You’ve heard, no doubt, of Enterprise and Honeycrisp Apples. The former is an old favourite, the latter one of the new super Apples to hit the market in recent years. Now, an intrepid breeder has combined the best characteristics of both in a new variety with amazing keeping power!
Bruce Barritt’s new Cosmic Crisp Apples. They’ll be ‘thin on the ground’ at first.
It’s not the biggest Apple on the produce stand, nor is it remarkable in any big way for its appearance, but the breeders behind the new Cosmic Crisp Apple say it’s the most amazing Apple you’ll ever eat. The unique dark Burgundy colour of the Cosmic Crisp will make it easy to differentiate from other varieties on display at your local Produce source.
Flavour features
Kelowna, BC, based former Washington State University horticulturalist Bruce Barritt who developed the Cosmic Crisp says it boasts exceptionally high Sugar and Acid content – ideal for a mouthwatering bite or in any of your favourite Apple recipes. Barritt wanted it to embody all the things consumers want in an apple: firm, juicy fruit; a crisp bite; and the right amount of sweetness and tartness. With so much extra Sugar naturally present, you should be able to get away without adding as much when cooking with the Cosmic Crisp, and any way we can reduce added sugar in our lives is a good thing.
Amazing shelf life
As a follow-on to recent developments focused on keeping cut Apples from browning via oxidation, the Cosmic Crisp is said to be very slow to brown off, even without placing it in cold acidified Water. That ties in nicely with its real standout feature: a shelf life of up to 12 months in commercial controlled atmosphere storage, 6 months in a fridge or several weeks at room temperature.
Coming to a fruit stand near you!
It took Barritt 22 years to develop the new hybrid. Thousands of trees were grown from seed and evaluated. A long road? Well, Barritt was retired, and he and had little else to do to indulge his love of horticulture and Apples!
The first commercially available Cosmic Crisps hit produce counters this month. But there won’t be a lot of them at first, partly because growers haven’t yet planted all the trees they’d like to have, and it takes a few years for Apple trees to reach a decent yield. So, if you see ’em, try ’em while you can!
~ Maggie J.