Adam's Apples

This drunkenly diagonal apple is large and distinctly ribbed, with an attractive red-orange blush streaky over dull green. Look closely to see regular tan spots. After a month or two of storage, these bear a sweet aroma. The peel is a bit waxy.

These hayseed-handsome apples are medium and large, a little conical and a little blocky and a little ribbed. The cheerful orange-red blush runs from streaky to saturated but covers most of a subdued yellow-green. Russet-colored lenticels are prominent in the blush, and there's a copper-and-green russet at the crown and in crackles down the side.

These run medium to large, round, unribbed, and with a modest conical taper. They are just a little flattened at the poles. The stem well is shallow and the larger apple has a "Roman nose," a fold that juts like a little causeway into the moat around the stem. There manages to be a tiny crown of russet about the top too, brown copper. The orange-red blush is streaky and subdued, but covers the similarly subdued green peel nearly everywhere to some extent. Barnack has many small light lenticels that are not at all obvious against this background. In hand, the Beauty is a nice firm compact apple with a wide-open calyx and the faint scent of cut grass.

The russet that jackets this medium-sized classically shaped apple is fine-textured and a little translucent. It coats every part of the apple with a thin golden mustard shell that has some olive-green highlights. Greenish lenticels are prominent and large. The small blushed area is smooth and tinted orange and brown. There are a few faint longitudinal green stripes beneath the russet.

Today's apple is a daughter of the South, but mine grew in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts. Apples have their own territories, but I can only taste what I have. Today that is two of these oblate, slightly conical apples grown far north of the Mason-Dixon Line. A dull red blush covers about half the surface over spring green. Large light lenticels are striking, as is an iridescent coppery sheen reflecting from the peel's satiny finish. Virginia has an open calyx , a thick stem, and no aroma.

Running from medium to the smaller end of large, these classically shaped apples have a streaky red blush. Save for a few dark stripes the blush comes off as more orange than red over the underlying yellow. Many light lenticels further enliven this variegated exterior. There is almost no ribbing. Ramsdell has a sweet cidery aroma and an open calyx. There's a bit of russet in the stem well, which is deep. The peel is moderately glossy, and there is a little give in the squeeze.

Kind people have sent me apples before, but Aurora is my first from a commercial grower seeking greater exposure for a new variety. I am pleased to oblige.

Courtesy of a generous apple enthusiast, I have 2 medium-sized irregularly shaped apples that sport a streaky red blush over greenish yellow. That makes for a lot of orange where the yellow bleeds through the thinnest part of the blush. That spot is also where the brown lenticels are the most prominent. Mother's peel sports more satin than shine. It's hard to say what shape these would be if pristine, but there seems to be a small amount of ribbing. The apple in my photo is the more elongated of the two. Besides the odd bumps and indentations, and a few hard little scabby lumps, these apples show some signs of bugs. Have no fear, gentle reader: no extra protein in this review.

Of all the "new" apples I got on a recent trip to New York City, Niagara may be the only one I haven't had before. It's medium-sized, but there were larger ones available. I just didn't want to carry more than I had to. For the most part Niagara resembles an oblate, ribbed McIntosh , with a streaky red blush over yellow green. Light lenticels are quite large on parts of the apple, probably where growth has especially stretched the peel. That peel has a satin-gloss finish.

These intense dark red spheres, decorated with tiny light lenticels, have a marvelous gem-like quality. Dolgo is small, though large for a crab apple. They are moderately ribbed and slightly elongated, and have trouble standing upright because their tight-as-a-drum calyxes are outies. The backs of these blush lighter and less saturated, and bear many more lenticels, close-spaced. Dolgo is rock hard and, unbroken, has the faint aroma of cider with some lively spice notes. The grower flagged these as "cider apples," as in hard cider; these are notoriously inedible. So, spitter?

Many light lenticels, some large, decorate the peel. They are especially visible in the blush. White fine-grained flesh, tinted green, is a little spongy. The apple is tart tempered by sweetness, with classic McIntosh flavors of berries and wine (for the vinous definition of wine). Flesh color and texture suggest this apple was picked a little early.

Dandee is a large and slightly ribbed apple with a handsome saturated blush that covers nearly all of an otherwise green yellow peel. The blush is a rich crimson with some purple. A smoky blue bloom adds visual interest. Light lenticels run from large to small to indistinguishable.

The woman who sold me these medium-sized apples warned me twice they would be tart. Tydeman's Early is round and only slightly ribbed, with a crimson blush that ranges from dark and saturated to streaky. Many light lenticels of varying size make the surface of this apple a busy place.

This large and ribbed variety has deep red streaks inside a crimson blush that nearly covers a yellow base. In places the blush is spread thinly enough over the yellow that the result is more orange than red. Tiny light lenticels are not very prominent but provide some contrast, and the calyx (which is closed) is rimmed with a base of 5 prominent "chins." Smitten is generally round, but most are a bit elongated. In some ways the shape suggests that of a hefty Red Delicious . The fruit is firm in hand and smells sweetly and mildly of cider with a little spice.

New Zealand is an apple-breeding powerhouse. When its harvest arrives here this time of year I have come to hope (but not expect) to find some apple that is wholly new to me. Today I am pleased to taste Lemonade, the first of two new Kiwi apples that I found at a specialty market on my way to work Tuesday morning. Lemonade is a strikingly elongated lemon yellow with green highlights. It is large and without ribbing, though the base is crowned with a circle of bumps. Some samples have a faint orange-pink blush over as much as a fifth or so of the peel. The shiny surface of this fruit is articulated into shallow bumps and ridges that further suggest the glossy rind of a lemon.