Adam's Apples

I got 2 of these possible apples from the Midwest Apple Improvement Association , one picked on September 26 and the other on October 10. What's "possible" about 47 is that this variety could be selected for further development. Someday, it could get a catchy name and be available in orchards or supermarkets. In the meantime, these two samples look similar: a yellow apple with green highlights, oblate, with gray lenticels. 

The blush on this conical apple is a wash of translucent orange, except for one saturated swath of deeper hue. Of course, that is where the light-brown lenticel dots are largest and most obvious. Ribbing on this variety is negligible, and my sample, hazard du transit, is bruised. The underlying peel is a sunny yellow.

Today's apple is (a) lopsided and (b) huge, with effectively no ribbing (meaning, sure, you can find some if you look closely).  It has a weak orange-red blush streakily spanning about a third of the peel, which is a very yellow shade of green. Against this background, the otherwise light brown lenticel dots do not stand out unless filled with greyish matter that might be a kind of russet. 16 has a thick stem, an open calyx, and a satiny finish.

This apple is past its prime, with a bit of give and some small wrinkles on one side. Nonetheless, my approach is to taste first and hope for a better sample next year. There may not be a next year for this apple, as it is under development by the Midwest Apple Improvement Assiciation and is not guaranteed to make the cut. But if "test 14" does make it into an orchard near you (with a catchier name), then you read about it here first.

This unnamed apple is large and oblate, with a red blush that nearly covers all the underlying yellow. Striking tan lenticels jump out, while the merist of ribbing is only noticeable on close inspection.

The best cooking apples, I find, are often not very good to eat out of hand. But this one looks promising and smells wonderful—a spicy cider aroma—so we'll see.

Today's apple is courtesy of David Doud of the  Midwest Apple Improvement Association . The apple doesn't have a name (and may never earn one), but this is the breeding co-op that brought us Evercrisp .

The name "Hermann Mac" suggests the apple is is a sport of McIntosh . If so, it is one that ripens later than the original version. This sample, from a home orchard, has superficial defects including sooty blotch and flyspeck. These are two wonderfully descriptive names for different fungi that live on the peel and do not affect eating quality.