Humankind has been cultivating and enjoying apples for hundreds of thousands of years.
These days, your average grocery store or farmer’s market is ripe with variety in the apple department.
As a result, some are better for snacking while others aregood for bakingand or making applesauce.
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The look:Red Delicious apples are tall and tapered.
The taste:This Red Delicious apple was bland and mealy tasting.
The look:The apple has an almost neon-green color.
Photo: Lizzy Briskin, Eat This, Not That!
It’s round and plump with yellowish flesh.
The taste:Granny Smith is tart and bracing.
It’s grassy tasting and acidic, not nearly as sweet as some of the red apples I sampled.
Photo: Lizzy Briskin, Eat This, Not That!
The texture was softer than others as well.
The look:This apple has chartreuse skin specked with darker green pocks.
Its skin is smooth and matte and the interior is slightly tinged with green.
Photo: Lizzy Briskin, Eat This, Not That!
It’s watery and bland, but the texture is delightfully crisp, and crunchy.
The look:Jonagolds are flushed with red, though some show more of their golden side.
It’s a thin apple shaped similarly to a Red Delicious and the skin is more matte than others.
Photo: Lizzy Briskin, Eat This, Not That!
The apple tasted bland and a bit mealy.
Envy
The Envy apple is produced by crossing Braeburn and Royal Gala apples.
The look:This is a tall apple with a narrowly tapered base and broader, wider shoulders.
Photo: Lizzy Briskin, Eat This, Not That!
The taste:The Envy tasted similar to the Red Delicious.
They grow especially well in sunny climates.
The flesh of mine was tinged slightly with brown.
Photo: Lizzy Briskin, Eat This, Not That!
The taste:I found the Pink Lady to be earthy tasting and not the sweetest.
It’s juicy and fresh, but not overly brimming with flavor.
Honeycrisp
Somehow, the name Honeycrisp has become synonymous with pricey, designer apples.
Photo: Lizzy Briskin, Eat This, Not That!
This variety is the product of crossing a Macoun and a Honeygold.
The look:The Honeycrisp I sampled was the biggest of the bunch.
It’s a heavy, squat apple with stripes of yellow-green on the mostly red background.
Photo: Lizzy Briskin, Eat This, Not That!
There are light speckles across the skin, and the interior flesh is, well, honey-colored.
The taste:My Honeycrisp had a softer texture and a very honeyed flavor.
It’s almost cloyingly sweet.
Photo: Lizzy Briskin, Eat This, Not That!
It would be great for baking or apple sauce, especially when combined with more mild-tasting apples.
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Kiku
This apple was new to me.
It’s a derivative of Fuji apples and originated in Japan.
Photo: Lizzy Briskin, Eat This, Not That!
The look:The Kiku is a nicely shaped, round apple with pretty green and red striations.
The flesh is slightly yellow.
The taste:This is a mildly sweet apple with a high water content.
Photo: Lizzy Briskin, Eat This, Not That!
It’s crisp and juicy, but not the most flavorful.
Rave
This rosy red apple is a signature variety fromStemilt orchardsin Washington State.
It’s a cross between Honeycrisp and MonArk apples from Arkansas.
Photo: Lizzy Briskin, Eat This, Not That!
This early-season apple is available in August and throughout September.
The flesh is snow-white.
The taste:This is a lovely, sweet apple for snacking.
Photo: Lizzy Briskin, Eat This, Not That!
It has a mild flavor, but the softer texture isn’t ideal for baking or cooking.
They’re now grown in the U.S. and Canada, including by the growers atYes!
They arrive in mid-August stick around until early December.
Photo: Lizzy Briskin, Eat This, Not That!
The look:I love the fiery pink color of the SweeTango.
It’s slightly flushed with yellowish-green and has light speckles across the skin.
The taste:This apple was shockingly tart and zesty.
Photo: Lizzy Briskin, Eat This, Not That!
It has a bright, citrusy flavor at first that mellows out a bit as you chew.
Cosmic Crisp
This apple is the product of 20 years of cultivation at Washington State University.
It’s a cross between Honeycrisp and Enterprise apples and was bred to resist browning after it’s sliced.
The look:The Cosmic Crisp is a taller, more narrow apple.
It has reddish-brown, slightly stripy skin and yellowish flesh.
The taste:This is a very crisp, juicy apple.
The hard, crunchy flesh makes it more portable and less prone to bruising.
They’re a cross between a Golden Delicious and Kidd’s Orange Red and were developed in New Zealand.
They’re now one of America’s most popular apples.
The look:Galas are stripy, pinkish-red apples with a hint of gold.
They’re roundish with a green stem and slightly greenish flesh.
The taste:This was one of the crunchiest apples I tried.
Jazz
Jazz apples were invented in New Zealand, but are now grown around the world.
They’re a cross between a Braeburn and a Gala.
The look:The Jazz I sampled was one of the larger fruits in the bunch.
It’s a tall apple with bright pinkish-red skin speckled with yellow-green spots.
The interior flesh is more textured and porous than other apples and is distinctly yellow.
The taste:This is a sweet, bright, and acidic apple.
I loved the refreshing, astringent bite, but it did dry out my mouth quite a bit.
It’s thought to be related to McIntosh apples.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e
The look:The Paula Red is cute and round.
It’s a squat, plump red apple speckled with green splotches.
Mine was a perfect snack size: not too big or skimpy.
The taste:The Paula Red had a bright and juicy flavor.
It’s slightly tart, but not sour.
Cortland
Cortland Apples were first produced in New York in the late 1800’s.
They’re an early-season variety, with the first harvest happening mid-September.
The look:This apple is exceptionally shiny.
It has a beautiful deep red coloring with blushes of neon green.
The flesh is a bright, crisp white.
The taste:Cortland represents the perfect balance between tart and sweet.
The apples are wonderfully juicy and fruity tasting with just the right kick of astringency.
