Apple Snob tries a tropical apple

[red durian]

Had my first Batu apple, a fruit the folks around Malang are very proud of in East Java.  It grows above 1000m elevation around 8 degrees south latitude.  See photos at drmala.blogspot.com

Having had a farm in Nova Scotia, Canada with some old apple varieties and lots of fruits from seeds in surrounding abandoned orchards, I can rank the Batu apple I had as follows:

10 - any really good backyard variety or really good pippin eaten fresh in Nova Scotia
9 - well developed Fuji in a supermarket
8- Cortland, McIntosh in supermarket
6 - Granny Smith in supermarket
4 - a bad seedling apple in Nova Scotia, which occurs about 70% of the time
3 - a really bad seedling apple in Nova Scotia which occurs about 1% of the time, like the pippin my friends named, "Tart Vomit"
2 - a Batu apple (which has a thick skin, little sweetness, little aroma, little acidity, overly hard flesh, and an unpleasant bitter flavour.)

[fruitlovers]

Had my first Batu apple, a fruit the folks around Malang are very proud of in East Java.  It grows above 1000m elevation around 8 degrees south latitude.  See photos at drmala.blogspot.com

Having had a farm in Nova Scotia, Canada with some old apple varieties and lots of fruits from seeds in surrounding abandoned orchards, I can rank the Batu apple I had as follows:

10 - any really good backyard variety or really good pippin eaten fresh in Nova Scotia
9 - well developed Fuji in a supermarket
8- Cortland, McIntosh in supermarket
6 - Granny Smith in supermarket
4 - a bad seedling apple in Nova Scotia, which occurs about 70% of the time
3 - a really bad seedling apple in Nova Scotia which occurs about 1% of the time, like the pippin my friends named, "Tart Vomit"
2 - a Batu apple (which has a thick skin, little sweetness, little aroma, little acidity, overly hard flesh, and an unpleasant bitter flavour.)

What cultivar is that? I find the Anna apple to be pretty good, and it is low chill, actually zero chill because will fruit with no chill at all. Certainly better than most supermarket apples. Ofcourse it's not as good as the best of the best, fresh off the tree, grown in Washington, but hey, this is the tropics! What do you expect?

[red durian]

Had my first Batu apple, a fruit the folks around Malang are very proud of in East Java.  It grows above 1000m elevation around 8 degrees south latitude.  See photos at drmala.blogspot.com

Having had a farm in Nova Scotia, Canada with some old apple varieties and lots of fruits from seeds in surrounding abandoned orchards, I can rank the Batu apple I had as follows:

10 - any really good backyard variety or really good pippin eaten fresh in Nova Scotia
9 - well developed Fuji in a supermarket
8- Cortland, McIntosh in supermarket
6 - Granny Smith in supermarket
4 - a bad seedling apple in Nova Scotia, which occurs about 70% of the time
3 - a really bad seedling apple in Nova Scotia which occurs about 1% of the time, like the pippin my friends named, "Tart Vomit"
2 - a Batu apple (which has a thick skin, little sweetness, little aroma, little acidity, overly hard flesh, and an unpleasant bitter flavour.)

What cultivar is that? I find the Anna apple to be pretty good, and it is low chill, actually zero chill because will fruit with no chill at all. Certainly better than most supermarket apples. Ofcourse it's not as good as the best of the best, fresh off the tree, grown in Washington, but hey, this is the tropics! What do you expect?

I don't know the cultivar.  I expected it to be about a 5 or 6. 

[mangomandan]

I like your rating system. I think a fresh-from-the-tree in Michigan or northeastern U.S. would rate anywhere between 8 and 10.  Washington apples maybe an 8 or 9.

Too bad the tropical apple wasn't quite as good as Tart Vomit...................

[MangoFang]

He does have a very descriptive rating system,
doesn't he Dan the Man!


PerroFang

[bsbullie]

Had my first Batu apple, a fruit the folks around Malang are very proud of in East Java.  It grows above 1000m elevation around 8 degrees south latitude.  See photos at drmala.blogspot.com

Having had a farm in Nova Scotia, Canada with some old apple varieties and lots of fruits from seeds in surrounding abandoned orchards, I can rank the Batu apple I had as follows:

10 - any really good backyard variety or really good pippin eaten fresh in Nova Scotia
9 - well developed Fuji in a supermarket
8- Cortland, McIntosh in supermarket
6 - Granny Smith in supermarket
4 - a bad seedling apple in Nova Scotia, which occurs about 70% of the time
3 - a really bad seedling apple in Nova Scotia which occurs about 1% of the time, like the pippin my friends named, "Tart Vomit"
2 - a Batu apple (which has a thick skin, little sweetness, little aroma, little acidity, overly hard flesh, and an unpleasant bitter flavour.)

What cultivar is that? I find the Anna apple to be pretty good, and it is low chill, actually zero chill because will fruit with no chill at all. Certainly better than most supermarket apples. Ofcourse it's not as good as the best of the best, fresh off the tree, grown in Washington, but hey, this is the tropics! What do you expect?

you definitely need to try some fresh picked apples (especially the heirloom varieties) from the NErn US (Pennsylvania & New York)...much better than a Washington State apple (even when the Washington apple is fresh picked).

Most store bought apples rate very low on my scale.  I grew up in Pennsylvania where apple orchards were common...one of my friends parents owned one.  Worked there while in high school and remember walking through the orchard picking and eating whatever I wanted.

[Dirty Coconuts]

I love me some honeycrisp