Cortland Apple Review
"A Damp Hacky Sack"
Aside from the striking white flesh and splash of tartness, there’s not much good that can be said about the damp hacky sack left outside a frat house all winter known as the Cortland Apple. Discovered in 1898, in the remarkably not Cortland city of Geneva, NY this flattened McIntosh sandbag of shit continues the age-old tradition of dragging the apple reputation of New York State into the sewer. A cold weather apple that can’t stay fresh for very long, the not-Geneva Apple loses its fledgling tartness, paltry sweetness, and illusory crispness too quickly to provide average consumers the opportunity to avoid eating slimy white dirt. And yet, the Cortland remains one of New York’s top produced apples, an enigma that further denigrates the shameful pedigree of The Big Crapple.
🏅 #9 RANKED CIDER APPLE | 🏅 #3 RANKED PIE APPLE
BONUS POINTS: +1 Cider Apple
- FLAVOR PROFILE -
SWEETNESS
1/5
TARTNESS
3/5
INTENSITY
3/5
CORTLAND APPLE BIO
PARENTAGE
McIntosh x Ben David
ORIGIN
Geneva, NY
YEAR
1898
AVAILABILITY
Late Fall – Spring
BEST USES
OTHER NAMES
LaMont, Starkspur, Redcort,
Early Geneva
fuck you very much the cortland is fucking delicious and your only problem is you apparently haven’t had it as it was meant to be eaten; fresh off the tree in a cold orchard
The general public usually doesn’t have access to an apple fresh off the tree in a cold orchard. My rankings must reflect what is available to regular folks.
This makes little sense, if you review using the product as you experienced them at your local grocery store all of your reviews will only be valid from people in the same area as you.
I live in Montréal, a fresh Cortland is something the general public experiences every fall. Especially with the local apple picking culture that is very popular, people do taste them fresh from the tree. Even those that do not go picking will be welcomed with displays of fresh local apples in all the grocery stores.
Meanwhile, all the papaya are out of date and taste like cardboard but you don’t see me making a papayarankings website to trash on fruits that I cannot get fresh here.
It is only good for a short window of time. If you are outside that window, then you missed the delicious taste of this apple. It is the only apple I eat. September is my favorite month!
Bruh what are you on about? Cortland is one of the best!
Then just list Granny Smith, Fuji, Red Delicious, and like Cosmic Crisp or whatever and call it a day! haha The point of an apple ranking should be ranking the apples at their best, not whatever happens to function best in a mass production environment, where they’re expected to be stored for months on end….
hello again sorry for the strength of my vehemence you seem like a perfectly nice person and a talented apple connoisseur i was merely swept up in my passions and meant no ill will to you at all. that said i hope you do get the chance to eat a cortland from an orchard in october some day. it’s very nice. for a damp hacky sack. my family calls them snackin apples bc they are the best for “munchin and crunchin”. they also make great applesauce! though tbh as a pie they are a lil too soft. anyway sorry for being rude, at least when it comes to apples we can all agree red delicious are abominations
Thank you very much for saying that! I understand – We all go overboard every now and then when commenting about apples.
these are absolutely amazing apples . I have 5 cortland trees !
This website arouses strong emotion. My group chat’s local baker is enraged. He calls the Cortland a “powerhouse apple” and contends that you actually ate “a mislabeled Mac. That happens all the time”. Grounds for a revisit?
I’ll be in NY soon and I’ll try to get one from an orchard. My hopes are not very high though!
Cortland is an early season apple. They are harvested in mid september to early october when people don’t realize it’s prime apple season. They are actually very good in supermarkets through the end of october, but any month old apple tastes like trash. So please do not try to get one from New York in late Novemeber. When not a month old, they are crisp, tart, and one of the best baking apples you can get.
Also, availability to the general public is subjective to not only region, but specific grocery stores. Personally, every time I’ve had sweet tango it has been a bland mealy mess, but based upon your standards it is the prime example of what an apple should be.
I am personally offended that the trashheep known as cosmic crisp which is just a crisp red delicious apple is towards the top of the list and this is below red delicious. Not saying this needs to be at the top just that the pesticide flavored cosmic crisp should be chillin near the bottom.
I’ll stop myself here since I’ve already ranted for way too long. Sorry.
There is danger in elevating these paltry apples who have been bred to ship well at the cost of flavor and nutritional value. I regret that you have only had but a pale shadow of a true cortland apple, otherwise you would know the unparalleled crispness of their ambrosial flesh. But please do not hold Cortland to blame for your distance from upstate NY and the failures of our apple distribution system. It is not the fault of the apple that you eat it only after it is frozen, tumbled into a crate, shipped cross country, and thawed in a vat of paraffin. Think of what we will lose if we eat only these modern apples, stoic and uniformly hardy children of more delicate and ephemeral parents. Think of the power you have over apple-dom!
