We’ve moved into the heart of apple season here in Washington. It’s the best time of year for apple variety because of the fresh crop that has been most recently harvested. Most apples are available throughout the year but their sugar content often dictates how long an individual cultivar’s season may be.
Apple season is sweet in the winter
Membranes inside the apples break down so when you bite into it, the flesh doesn’t hold together as a solid; rather, collapsing into individual cells. That’s what we call “mealy apples.” This happens most quickly in sweeter apples.
Makes sense, right? Sweeter apples have a higher sugar content and so it precipitates the flesh in breaking down sooner. This creates a shorter season for apples like Gala, Fuji or Golden Delicious.
Coincidentally, apples are great for baking once they get to that state.
At ThirdLeaf NW, we flavor test all of our apples to make sure that we transition well through the apple season. Right now we’re seeing a nice selection of mild-flavored apples. As time progresses, we’ll move away from those and more tart in the summer.
It’s interesting because the seasonal fruit that goes along with the sweet apples is citrus. Tart fruit with sweet apples.
Seasonal flavor
Apples seem to have it right. Soft, sweet flavors in the winter moving to crisp and refreshing in the summer. Granny Smith and Pacific Rose apples get a lot of attention in the summer and that’s due to their respective firm flesh and juiciness.
Remember how we mentioned sweet apples are offset by tart oranges? In the summer, we see a lot more nectarines and peaches. Sweet fruit to go along with a tart apple.
A free trial will show you exactly what apples we have right now, including everyone’s favorite: the honeycrisp!