Jazz Apple - new apple on the scene

For the last few weeks I have had the pleasure of eating a new apple - the Jazz apple I have found at Family Fruit Market.

It is crisp, light and flavorful. The ones I have bought are smaller than average with a red and yellow skin. They are like a wintertime Honeycrisp. Yes, heady praise for a new apple on the block, but they are very tasty.

I was not an apple eater for years. I just thought they were bad. Mrs. AS turned me on to the Honeycrisp and I have returned to the apple. There was an article in the Tribune this summer why the apples have been so bad for so long: in essence the corporate apple trust - big apple, if you would - have been selling unripe apples because they found and grew mutations that would have red skin without being ripe, allowing easier storage and transport. The storage and transport were easier, but the apples were awful.

Anyway, no ripe looking mutations for Honeycrisps have been found yet, so those will be safe for a while. This Jazz is also a new variety which have been sold for the first time in the states this year (it is a New Zealand bred variety now grown in Washington state.)

For those who want to know more ( lots and lots more) see this pdf . http://www.growingfutures.com/files/jazz_apples.pdf

Very interesting. Thanks so much for this post. I am a tad bit snobby when it comes to apples, and generally only eat two varieties: Fuji and Honeycrisp. I'll have to seek out this Jazz deal, and give them a try.

Another new apple on the scene is called the Grapple. It's supposed to have the flavor of grapes, but the form and texture of an apple. How do they do this? Anyone tried it?

Grapples are made by soaking the apples in concord grape juice (I can't remember the exact procedure, but that's the gist of it). The idea is, according to what I read on the internets a few years ago, to make the apple seem more like candy to kids. I have never tried them, but I've been told they smell stronger than they taste- the taste is just regular apple, for the most part. If you pick up a pack in the store and sniff them, they smell more like purple than grape, IMO.

They're Fuji apples infused with grape essence/flavor. Which isn't particularly impressive when I found out this is how they did it, as I thought they were an actual genetic cross between the two fruits.

I don't understand why grapes would be more appealing to kids than apples -- they're both sweet. And Fujis in particular are sweet and delish enough on their own and adding grapes seems redundant. Maybe they should infuse Granny Smiths instead...

binofhay wrote:They're Fuji apples infused with grape essence/flavor. Which isn't particularly impressive when I found out this is how they did it, as I thought they were an actual genetic cross between the two fruits.

I don't understand why grapes would be more appealing to kids than apples -- they're both sweet. And Fujis in particular are sweet and delish enough on their own and adding grapes seems redundant. Maybe they should infuse Granny Smiths instead...

I tried one a few years ago, and thought it was pretty cool because I was told it was a genetic thing also.

I've tried the Grapple. It tastes like apples soaked in Grape Nehi. Not good.

ChicagoScope on Grapples

LAZ wrote:I've tried the Grapple. It tastes like apples soaked in Grape Nehi. Not good.

ChicagoScope on Grapples

Agreed... they're not natural tasting at all.