Adam's Apples

I've reviewed Sunrise Magic, but want to share a second tasting of some that I found for sale at a fruit stand in Seattle. (And not just because they are worth choosing .)  ¶  Most of the nation's Sunrise Magic crop grows in Washington, where it was bred by Washington State University. (WSU also created Cosmic Crisp.)  ¶  It's always worth trying food grown in its native turf.

In the 1990s, the Washington State University cast its envious eye at the success of the University of Minnesota's Honeycrisp , and asked, why can't we do that? "That" in this case was not just apple breeding, but also a new business model. Honeycrisp was a club apple , restricted to select Minnesota growers while the plant patent lasted. (It expired in 2008.) Cosmic Crisp (left) is Washington's answer, and Washington growers have gone all-in, planting tens of millions of trees since its 2015 release. But Sunrise Magic (right) was an early contender. Released in 2009 as WA-2, it got its own brand name in 2016.

This medium-sized apple with its cheerful warm red blush is handsome in all the unconventional ways I admire.  It's ribbed and lumpy and has boldly prominent tan lenticels. There are streaks of russet radiating from the crown.

Update: Looks like this was actually Sunrise Magic , a new variety from Washington State that I have re-reviewed. More on this confusion below. These medium-sized apples are mostly conical and tapered, though one sample is a bit rounder. They are ribbed, sometimes markedly so, with calyxes that fairly gape—you can see right inside them. The wash of orange-red blush covers a pale yellow peel tinged with green. There are many faint tiny lenticel dots, easier to spot in the unblushed portion but not prominent anywhere.