What is your favorite apple variety?

My 15-year-old pink lady apple is finally producing apples. 14 is the big number this year, and they are getting colorful. It's hard to wait, but I know they have to go until October and get much redder than they are now. 14 apples...with a nice sharp, white cheddar cheese. That's my goal.

My favorite is the new variety I haven't had before. Years ago I was doing stream surveys in the mountains of western Maryland, and was working on a property that had numerous very old apple trees. The owner was 70+ years old, and had lived on the property his entire life, and only knew that the trees had been there "forever"...they were odd shaped, rough skinned, and bug-ridden...but when peeled and the buggy bits cut out, they were delicious - tart-sweet and crunchy...probably the best apple I have ever tasted.

My favorite apple is named Cosmic Crisp.

A very 21st Century name for sure.

Jonagold is a terrific tasting hybrid. It competes with Golden Delicious as my favorite. Just can’t get down to a single choice.

My grandfather was a Maine apple farmer in the early part of the 20'th century who's apples were very popular in Europe and exported there by the trainload. We grew up on that farm, brought to ruin by apple blight, climbing and eating apples from the surviving trees. The most prized was the Macintosh and I can barely stand any other apple to this day, which is very sad for me as I only eat organic apples now and there is no organic Mac. I remember there were also Wolf River apples that were fun because they grew so huge, but they were not great for eating, kind of mealy. I don't remember all the varieties there and in the surrounding farms but my father knew, and would pull over at a random spot on some back road and send me in to steal a few apples from some old tree.

I'm surely going to a local apple farm this fall for some freshly picked Macs, organic or not, and maybe try some heirloom varieties there.

My favorite Apple variety is Pink Lady. It is mildly sweet and crisp. I like its color too.

A friend is growing something called Peasgood Nonesuch. Anyone heard of this?

Presently growing Royal Gala and Braeburn on a single root stock. This is New Zealand and sprintime. It's interesting to watch the Gala currently in blossom and starting to leaf out and the Braeburn hasn't started yet.

The Johnathan is small and tart with a distinctive flavor and not mealy. The Johnathan is small and perhaps that is why fewer growers keep it around as most buyers want larger varieties. There was an orchard near me that had Johnathan apples but they recently replaced those trees with something else which doesn’t really work for me. I am again searching for a Johnathan fix.??

Gravenstein. It is designed specifically for apple sauce. I grown around here and is also converted into cider. Gowan's Cider Garden

My favorite is and always has been Golden Delicious!

Roxbury Russet, haven't come across a finer tasting apple in Europe or the US.

Delicious apples, by a mile

Fuji and Gala for eating and Granny Smith for baking, but heaven on a stick is a big Honeycrisp caramel apple at my local pumpkin patch in October.

Envy, Jazz, Fuji...

It’s been McIntosh for a long time and now honeycrisp also. Our local orchard has some new ones that are so scrumptious that competition for my favorite is stiff!

My favorite apple is Granny Smith, a delicious tart green apple. It also makes wonderful apple pies.

Sweet Tango - great eating, baking, don't brown after you cut them up. Perfect

It's hard to pick just one. Of those readily available, Cosmic Crisp. Great flavor profile and texture, and rarely a dud. They must be easier to grow than Honeycrisp, since the price typically is lower. Or is that the hype facror.

I have always like the Fiji apples because they are sweet and juicy. I don’t like tart apples.

Some vendors at farmers markets hereabouts still grow the grand old heirlooms like Esopus Spitzenberg (Th.Jefferson's favorite), Newtown Pippin (Geo. Washington's favorite), Ashmead's Kernel, Yellow Bellflower, White Winter Pearmain, and the "newer" local heirloom Hauer Pippin (1890s, Santa Cruz county), my favorite. Very late season, excellent keeper, both dessert & baking.

I was lucky enough to be an orchard docent at Filoli here in the SF Bay area. Some of my fellow docents really loved Cinnamon Spice. Note that this climate is so different from apple country like WA, MI, New England etc.

Organic Honeycrisp apples are my current favorite. Yum!

The Gravenstein. It's now, to my knowledge, only grown in Northern California. Primarily in Sonoma County. It's by far and away our absolute favorite. It's nice eaten out of hand, but make the yummiest apple products: Pies, Applesauce, Apple Butter, and much more

40 years ago I was fortunate to discover several family owned apple orchards that maintained a variety of heirloom apples. I could come home with a large bag containing a couple of aples of various varieties. The names have escaped me except for the Arkansas Black. The children and grandchildren of the owners didn't have an interest in maintaining the tradition. Finally only the usual suspects were available at the orchard store.

My favorite apple variety is the one that is cheaper at the time, as all are good, either raw or really sweet after passing through the oven.