Adam's Apples

After I published my annual apple ratings last week, I realized I had goofed.  (Photo:  Also very good )  McShay, above, did not get the one-star rating it deserves.

Every winter, around the ancient festival of Imbolc , I rate the apples I tried for the first time in the previous year.  ¶  In 2024, I had the pleasure of eating 16 that I'd never tasted before.

photo: ubaidhulla adam  ¶  Midwinter is the time each year when I rate the previous year's apples, on a qualitative scale from one to three stars .  ¶  I've already published my one-star ratings for 2023 , and today I award two stars, "worth a journey."  ¶  One star is "very good, worth choosing." Most apples are, and I am generous with this rating. But two stars is a step up, and I am judicious about handing those out. Of the thirty-nine varieties I sampled for the first time in 2023, eight earn the double star.

2023 was a banner year for this blog. Apple reviews are the heart of this project, and I was able to publish 39 of them.  ¶  That is more than any year except for the first two: 2008 (44) and 2009 (41).  ¶  Having so many apples challenges my practice of rating them once a year according to my qualitative system of one to three stars .

RATING THE YEAR'S APPLES I began to rate apples 10 years ago . My goal was to open an alternate "doorway" into my work, which had grown to include 125 apple reviews. It's now my habit to rate the prior year's apples annually, rather than on the fly. I do so at the dead center of winter  (today!), when there is not so much going on here anyway.

ESO/G. Beccari Each February I evaluate the previous year's apples in a qualitative ranking system  of zero to three stars. Sometimes I revisit and revise decisions from previous years. I was fortunate to taste 15 new-to-me varieties in 2021. Only 4 of these came from farm stands or grocery stores: most were from personal connections I've made thanks to this blog.  I treasure these connections as much as I treasure the apples. 

Today is the day I rate apples I've sampled (or resampled or reconsidered) from the previous year. My ratings are qualitative, from one to three stars . These judgments reflect my tastes primarily, though sometimes other considerations come into play. As for the year itself: no stars at all.

I rate apples from one to three stars. Once a year at this time , I add ratings for recent finds and make adjustments. In 2019, I tasted 16 apples for the first time, and resampled some others. Here's my verdict.

Last year I only tasted 3 "new" (as in, new to me ) apples, so this will be short. It's halfway to spring (yes it is !), and it is my custom at this time of year to bring my qualitative ratings  up to date, awarding one, two, three, or no stars.

Imbolc, that old holiday when winter secretly pivots towards the spring, is the time I revisit those apples that I have tasted in the previous year and rate them according to my star system .

Have you noticed the absence of apples in the night sky? Apples feature prominently in classical mythology. Meanwhile, we have constellations to things like The Fly . Enlightenment thinkers esteemed the pomacious fruit but neglected to place any in the heavens, meanwhile frescoing the southern sky with The Clock and The Chisel and The Compass Case , for goodness sakes. Snakes and birds galore. Well, this post is not about any of that. Rather it is my annual rating of the apples I've tasted for the first time, using a Michelin-esque three-star scale .

Since I started rating apples in 2012, I’ve set aside the start of February to assess varieties tasted during the previous year. This just works better for me than rating the apples as I go. D'Arcy Spice is worth seeking. Seventeen of the twenty-two apples I reviewed in 2015 are getting stars this year. In my qualitative rating scheme, one star ( * ) simply denotes an apple that is “worth choosing.” For 2015 welcome Cornish Aromatic , Epicure , Eureka Canyon , Kanzi , Katherine , Koru , Peace Garden , Pink Parfait , Red Astrakhan , Rockit , Spymac , Suntan , Vanilla Pippin , Waltana , and Williams .

Left to right: Reine de Reinettes, Ashmead's Kernel, Macoun, Wickson, Cox's Orange Pippin The gang's all here. All 5 of the apples I've rated as "exceptional, worth a quest"—3 of 3 possible stars—together in one place.

For the third February since I introduced my system of rating apples with stars (1, 2, or 3), I am making some adjustments. I find it best to add and revise ratings once a year rather than continuously, and it give me something to do in the dark months. Today is the astronomical heart of winter, exactly half way between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox.

Battered but good: Rubinette Between last fall's bumper crop here in the Northeast and a bit of apple tourism on the West Coast, I got to try an astonishing 30 varieties of apples for the first time last year. (That's not counting a few whose identities I am still trying to sort out.) I also had help from some of you who sent me samples to try. Thank you very much. I hope my descriptions repay some measure of your generosity. I like all of these apples. However, today is the day I rank them according to a rating system in which one star is very good, two stars are excellent, and three stars are extraordinary.

There are many dimensions of apple quality beyond the obvious color, taste, and texture.  ¶  One might want to know, is this apple a good keeper? Does it excel for baking? If you cut it into cubes or slices will it retain its color or turn brown?  ¶  One less-obvious dimension of quality that I have been thinking about a lot this year is, for lack of a better word,  consistency  (or reliability). Namely, how likely it is that an apple will be as good as it usually is.

Last summer I ranked the world of eating apples from zero to three stars. Life does not stand still, fortunately, and it's time to make my first set of adjustments to these ratings. I expect to do so annually about this time of year, when the trees are still sleeping and there's plenty of time for review and reflection.

Today I recognize the distinctive russet apple Ashmead's Kernel with three stars. It's the highest honor in my rating system, reserved for apples that are "exceptional...worth a quest" to find. This post also completes my introduction of this qualitative system of ranking apples based on how good they are for eating of out hand. (Someone else will need to rate baking and cider apples.) In many ways I have saved the best for last.

Today two more apples get three stars, the highest rank in my qualitative rating system. One star is "very good, worth choosing," two are "excellent, worth seeking," and three are "extraordinary, worth a quest" to find. What sort of quest I leave to the judgment of the reader. The stars rate only the eating qualities of apples, which is unfair to some spectacular cider and cooking varieties that don't happen to shine when eaten out of hand. There is no accounting for tastes, so I trust you will treat these as advisory and keep your own list of favorites. Still, you may rely on these ratings and my reviews as a guide to something new, if you are in an adventurous frame of mind.

Today I am please to introduce the third and final category in my qualitative system of rating eating apples. I also name three varieties that in my opinion deserve three stars, "exceptional apple, worth a quest." Three-star apples, eaten at their peak, have superb flavor, texture, and appearance. Like the one- and two-star apples, they may be partially selected on the basis of being particularly good representatives of their type or having a special place in the history of the fruit. None of the ratings give any weight to whether a variety is an heirloom or originates as a foundling pippin or is rare.