Just magnificent commentary! Well done!
But do you factor apple pie into these rankings?
I’ll give bonus points if it’s a good baking apple but my list is purely for munching apples only. I will add a page soon that has a top 5 list for apples in different categories like baking.
bought some from a local orchard before discovering this website and was disappointed to find that, while not MEALY per se, the flesh of this apple is remarkably soft in a distinctly unpleasant way if you are expecting something crisp.
however, i am nothing if not a determined bastard, and i wish to get my money’s worth, so i have sliced up a second cortland and am eating it now. here is my snacking advice for cortlands: disabuse yourself of all notions of what an “apple” is. this is not an “apple”, it is apple-flavored seafoam, or perhaps a wet marshmallow. somehow, this helps it taste better and not worse; once able to get over the texture issues, the very subtle sweet taste that is tarter towards the skin is a lot easier to appreciate, though it DEFINITELY lacks in punch.
this may be grounds for lowering OR raising the ranking depending on the type of person you feel like being.
I have eaten Cortlands for three seasons in Western NY and I believe that they are very sensitive to the weather conditions, particularly late season heat. In 2020, the Cortlands were divine but in 2021 and 2022, they have tended towards mealy.
Man, you are so so wrong about my beloved Cortlands… However I do believe there might be a difference between Cortlands from the US and ones grown in EU, and being European I only tried those grown where I live. Also it’d be great if you’d be able to add apples from different countries, or do a comparison of apples of the same kind but grown in different countries.
That’s a good idea! I’m gonna add a page to my site that has apples by category soon. Countries should be some of the categories
I’m so glad you gave Cortlands another try, because they’re very tasty as long as you’re getting them in season. Sorry you were denied that experience for so long. These and McIntosh (and sometimes Empire) are my go-to “regular” apples that I eat throughout the fall and early winter, because they’re widely available here in northern New England and consistently good quality. They aren’t flashy like some of the newer cultivars, but they’re classic workhorses that taste like home.
much respect for getting out to New England to take another crack at this one. the Mac/Cortland confusion is very real. Cortlands off the tree out here have a pronounced vertical stripe pattern (like so, https://i.imgur.com/E6I19sF.png) with few spots, similar to a Honeycrisp or Gala. if they look like what’s pictured, they’re either a misidentified Mac varietal, or they’ve been very, very badly handled on the way to the shelf. in either case, they’re suitable only for juicing
Cortland apple is the best apple ever!!!. Macintosh comes in second!! I hate Red Delicious!!!
YES! not too sweet and the flesh is delicately crunchy like a water chestnut! The only two apple varieties I like.
I second that Wilma!! Cortland/macintosh strong!
I love cortlands, especially fresh off the tree but even seconds. They’re crisp and tart with a little sweetness, great for a snack! Very underappreciated in this website.
The fact that you likened Cortland to McIntosh is troubling as Cortland are far from McIntosh’s profile. IMO they far closer to Empire. That said I like them more than Empire as I find they are a bit brighter in both sweetness and tartness. The flesh is also got just a bit more pop/crack sound when you bit into them.
McIntosh are milly and bland by comparison and I use them exclusively in pies (mixed with other apples) as they cook down to mush.
Good Cortlands have a nice 60/40 mix of red to green. They are quite crisp and tart but gives way to a nice sweetness. Its an amazing little snack apple when in season (at least here in Michigan).
Cortlands were bred from Macs so they are not as far as you imagine, sir.
I wanted to be mad. In fact I was. A rage filled in me, growing stronger the more I thought on it. Then I hazarded a bit from the one I bought and realised with deep despair the accuracy of your review. A real tragedy. This apple has fallen from it’s pedestal, and with great sorrow, I must agree. Poor Cortland apple, they’ve done you dirty and you kind of sick now. At least you’re still better than red delicious apples.
If only the store had had my beloveded honeycrisp in stock.
I love Cortlands, but can still kinda relate to this review – they are so short lived, it is so enraging to bite into one that is not fresh, and (at least to me) they look the same fresh or gone mushy. But I keep buying them bc (like Macouns) they are delicate textured and faintly rosy tasting/ smelling when fresh.
Cortlands are only tart if you eat them before their peak season in October. They are a softer, velvety apple with a sweet taste, but not overly so. Many folks use them to make apple sauce or cider, but they are dang delicious just to eat while in their season. These apple aren’t for you if you prefer a super crisp apple. The texture of these are likened to a firm watermelon- velvety and juicy. My family looks forward to getting them every October.
Working at my first Orchard in northern Wisconsin, I fell in love with Cortlands. A fresh apple that does lose it’s fragrence ,subtlety, and joy quickly.
