They call it the Cosmic Crisp. It's not a video game, a superhero or the title of a Grateful Dead song.
It's a new variety of apple, coming to a grocery store near you Dec. 1
Cosmic Crisp is the first apple ever bred in Washington state, which grows the majority of the United States' apples. It's expected to be a game changer.
Already, growers have planted 12 million Cosmic Crisp apple trees, a sign of confidence in the new variety. While only 450,000 40-pound (18-kilogram) boxes will be available for sale this year, that will jump to more than 2 million boxes in 2020 and more than 21 million by 2026.
The apple variety was developed by Washington State University. Washington growers, who paid for the research, will have the exclusive right to sell it for the first 10 years.
The apple is called Cosmic Crisp because of the bright yellowish dots on its skin, which look like distant stars.
"I've never seen an apple prettier in the orchard than these things are," said Aaron Clark of Yakima, whose family owns several orchards in central Washington and has planted 80 acres of Cosmic Crisps.
The new variety keeps for a long time in storage and in the refrigerator, said Kate Evans, who runs the breeding program at Washington State University.
And it's an exceptionally good "eating apple," she said. "It's ultra-crisp, very juicy and has a good balance of sweetness and tartness."
Cosmic Crisps are a cross between the disease-resistant Enterprise and the popular, crunchy Honeycrisp varieties. The Honeycrisp, nicknamed "Moneycrisp" by some growers, was the latest apple to spark a big buzz in the United States when it was introduced a couple of decades ago. It was developed by the University of Minnesota.
Big fan of Honeycrisp apples here....will be interested in trying this new variety out. SweeTango, the last apple that was touted as an "early Honeycrisp" (it ripens several weeks earlier), wasn't my fave.
I'm guessing that Cosmic Crisps will be more available in the Pacific Northwet. If anyone has a chance to sample, please report back!
-------------------------------- When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden - Minnie Aumônier
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Me too! I like Honeycrisp a lot. But Fuji, when they're good, are still my favorite apple.
The other thing to try, if you like apples, is a Nashi pear (might be called an asian pear? and one other name??)
These are the Japanese pears that are huge and shaped like an apple. The flavor is very pear-esque, but they are crispy like the best kind of apples. Of course, this is another one that can be hard to find at the right ripe-ness. We ate them all the time in Japan, but almost never buy them here because more often than not, they were picked too soon and never get to the right kind of ripeness.
Never been that big a fan of honeycrisp, not sure why, they were huge deal when we lived in the PNW. My favorite apple is called an opal, and it usually appears in December (it benefits from cold storage before eating, I think).
Edited to add, I usually buy Fujis or Galas, and I adore Japanese pears. I miss living in a place that grows a lot of fruit. We must just be too dry with too short a season here to do that.
Jodi