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Comment by insane_dreamer | Hacker News Reader

Now this is the kind of important tech/nerd info that I come to HN for! 10/10

Notes:

I'm only familiar with several of the varieties on this page, but I definitely agree with the rankings. We used to buy Gala, Fuji or Juici, since there were the cheapest at the store and we didn't know better, but once we tried Honeycrisp we never went back. (Cosmic Crisp also ok but not as good. I'd also rank Envy a bit lower.)

Also, best cider I've had is from Honeycrisp apples.

Red/Golden Delicious are tasteless garbage. Granny Smith is ok for particular dishes so I'd probably rank it a bit higher.

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As other commenters have said, apples can be pretty variable in flavor. Many are not keepers or go flavorless fast. The last couple of bags of Gala's I've bought have been very good. The flavor doesn't keep for long and the become pretty bland.

I don't care for Honeycrisp at all, fresh or not. Too high of a sugar to acid balance. I prefer my apples with a bit of a tang. Cosmic crisp can be great. For the more common apples, I really like Empire and Pink Lady (Cripp's Pink) as well.

I don't agree with any of this guy's ratings at all, he seems to only like the really sweet apples.

I think Golden Delicious can be delicious but they have to be just right. Red are the absolute worst, though.

Agree. I think they underrate Cartland and Jonagold but maybe it’s because I am a New Yorker. I think Honeycrips is OK but not stellar.

If you can find a Kanzi, you need to try them. By far the best Apple available.

I've actually had very good red/golden delicious when picking them myself at a local orchard. Not sure if they degrade so quickly that freshness was the difference or if the local farm was growing a slightly different varietal less designed for transport and storage.

Whatever truth there is to the rapid degradation, for at least red delicious there’s a long time for degradation because they’re staples in mass markets which don’t otherwise stock fresh fruit (eg schools, convenience stores). Who knows how long those apples have traveled or rested waiting to be consumed.

I am actually now interested in trying one of these "Arkansas Black", "Cortland", or "Newtown Pippin" apples just to see if an apple can really be worse than a Red Delicious.

I hadn't thought such a thing was possible till now.

I’ll come to the defense of Arkansas Blacks. They are definitely better than Red Delicious. They’re just really hard and quite tart with a faint green flesh. Red Delicious are mealy and tasteless.

I love the Arkansas Blacks, but they wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea.

I love Arkansas Blacks! They have a hint of cardamom aftertaste, which makes them unique!

I took up the Arkansas Black cause from my grandmother who was born in the 1800's. They are unarguably hard. That contributes to them being amazing baking apples. Unfortunately whoever created this list of apples seems to have never considered eating apples that were baked in foods. Not even a mention of baking apples vs. eating apples appears on the site. Some varieties are good for baking and eating. Then there are those worthless for either (ie. red delicious.)

Cortlands get mushy and flavorless quickly, even if refrigerated, and so are bad supermarket apples. But I'd rather have one straight off the tree than any of their top rated apples.

Pippins are in season here and they seem to be exceptionally high in tannins and not too prone to turning mealy. They're not great for snacking but I bet they'd go really well in a pie.

To be fair, there is a huge difference in how some of these apples taste coming straight off the tree at the right moment, and in the supermarket.

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