>I never had one until I moved to New York but now it's my favourite variety.
I just came across Smitten apples and they are also crunchy, sweet and tart like the honeycrisp.
<a href="https://www.smittenapple.com" rel="nofollow">https://www.smittenapple.com</a>
In California even these new apples are relatively cheap, i never pay over 1$/lb
Those who complain about red delicious simply do not know how to pick them. I often pass over them if they are not hard with tight skin. Put them in the fridge and they can be great. In fact I put all my apples into the fridge, it extends their shelf life about 2-3x.
Pinata apples are my favorite (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinova" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinova</a>)<p>Honeycrisp have been on sale a lot lately (99 cents a pound a week ago)<p>Honeycrisp is good, but it just seems sort of hollow and doesn't really leave you feeling any fuller at the end. It also doesn't seem to have much depth of flavor. It's just sweet.
Wow sounds like they're talking about JavaScript frameworks.<p>A few good years then on to new hotness. Think of all those poor red delicious trees.
No love for Cortlands here? Incredible.<p>I'm one of those who don't understand the appeal of honeycrisp, I guess I prefer soft-fleshed apples.
The Honeycrisp is fine, but I don't love the trend of Apple varieties that taste like jolly ranchers (super sweet and crisp - see also Pink Lady or Jazz). Old fashioned apple varieties like Macintosh and even Red Delicious can be great in season from local farms - I had a Red Delicious today I would take over any Honeycrisp.<p>I have friends who only eat Honeycrisp, I feel old when I complain that it's not a real apple and they should try something else.
This is one of the silliest articles I've ever read.<p>> <i>"Though it succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest dreams, along the way it became a nightmare for some producers, forcing small Northeastern growers to compete with their massive, climatically advantaged counterparts on the West Coast."</i><p>> <i>Prices for Honeycrisps Can Be 2-3x Other Apples</i><p>> <i>"So why do farmers put up with the hassle? They simply don’t have a choice. The demand for this one apple exceeds supply—it’s all consumers, and therefore supermarkets, want. So growers are planting with almost reckless abandon, pulling out old varieties, like the tired Red Delicious, and putting in Honeycrisp trees—even in places where they don’t grow well."</i><p>> <i>"Meanwhile, everyone is nervously waiting for the day when the supply-demand equilibrium brings sticker prices down far enough that growing the Honeycrisp no longer makes economic sense. But it’s not likely to happen soon, said Eric Rama, head of agricultural research at MetLife Inc. Even though production is increasing at a rapid pace, demand for premium apples isn’t waning."</i><p>Farmers need to grow the things that people want to buy? And it seems like this will be the situation for the foreseeable future, so it's low-risk? And they sell for more?<p>Really struggling to see how this is a curse... instead of sensational journalism at its very worst...
Interesting article on the U of M apples:<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/theresabeckhusen/2018/10/06/thank-minnesotas-harsh-winters-for-your-honeycrisp-sweetango-and-first-kiss-apples/#61618b476241" rel="nofollow">https://www.forbes.com/sites/theresabeckhusen/2018/10/06/tha...</a>