14 Feb 2021
Lingoln,
CALIFORNIA, United StatesI had two opportunities to taste this apple. The first was early in 2020 when this variety first became available. After that tasting, I would have rated it at 5 out of 5 stars, hands down. It was by far the best-tasting apple that I'd bought from a grocery store in many years, blowing all of the other commercial varieties out of the water. The texture was extremely crisp and juicy as promised, and the flavor was very sweet, very tart, and a tad more complex than the watery storebought apples. I would have still picked a good farmer's market apple over this, but that's not the class these apples fall under. HOWEVER.... I bought a few this year (early 2021) when I saw them available again, expecting them to be just as good as last year. I was extremely disappointed with the apples I got. They tasted completely bland with no tartness, just moderate single-note sweetness, absolutely no complexity, and a texture that was technically still crisp but not at all enchanting. The skin even felt a bit soft and when squeezed the apple seemed slightly spongy and wilted. In short, they tasted exactly like an apple that has been sitting in storage for over a year that's lost all of its flavor and appeal. To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if the apples I'm seeing in stores now are from the same harvest as the apples I bought last spring. This was my biggest concern with this variety, and what I suspect may be its downfall: they're most likely a delicious, reliable apple when sold fresh off the tree, but since they were specifically bred to have an exceedingly long shelf life, most of what you can find in stores will have been stored for many, many, many months. I would still happily buy this apple fresh from a farmer's market or even grow it in my yard when they become available, but I won't be buying any more from the grocery store.