Adam's Apples

Spencer is shapely, on the large side of medium-large, slightly ribbed and slightly conical. The light red blush is not saturated; it almost lets the yellow-green skin peep through. On my sample it covers perhaps two thirds of the surface, and there are light green lenticels throughout. The calyx is open to reveal great depth behind it. The flesh is crisp and a little tender, perhaps past its prime. It is white and dense and juicy as befits a descendant of McIntosh.

Our winter beauty is an exceptionally dark Macoun.

Got a few more of these at Red Apple Farm and they are in better shape than the one I initially reviewed, which may not even be a Golden Russet at all. These apples are coppery brown almost all over except around the crown and in streaks radiating down the side. A few have slightly larger unruseted patches. They are small (or on the larger side of small) and slightly ribbed, with open calyxes The flesh of Golden Russet is crisp and juicy, creamy yellow, and coarse. Clean sweet-tart balance with a little bracing acidity, notes of cane sugar, vanilla, lemon, and pear. Nice!

The blush on this handsome medium-large fruit covers all, but ranges from a lighter orangey red to deep crimson on the sunward side. Large white lenticels are an attractive decoration. The apple is slightly conical, slightly lopsided, and slightly ribbed. The whole apple is firm and has a mellow and sweet aroma that reflects its Golden Delicious ancestry.

I now suspect that my original Golden Russet review may have been based on the wrong apple. In any case, it does not describe a representative sample of this variety, several of which I have been enjoying since Thanksgiving. Consequently I plan on retitling have retitled my first review "Mystery Russet" and will post have posted a new Golden Russet description shortly . This russet from Kimball I originally bought an apple so labeled from Kimball Farm at the Arlington Farmer's Market in October, and wrote up a review accordingly. I'd have bought more than one but was back then was straining to taste as many of the then-dizzying number of varieties as I could. That apple was interesting but a little mealy. I did the best I could with it.

These globular apples run to medium-large with a red blush, patchy in places, covering green. There is a little ribbing, and my sample has a few bruises and a spot of the eminently ignorable flyspeck. The flesh is a creamy white with yellow-green highlights, and at this point in the season (note: mid-November) is tender-crisp and juicy. No acidity to speak of. The flavors are balanced with sweetness predominating, and there are hints of berries and a whiff of spices in the general cidery taste, a distinctive touch.

Monroe is medium-sized, slightly conical, and clearly ribbed. Attractive red blush covering a green-tinged yellow. Many irregular light-brown lenticels.  My sample has a light dusting of russet, plus black specks, plus other blemishes. It smells of cider.

Props to Gould Hill, where Hampshire was born ( map ). This modern apple originated the old-fashioned way:  as a foundling, not as the product of a breeding experiment. Handsome Hampshire has a wine-dark blush freckled with light lenticels of varying size. It is medium sized and well formed, slightly conical and slightly ribbed. Its calyx is open.

Note: As of 2009, Brogdale's web site is no longer the host for information about the National Fruit Collection, including the database of apple varieties. I've lightly editing this posting to reflect that and to provide live links. Despite a slow and unintuitive user interface, Brogdale's searchable catalog of apple varieties in the the National Fruit Collection (in Kent, England ) rewards the persistent with perhaps the most comprehensive list of apple descriptions online anywhere. As of late 2008 the index describes and depicts 1,882 distinct varieties. Brogdale's catalog is a database, part of the deep web that is not indexed by internet search engines. You won't find these descriptions and photographs in Google; you must dig for them.

The story of this antique apple is especially bound up in the place where I live in Massachusetts. Baldwin originated perhaps as early as the 1740s in an orchard a pleasant dozen miles' bicycle ride north of where my house sits today.  It was cultivated and popularized by Loammi Baldwin, a Revolutionary War colonel who was also the chief engineer of the Middlesex Canal. Any of the above might make a rewarding study, but I'll stick to apples. All the Baldwins I've seen this year are on the small side, so I am tasting a medium-sized apple with a saturated blush of cheerful red that mostly covers green yellow.

Get the right tool for the job, right? Look at what happened when my apple slicer met the mighty Blue Pearmain: The poor thing never stood a chance.

The seller was clear: Blushing Golden improves with age. So I have kept my apple refrigerated for nearly a month. Now for the moment of truth.