Adam's Apples

A funny thing happened when I retasted this apple: some flavors changed, and some harshness declined. Before 2009, Autumn Crisp was still an experimental variety known as NY 674. A local grower planted some and dubbed them " Early Jonagold ." That nickname was how I first knew them in 2011. Since then, the variety has gone mainstream under its marketing name, Autumn Crisp. I saw plenty of them in supermarkets this spring. The apple I tasted in 2011 , despite its virtues, could never be popular enough for that. So here is a revised review (fresh from a local orchard).

The apple previously sold around here as "Early Jonagold" is really called "Autumn Crisp."

In August there are many different apples sold as "Early Mac," none of them McIntosh. In the same spirit Hutchins Farm  once called this September apple an "Early Jonagold" after the Jonathan–Golden Delicious cross, though its real name is Autumn Crisp. So: not a Jonagold that was picked too soon, but a different variety altogether. Mine is hefty with a streaky, even blotchy, red blush over yellow. This gives an orange tinge though perhaps a shade less so than my photo implies. Autumn Crisp is decorated with many irregularly placed light lenticels. The surface is also slightly dimpled, like a Honeycrisp.