I was actually a bit surprised that this doesn’t actually talk about hard cider at all; it’s all about the apple trees. I can’t help but feel that the market for produce in general is a bit messed...
I was actually a bit surprised that this doesn’t actually talk about hard cider at all; it’s all about the apple trees.
I can’t help but feel that the market for produce in general is a bit messed up at the moment, and Apples are the most visible ones for me. I’m practically in prime apple country, but many of the grocers here are selling stuff they buy from out of state that is clearly out of its prime. A good apple is like biting into candy. A bad apple is like biting into a dried lump of undercooked oatmeal. Red Delicious apples have gotten a bad rep in recent years for being rather poor tasting by apple standards, but I can’t help but wonder how much of it is based off of them being out of their prime.
As a side not it is incredibly irritating that whenever you talk about the subject of this comment, the iOS autocorrect assumes you are talking about the company. That is not good branding, Apple. It’s invasive.
I will add that apples that are perfectly good for cider are often nearly inedible as fruit to eat directly. The old cider varieties became unpopular and scarce because fruit was the only market.
I will add that apples that are perfectly good for cider are often nearly inedible as fruit to eat directly. The old cider varieties became unpopular and scarce because fruit was the only market.
There was a heritage apple farm not too far from me that collected 150+ varieties of antique apple varieties. Aside from having the best fresh cider I've ever tasted in my life, pressed from all...
There was a heritage apple farm not too far from me that collected 150+ varieties of antique apple varieties. Aside from having the best fresh cider I've ever tasted in my life, pressed from all those mixed apples, they sold many of those varieties individually. And yes, some of the traditional cider varieties were sour or bitter. There were also long-keeping pie apples that were so starchy you'd think you'd bitten a raw potato. But some apples were so gorgeous - one nearly cylindrical in shape, that tasted like a cross between an apple and a rose, with crisp, bright pink flesh, another ugly with grainy russet skin that tasted like pear, and so on. The farm family tried to sell off and retire, but they couldn't find a buyer who wanted to keep the trees, which have now all been torn out. There is a lovely book they produced about all the apples, though.
Maybe I'm missing something but in my experience red delicious apples have only ever lived up to half of their name. Did they somehow manage to get worse over the last few years?
Maybe I'm missing something but in my experience red delicious apples have only ever lived up to half of their name. Did they somehow manage to get worse over the last few years?
It has! It's so bad in some cases! Even markets that focus on healthy foods (cough sprouts cough) tend to have bad quality produce! If I go to walmart to get romaine lettuce the stuff they have on...
It has! It's so bad in some cases! Even markets that focus on healthy foods (cough sprouts cough) tend to have bad quality produce! If I go to walmart to get romaine lettuce the stuff they have on the shelf is already wilted!
These days I'm spending a little more on organic produce, not necessarily because of worries about pesticides or things like that, but because it's usually higher quality.
Funny enough, Sprouts is one of the few places that has East Coast (NY State) apples (I’m in SC, but the store is in GA). I’ve found the NY apples there to be pretty good. Haven’t tried their...
Funny enough, Sprouts is one of the few places that has East Coast (NY State) apples (I’m in SC, but the store is in GA). I’ve found the NY apples there to be pretty good. Haven’t tried their stuff from Washington, but I generally avoid those wherever possible.
Longer supply chains and ensuring availability out of season are the main culprits. If your grocery store is importing from a long distance, that's extra days of refrigerated transport and/or...
Longer supply chains and ensuring availability out of season are the main culprits. If your grocery store is importing from a long distance, that's extra days of refrigerated transport and/or storage treatments. Fruits and vegetables may be picked before ripeness to keep them firm enough to withstand shipping. And U.S. farms are still struggling with labor shortages, so your fruits and vegetables are not necessarily harvested at peak and will be more expensive.
They were never my favorites, but I think I remember liking them at one point. Now they're terrible, but at the supermarkets these days even the ones that I love taste pretty sad. One time I...
They were never my favorites, but I think I remember liking them at one point. Now they're terrible, but at the supermarkets these days even the ones that I love taste pretty sad. One time I bought a Pink Lady apple and one side was still sweet, but the other side was bitter.
Red delicious apples have always been terrible to me, so much so that I have been actively avoiding them for several years. It's not so much the taste but the thick waxy peel and mealy texture...
Red delicious apples have always been terrible to me, so much so that I have been actively avoiding them for several years. It's not so much the taste but the thick waxy peel and mealy texture that are a complete turn off. If they've gotten even worse over time, I can't imagine how terrible they must be now.
