Apple season is upon us, at least here in the Northern Hemisphere, and has been for the last couple of months or so, starting with the Viking apples in early August for me. Since then I have been through Paula Reds, Honeycrisp, Cortlands, and a number of others. My understanding is that different types of apple are favored in different parts of the world, in addition to the fact that we all have our own personal preference. In New England Macintosh apples are supposedly favored. Every time I got an apple with my school lunch it was either a Delicious or a Mac. Generally when you go to an orchard you can get varieties such as the Delicious varieties (Golden and Red), Mac varieties, Ida Reds, Cortlands, Empires, Granny Smith, Paula Red, Honeycrisp, and depending on the orchard a few other types. For example I know of one orchard where one can get Northern Spy, Baldwin, Winter Banana, and other things you might not get elsewhere such as Russets (the supreme cider apple). The major cooking apple that I know of is the Greening (very hard and green, but makes the best pie). There is also a newish type called Cameo that I have had, its okay. There is also an immensely popular variety only around in September called Ginger Gold (which I love). There are also Mutsu and Fuji, but I find those to not be to my tastes, so I tend to avoid them. My own personal favorites are Cortlands, Northern Spy (if I had to pick one kind to eat for the rest of my life this would be it), Empire, and Greenings. But I want to hear about your favorites. I understand that Cox's Orange Pippin's are the worlds best dessert apple (at least for those who can't get their hands on a Cortland or a Northern Spy, ha ha), and that there is a world of apple varieties out there not grown where I can get them. So I want to hear about the favored apples of other Zoo Chatters. I'm asking this because once I had a fruit tree book from the U.K. and it called some of my favorite varieties insipid. Well, it might just be the conditions of the British Isles affecting the fruit differently than our conditions do (warmer summers, colder winters), but I was ticked off and have been ever since. Now I am curious for the opinion of someone who isn't the author of that awful (for me at least) book.
Zestar, Yate, and Jonagold's are some of my favorite that grow at Mercier Orchards in Georgia (about an hour from the house). They have all the varieties you mentioned plus others.
Then perhaps you'll enjoy getting the bigger picture on apples in the USA http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/23/g...nt-more-than-a-macintosh.html?ref=garden&_r=0
Are most of the same apple varieties popular the world over or is there some variation? So far I notice a lot of GRanny Smith lovers, not that that is a problem. Like I said, Cox's Orange Pippins are hard to get where I am, though they are on my to do list. Can't say I would want to plant a tree of them unless they really, really sing to me though, I prefer multi purpose apples, for example Northern Spies and Cortlands can be eaten out of hand, made into pies, baked apples, sauce, salads, and store supposedly into the spring (I always eat mine before then though).
The best apples are the special varieties that are grown for making cider - which is the real purpose of cultivating apples as far as I am concerned: although I regularly buy Bramley Seedlings for cooking too. Alan
Hard Cider or Sweet Cider? I prefer sweet, mainly because booze makes me nauseous and tastes icky for the most part and either sleepy or angry for the rest (translation: I can't seem to get buzzed, I'm either sober or full on drunk with no in between so I really don't see the point of drinking).
We don't use the term 'hard cider' in the UK, but sweet cider is just for beginners. The best cider I ever had was a traditional 'scrumpy' brewed near Exmoor in the south west of England, where many farms have traditionally brewed small quantities of cider from their own apples, but of course the quality is much more variable from these microbreweries (to use the modern term) than from the larger companies. There has been a revival of cider drinking here in the last few years, with Irish and continental brews arriving in the UK; but I enjoy sampling the products of the smaller operations. Alan
Living in the middle of apple country(there are approximately 1,000-1,500 apple trees to for every person that lives in my village within the township), I have stopped trying to keep track of the different apple varieties I have eaten. I would have to say though, that for raw eating purposes alone, my favorite apples would have to be the jonagold, the ginger gold, and the classic granny smith. They all have a good amount of crunch and the right amount of sourness to match.
I love Malaysian Apples, though I haven't had one for years, mainly because I can't find them in Australia.
I enjoy a Golden delicious when I can get one but I usually eat Red delicious and other varieties like Fuji.
