Honeycrisp is a modern apple variety, developed in the 1960s and introduced to the market in the 1990s - sometimes trademarked as Honeycrunch. It is increasingly available in supermarkets. Honeycrisp comes from a long line of apples developed by the University of Minnesota from the 1930s onwards. Apparently one of the objectives of this breeding programme has been to develop varieties which can tolerate the bitter cold of winters in some parts of the USA, and most plantings have been in the northern USA, including New England, Minnesota and Washington State.

The parentage of modern apple varieties is often obscure because they are the result of lengthy breeding programmes with cross after cross, although the original parentage is generally known - often Golden Delicious or one of its offspring.  However in the case of Honeycrisp the original parentage posted by the developers at the University of Minnesota appears to have been wrong ! Originally it was believed that one of the parents was  Honeygold, raised in the 1930s from a cross between Golden Delicious and another University of Minnesota development, Haralson. Honeycrisp's other parent was thought to be Macoun, a widely used American variety, developed in the 1920s from a cross between two old American varieties, McIntosh and Jersey Black. This meant that Honeycrisp represented a relatively rare combination of Golden Delicious and McIntosh styles - which did indeed seem to be reflected in the flavour and to some extent the appearance.  (Try tasting it alongside Golden Delicious and McIntosh - or a freshly-picked Spartan or Empire which are very similar).  However subsequently the University of Minnesota carried out a DNA test which indicated that their own records were wrong, and the parentage is currently unknown.  Quite embarrasing for the university, but not likely to harm Honeycrisp's commercial prospects.

Honeycrisp is a medium-to-large sized apple, with a light green/yellow background largely covered with red-orange flush with strong hint of pink if grown in good sunlight. The skin may be flecked with occasional russet dots. The flesh is white, perhaps not quite as bright as a McIntosh style apple, but similarly crisp and not too dense.  The colour however can be quite variable.

The flavour is sweet with very little trace of acidity and little depth or complexity. There can also be a trace of pear-drop flavour. In a good example this is a juicy and instantly refreshing apple, in a less good example it will be simply sweet and bland.  As its name suggests this is genuinely a crisp / crunchy apple.  However since the flesh is quite light, the crunch is surprisingly soft, nothing like the hard crisp crunch of a good Golden Delicious.

Surprisingly for a modern commerical apple variety, Honeycrisp tends to bruise easily, and therefore is usually sold in packs rather than loose. Northern hemisphere fruit ripens relatively early in September. The apples keep until April in storage and retain their crispness - a typical Golden Delicious trait.  Interestingly it appears that the flavour can improve for 7-10 days after being taken out of cold store, which means that stock taken from cold store and then purchased by consumers is likely to be in optimum condition.  In contrast many apple varieties held in cold store tend to ripen and then go past their best very quickly once they are taken out of storage.

It is probably too early to tell how successful Honeycrisp will become, but it is certainly a good-quality dessert apple. The flavour is not outstanding, but it is still a very enjoyable and undemanding apple, particularly if cooled in the fridge before eating.

See MinnesotaHarvest.net for some very detailed and interesting information on the confused orgins of this variety - it gives a good insight into the development programmes which lead to new apple varieties.