That's a fair point. I used to ADORE Honeycrisp apples but then I got COVID and they just don't taste quite the same. Nothing else, only Honeycrisp apples. Which makes me wonder if COVID somehow...
That's a fair point. I used to ADORE Honeycrisp apples but then I got COVID and they just don't taste quite the same. Nothing else, only Honeycrisp apples. Which makes me wonder if COVID somehow ruined my enjoyment of specifically that one variety of apple or if they coincidentally just dropped off in quality around the same time
I don't think it's you, they're just not as good as they used to be. I remember reading online that it was something about them being the new variety, and only the best orchards were able to...
I don't think it's you, they're just not as good as they used to be. I remember reading online that it was something about them being the new variety, and only the best orchards were able to liscence them or something like that. Now they're old hat, and you can by them by the bagful for less money, they're just not as good. Cosmic crisp is the new hotness, now, but I'm of the opinion that it's already past it's prime.
Or maybe the poor growing season last year was to blame. I even went apple picking and the apples right off the trees were disappointing.
Fresh Red Delicious apples, especially organic, are actually pretty good, but they don't keep well. Same thing for MacIntosh, which were my favorite fresh apples as a kid and are nearly flavorless...
Fresh Red Delicious apples, especially organic, are actually pretty good, but they don't keep well. Same thing for MacIntosh, which were my favorite fresh apples as a kid and are nearly flavorless and mealy when store-bought.
The thing about grocery store apples is that they're often stored for a long time. They undergo chemical treatment to retard the softening and rotting that occurs from naturally produced ethylene oxide. That chemical treatment can cause loss of flavor. So get your apples fresh in season (usually August - November in the US) and dry them if you plan to keep them for a while. Dried apples are great for snacking, or can be easily rehydrated for use in recipes. Keep the dried apples in the freezer, and you can have tasty apples year-round.
If you can, go to a u-pick orchard. It’s inconvenient and expensive, but absolutely nothing beats an apple that was just picked off the tree. The same is actually true for any fruit or vegetable,...
If you can, go to a u-pick orchard. It’s inconvenient and expensive, but absolutely nothing beats an apple that was just picked off the tree.
The same is actually true for any fruit or vegetable, actually.
I also learned, maybe here? that Honeycrisp apples grown in Washington are subpar to those grown in Minnesota due to lacking the reliable freeze that the honeycrisps rely on to ensure their...
I also learned, maybe here? that Honeycrisp apples grown in Washington are subpar to those grown in Minnesota due to lacking the reliable freeze that the honeycrisps rely on to ensure their sweetness. But it's (probably) cheaper to grow apples in Washington than in Minnesota and thus I've stopped buying them.
I'm in the middle of prime apple and cider country. There are a couple of cideries doing amazing things with old apple varieties... Kingston Black apples make outstanding cider, with some of the...
I'm in the middle of prime apple and cider country. There are a couple of cideries doing amazing things with old apple varieties...
Kingston Black apples make outstanding cider, with some of the same palate-refreshing tannins as wine.
A couple of the local cideries basically do "dump" ciders - whatever is growing at a given heritage orchard goes in, and some orchards might have 100+ antique varieties. Needless to say, these are amazing.
I was actually a bit surprised that this doesn’t actually talk about hard cider at all; it’s all about the apple trees.
I can’t help but feel that the market for produce in general is a bit messed up at the moment, and Apples are the most visible ones for me. I’m practically in prime apple country, but many of the grocers here are selling stuff they buy from out of state that is clearly out of its prime. A good apple is like biting into candy. A bad apple is like biting into a dried lump of undercooked oatmeal. Red Delicious apples have gotten a bad rep in recent years for being rather poor tasting by apple standards, but I can’t help but wonder how much of it is based off of them being out of their prime.
As a side not it is incredibly irritating that whenever you talk about the subject of this comment, the iOS autocorrect assumes you are talking about the company. That is not good branding, Apple. It’s invasive.
I will add that apples that are perfectly good for cider are often nearly inedible as fruit to eat directly. The old cider varieties became unpopular and scarce because fruit was the only market.