But some experiences are like that ! So I embrace it. I am at another ( closer orchard) in Marine on the St. Croix (MN) and I have convinced the owner to plant some next year.* Bumble Bee Orchard! So I would perhaps mix up the rubric-use some other criteria. I get a little bored with Honey crisp myself. When I first read this I was inflamed, outraged, flumoxed ,incensed, bitter, and took umbrage with it. But life is short and I move on. Be well ! Long live interesting apples !
I have a cortland apple tree in my backyard (in cortland) and even fresh off the tree they are grainy and sad. Also since I won’t eat them they pile up and get clogged in the lawn mower, but they’re great for playing baseball with and throwing to my dog. To be fair I never sprayed them. I heard they’re good for cider but who has the time.
I just ate a crisp, tart, juicy, delicious Cortland apple purchased yesterday from the orchard on my road here in Southeastern Connecticut. This is the best time of year to get them, and enjoy them for the few glorious fleeting weeks when they’re in season while the days are still warm in defiance of the nights growing colder. I’m sorry that whatever apple you ate for this review was mislabeled as a Cortland, but you may want to consider revisiting this apple in the future before you are sued for defaming this New England treasure. BTW, this website is wonderful, thank you!
Native NYer here who has eaten a Cortland fresh off the tree on a cool day. And I absolutely agree with your review. Thank you for your bravery, uplifting the truth about this apple. NY should be known for amazing apples and the Cortland is not it. It’s can be good… but it’s rarely great.
I love Cortlands – but it seems you have to live in “eastern Canada” to have good Cortlands. Difficult to assess “eastern” apples from the Okanagan!
Novice here. Bought 2 semi dwarf cortland trees from 2 different suppliers. Tree #1 has twisted stems starting low on the stalk.. Tree #2 is upright with bowing branches similar to a willow. #1 was poorly grown in bark mulch, #2 in humus w/ a earth worm at the bottom (indicating low use of chemical fert?) Are they genetically different or is it due to care. Nature VS Nurture. Have 5 varieties plus 2 crabs. I’m planning to bag our apples , not use pesticides.
I love cortland for their large size, hard surface, crisp texture and appley flavor.
I love Cortlands and their weird Empire cousins. They are cheap(er) and better than just fine when there aren’t any Envys.
traiter la Cortland de pourriture vous ne savez pas de quoi vous parlez .Apres avoir essayé de nombreuses sortes c’est la Cortland qui a un gout pas trop aigre ni trop fade et dégage un parfum de pomme très prononcé quand on la croque , .Maintenant je ne mange que cette sorte,
en Englais… j’agris…
call the Cortland rotten, you don’t know what you’re talking about. After trying many kinds it’s the Cortland which has a taste that’s not too sour nor too bland and gives off a very pronounced apple aroma when you bite into it. Now I only eat this kind,
Cortland are far and away the best orchard snacker we have in Minnesota, which knows a thing or two when it comes to apples. Crisp, tart, and refreshing, and IMHO, puts the Honeycrisp to shame in a fresh-off-the-tree showdown. But don’t bother with them at the grocery (I’ve only ever seen them stocked in a MN grocer ONCE, and they must have realized their mistake because they’ve never had them again). That said, even the best apples have bad growing years and I have had bad Cortlands – which were still better than any Sweet 16 or Honeygold I’ve ever had.
Cortlands totally rule! Ones from Quebec and Ontario are great but you do have to get them in prime crunchy condition, like any apple. With the good refrigeration methods now, I am able to get them at the local Independent (Loblaws chain) grocery store in nice shape for most of the year – but man, have they gone up in price for a 4lb bag, used to be $3.49 or $3.99, now they are $8.99!! They have the crispness and apply juiciness that satisfies. Best flavour of sweet and sour with true apple taste. Slice em up and eat em down!
And don’t be dissin’ the McIntosh either – you just got to get them freshly harvested in mid-September when they are so crisp and tart!
The whole thing with Cortlands is they’re good for like maybe two to three weeks out of the year. They don’t store well and go mealy and mushy very fast. But during that two to three week period in late September to early October, they’re some of the best out there. I’d put a good Cortland on tier with a Pink Lady. But a bad Cortland is about where you put it.
I now question the validity of the entire site as being nothing more than just another CIA psyop of our restarted nation
Stop eating NY bygone overgrown withered scrotum-ed Apples. Visit Crawford County Wi. This variety thrives as does the Jonagold.. Its understandable that your NYC Cynicism comes threw in your reviews. It’s why I left NYC. Its as if you watched too many Ebert and Siskel reviews and are trying to emulate them. Good luck with that. Leave the Rotten apple and spend some time in lesser know producers east of the Hudson. Far east.
Cortlands are a very picky apple. They’re good for 3-5 weeks out of the year. They’re good right now, but once November hits, they’re terrible. It’s such a seasonal, fragile apple, and it’s such a shame. They’re so tasty when they’re nice and new.