|
| Lucies Rose (L) and Glo |
Once upon a time there were two sisters, Lucy Glo and Lucy Rose.
Lucy Glo was the tangy one, Lucy Rose the sweet.
Or so they say. Today, we'll see.
|
| Glo |
Lucy Glo is named for the way its peachy-orange color emerges from inside the apple, framed by dull pea-green streaks where the peel is thicker.
Lucy Rose has a cheerful red blush with many light lenticel dots. This one is bigger than the Glo, but mostly these apples are about the same size.
|
| Rose |
Also, most of the Roses I found were tapered, as in the second photo set.
Both are waxed and polished to a fault, and have very slight ribbing. Both have calyxes clenched tight.
And both have red flesh inside.
|
This Glo's flesh (L) is strangely discolored, with light brown regions. My previous sample was fine however, and this stain is a small mystery.
(I am playing with the idea that it is a kind of watercore. Probably, though, it isn't.)
Look and taste
Lucy Glo gets her glow from her inner flamingo. The unusual orange hue is the red color of her flesh filtered through particularly thin regions of peel.
If you look closely at either apple (try clicking on the photo) you can see the coarse, granular texture of the cut flesh.
Both of these apples are crisp and coarse-grained, juicy and sweet. They are a red-fleshed play for the Honeycrisp demographic.
Rose has perhaps the better crunch, but they are close.
Lucy Glo is sweet but not cloying, with flavors of berries and fruit punch.
Lucy Rose is crisper, sweeter, and generally redder inside. I find the sugar level a bit much, personally. There is a tart note under the surface that serves to anchor things.
Rose's flavor is fruit candy without the more-distinct berries of Glo, though there is a generic berry in the fruit punch. It is also a little floral.
Who's the fairest?
Going back and forth: These are pretty similar apples inside! I like Glo a little more. It's not quite so sugary and has the more-interesting flavors, but the two are evenly matched.The grower's website throws around words like "tangy" and "sweet." That is pure marketing, of course. Those are the buzzwords used to sell almost every apple today.
The truth is, they are both quite sweet. To the extent there is any tart tang, it balances the sugar and makes them better apples.
One interesting postscript: neither apple shows signs of oxidation.
I left slices out overnight. No browning at all. So, great for pretty garnishes and salads.
From what I've heard of lucy glo, it sounds like a new benchmark in red fleshed apples and very flavorful. That does look like it could be watercore, but hard to tell. It usually has a very specific flavor.
ReplyDeleteIt did have what I think of as watercore flavor notes, or it would never have occured to me at all.
DeleteI'm just not sure what to make of it. It does not look like what I would imagine red-flesh watercore would, t.e. translucent & gem-like. This is just brown.
Out of my 1,400 apple varieties just over 220 are different red fleshed ones. We run our Hocking Hills Orchard as an UPic and my trees of Airlie Red Flesh are some of the favorites for our guests so these should be pretty good tasting.
ReplyDeleteI think I like Airlie better than the Glo (too sweet!), but it is an impressive accomplishment nonetheless
DeleteWhat makes one red on the outside and the other green on the outside?
ReplyDeleteWhat is it that makes Lucy Rose red and the Lucy Glo green?
ReplyDelete