There was a heritage apple farm not too far from me that collected 150+ varieties of antique apple varieties. Aside from having the best fresh cider I've ever tasted in my life, pressed from all those mixed apples, they sold many of those varieties individually. And yes, some of the traditional cider varieties were sour or bitter. There were also long-keeping pie apples that were so starchy you'd think you'd bitten a raw potato. But some apples were so gorgeous - one nearly cylindrical in shape, that tasted like a cross between an apple and a rose, with crisp, bright pink flesh, another ugly with grainy russet skin that tasted like pear, and so on. The farm family tried to sell off and retire, but they couldn't find a buyer who wanted to keep the trees, which have now all been torn out. There is a lovely book they produced about all the apples, though.
Suddenly the French word for potato, “pomme de terre,” makes a lot more sense to me.
Maybe I'm missing something but in my experience red delicious apples have only ever lived up to half of their name. Did they somehow manage to get worse over the last few years?
IMO, produce quality in general has gotten worse over the past few years.
It has! It's so bad in some cases! Even markets that focus on healthy foods (cough sprouts cough) tend to have bad quality produce! If I go to walmart to get romaine lettuce the stuff they have on the shelf is already wilted!
These days I'm spending a little more on organic produce, not necessarily because of worries about pesticides or things like that, but because it's usually higher quality.
...sprouts stocks lucy glow apples for a week or two each year and they're fantastic...
Funny enough, Sprouts is one of the few places that has East Coast (NY State) apples (I’m in SC, but the store is in GA). I’ve found the NY apples there to be pretty good. Haven’t tried their stuff from Washington, but I generally avoid those wherever possible.
Longer supply chains and ensuring availability out of season are the main culprits. If your grocery store is importing from a long distance, that's extra days of refrigerated transport and/or storage treatments. Fruits and vegetables may be picked before ripeness to keep them firm enough to withstand shipping. And U.S. farms are still struggling with labor shortages, so your fruits and vegetables are not necessarily harvested at peak and will be more expensive.
They were never my favorites, but I think I remember liking them at one point. Now they're terrible, but at the supermarkets these days even the ones that I love taste pretty sad. One time I bought a Pink Lady apple and one side was still sweet, but the other side was bitter.
Red delicious apples have always been terrible to me, so much so that I have been actively avoiding them for several years. It's not so much the taste but the thick waxy peel and mealy texture that are a complete turn off. If they've gotten even worse over time, I can't imagine how terrible they must be now.
That's a fair point. I used to ADORE Honeycrisp apples but then I got COVID and they just don't taste quite the same. Nothing else, only Honeycrisp apples. Which makes me wonder if COVID somehow ruined my enjoyment of specifically that one variety of apple or if they coincidentally just dropped off in quality around the same time
I don't think it's you, they're just not as good as they used to be. I remember reading online that it was something about them being the new variety, and only the best orchards were able to liscence them or something like that. Now they're old hat, and you can by them by the bagful for less money, they're just not as good. Cosmic crisp is the new hotness, now, but I'm of the opinion that it's already past it's prime.
Or maybe the poor growing season last year was to blame. I even went apple picking and the apples right off the trees were disappointing.
If you're in a city, try shopping around a bit. Not all of the grocers will use the same suppliers.
Look for Minnesota as the state of origin. I'm assured they're better (found this at the tail end of apple season so now I'm keeping an eye out)
Fresh Red Delicious apples, especially organic, are actually pretty good, but they don't keep well. Same thing for MacIntosh, which were my favorite fresh apples as a kid and are nearly flavorless and mealy when store-bought.
The thing about grocery store apples is that they're often stored for a long time. They undergo chemical treatment to retard the softening and rotting that occurs from naturally produced ethylene oxide. That chemical treatment can cause loss of flavor. So get your apples fresh in season (usually August - November in the US) and dry them if you plan to keep them for a while. Dried apples are great for snacking, or can be easily rehydrated for use in recipes. Keep the dried apples in the freezer, and you can have tasty apples year-round.
If you can, go to a u-pick orchard. It’s inconvenient and expensive, but absolutely nothing beats an apple that was just picked off the tree.
The same is actually true for any fruit or vegetable, actually.
I also learned, maybe here? that Honeycrisp apples grown in Washington are subpar to those grown in Minnesota due to lacking the reliable freeze that the honeycrisps rely on to ensure their sweetness. But it's (probably) cheaper to grow apples in Washington than in Minnesota and thus I've stopped buying them.
I'm in the middle of prime apple and cider country. There are a couple of cideries doing amazing things with old apple varieties...
Kingston Black apples make outstanding cider, with some of the same palate-refreshing tannins as wine.
A couple of the local cideries basically do "dump" ciders - whatever is growing at a given heritage orchard goes in, and some orchards might have 100+ antique varieties. Needless to say, these are amazing.