Unlike a little tartness but granny smiths are too tart for me to enjoy outside of baking.

Pink lady's are hardly tart at all. I don't know why they have that reputation.

I agree with this guy 100%.

I just had a sweetango for the first time yesterday and it was fantastic. Refrigerated though.

I worked for an company that specialized in growing apples for 5 years. They are seriously dull. I always enjoyed talking about the grass they grew between the rows than than apples. I still have a few of them as customers although I ban all that bullshit apple talk. Yawn...

Apples are stored in large coolers with all the O2 removed. The lack of O2 prevents molds from growing. They are also all coated with some complex polymers to help prevent yeast and bacterial activity. They can last for about a year in storage. They juice apples that don't make the grade or start to break down in storage. Once the juice market is full, they dump the apples to dairies or feedlots.

Apples varieties are all clones of one plant. They don't really change over time. Fruit quality like the infamous red delicious mealiness is due to growing temperature, water, fruit load and nutrition. Every apple variety has its own special needs and growers often screw it up especially in mixed variety orchards. Climate change also adds complexity as apple varieties are genetically uniform and therefore respond to environmental stresses uniformly. So you can get good and bad years for certain varieties. For example cosmic crisp can be variable in internal quality depending on the year (From a WSU presentation in 2022). So they have done all sorts of trials to ensure a more reliable performance.

Special Note for those that like to visit older orchards: When visiting a older orchard, you must carefully wash all of the fruit. Every older orchard on the planet is contaminated with lead and arsenic (lead arsenate was used for over 100 years as an insecticide). These are not transported by the trees to the fruit but the dirt is still contaminated.

Given the strength of your feelings about apples, I believe you will appreciate this website, and in particular, you'll appreciate this specific entry.

NSFW

https://applerankings.com/newtown-pippin-apple-review/

Yo brother this ain't dull. It's straight apple wars.

I have pretty much stopped eating fresh apples. Since I'm old and have kept apple trees growing for me most of my life, I know what they are supposed to taste like.

Ain't none of the crap you guys are eating these days taste of anything at all. They have been all replaced by apples meant for long storage and not taste. You can have one, but not the other. Even those "heirloom varieties" at those orchards suffer from the that selective breeding. Just to a lesser extent. I remember when you couldn't buy an apple at the grocery store after Thanksgiving. And the next apple we would get at Christmas as kids was a big mealy red apple that had no flavor and was almost dessicated from too long storage. Sad apples are sad.

And don't get me started on potatoes or tomatoes either. Useless grocery store garbage. All of it!

**This Grandpa Rants is brought to you by ExLax and Pepto Bismal and your local Pharmacy. The best way to screw up your gut health is better living through modern chemistry! And don't forget to tune again to "Grandpa Rants!" next week at this same time.

I'm skeptical you had a real Pink Lady if you thought the skin was thick.

Lol. So, like, I used to live some miles away from a farm that grew a bunch of different heirloom apples. Which piqued my interest and sent me searching for other (semi-easily accessible) apple varieties when I traveled. I kept notes as I went; I've probably eaten and rated over 250 varieties by now. Anyway, I have some basic knowledge on this.

Regarding the ratings site (which I haven't looked at; I'm tired and am just desperately trying to get my brain to settle so I can sleep) vs your ratings: sourcing matters. If you're buying apples from the grocery store, even at this time of year, there's a chance you're buying last year's apples. That's going to affect the skin, the texture, and the flavor of the apple. See if you can find fresh-picked (and preferably locally-grown) apples for your comparisons. It's possible that you and that website are comparing old vs new apples.

Secondly, temperature matters. No, seriously. If you're getting apples for testing, get two. Put one in the fridge and the other on the counter, then eat them the next day. Alternate bites, clearing your taste buds between. You're looking at crunch (biting through the skin and the apple), texture (whether the flesh holds up to the bite or becomes mealy), sweetness, tang, astringency; the first flavors that come through, and how the flavor develops as you chew. Probably other factors I'm not thinking of at the moment, but you can make up your own

What you'll find is that coldness will boost the flavor profile: something that's very mild at room temperature may have a rich and complex flavor when cold; and something that's too sharp and almost bitter becomes refreshing and delicious at room temperature.

If you're a denigrator of Red Delicious, get yourself to an orchard with old-style Red Delicious - trees at least 35 years old, get them at harvest time, and they're fucking delicious.

Remember that there are three main types of apples: cider apples, eating apples, and cooking apples. While many apples have multiple uses, it's rare that a cooking apples will come out on top when eaten raw.

Finally, the best apples I've found so far are Winchester for eating and Northern Spy for cooking.

Part of the appeal for me is that they aren't so tart. I find the Granny Smith too sour for my tastes most of the time. They are remarkably crisp however, unlike Red Delicious which are typically enjoyed by felons and sociopaths (and my wife).

Left is best.

I've lived in Japan too long; I thought this was about the singer.

It's kinda interesting with apples how the varietals have different names. Some are distinct, but I'm pretty sure some are the same as US brands just with a fake moustache.

And don't get me started on potatoes between the US, UK, and Japan...

Feel free to hate Pink Lady's, that leaves more for me.

Dude, have you tried cosmic crisp?

https://cosmiccrisp.com/

I don't really enjoy Granny Smiths, but give me a nice Cosmic Crisp any day!

I like Granny Smith and all, but they make my teeth feel weird.

Pink lady is always a charm.

Here I am, knowing that you're all wrong. Cortland is king!

Lol. Firmgold all the way.

Spartan or GTFO

Cosmic Crisp or nothing.

I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm a cultist, but pink lady is my favorite, at least when the stores are getting them relatively fresh. Like the apple expert said, it makes a difference.

The reason I like them so much is the balance of tart and sweet. I also don't just bite into apples as the skin slips between my teeth too easily, and it hurts because my gums are sensitive as hell. I slice them.

But, I do enjoy occasionally going for baking apples like a granny smith just for eating raw. They aren't always super tart, but even the sweeter ones will make me pucker a little. Which I like tbh, to a degree.

But the pink lady, on average, is two or three steps down from the usual granny. Sweet enough to pair with anything I want (within reason), but still able to be eaten by itself.

Never had a sweetango. Have to keep an eye out for them.

I'm upset after reading that my Fujis are controversial