Zestar! Apple Review
"The Failed Magician"
Unworthy of the exclamation point that follows this failed magician’s catchphrase of an apple, the Zestar! delivers an underwhelming performance featuring an array of disillusioning tricks that would make a lowly pear seem magical. Be amazed as its leathery skin sloughs off like a sheet covering a tacky stage prop. Let your imagination run wild as its ill-constructed flesh turns to brown mush before your eyes! Sit back in awe as a snappy torrent of juiciness is accompanied by a flavor that disappears in an instant! Did the heretofore promised hint of brown sugar even exist? Who cares? It’s gone now. And all sales are final! But despite conjuring a litany of disappointment, the Zestar! preserved enough redeemable qualities to pull at least one impressive trick out of its sleeve: It sired the otherworldly SweeTango Apple – an astounding feat that justifies a life of sub-optimal wizardry.
BONUS POINTS: +2 Lineage
- FLAVOR PROFILE -
SWEETNESS
2/5
TARTNESS
0.5/5
INTENSITY
0.5/5
ZESTAR! BIO
PARENTAGE
State Fair x MN1691
ORIGIN
YEAR
1999
AVAILABILITY
Late Summer
BEST USES
OTHER NAMES
Minnewashta
I think you just did not eat a good Zestar! because by god this is not right. Get them in earlier in their season from somewhere in the Midwest, and you will be good to go. These are my favourite and the only ones that disappoint have been the ones that are just off.
Totally!!! Zestar! Is a favorite! I had a great tree some years ago but a tornado came thru and snapped it off at the graft union. The following year planted another whip. Finally, 10 years later the tree bore 20 apples this year. Again, I remembered why this was a favorite!
Agreed! We get Zestar apples from a local orchard, and they’re one of our favorite varieties every year! SweeTango is my all time favorite, but Zestar is in the top 5.
If you can get one in Minnesota during the season it is better than a sweetango in my opinion. I have dreams of these apples now that I moved from that neck of the woods.
I have to agree with the others– Zestar apples are actually extremely delicious, but only when they’re fresh. I don’t think they ship very well, and that should be indicated in their ranking, but I feel this variety has been harshly and unfairly judged solely off of this one flaw. I hope you get the chance to visit Minnesota in the fall and give Zestar another chance!
I usually think the ratings are spot on but I think the Zestar is much better than a 53. It’s not on par with a Honeycrisp or Kanzi but it’s a top 10 apple for me.
i fucking hate apples
Highly amused by the presence of sweeping anti-apple sentiment on applerankings.com. How’d you get here dude
Among dozens of other cultivars, I spotted this one in an orchard of the “Fruit Loop” hugging the Columbia River Gorge. Knowing it as the fabled and absent parent of the SweeTango, I was eager to try it. I was blown away. Its SweeTango children had fallen short of its magnificence. It had a bright tang and crispness I’ve not encountered in any other apple. Bryan, maybe I got lucky, but I think you should give this apple another shot.
I find it interesting your disgust for Zestars! skin and flesh. I usually get a bag of Zestar! and a bag of SweeTangos. While SweeTangos are superior, the skin and flesh are almost identical between these apples. The sweetness is very similar as well. The main difference with SweeTango is the hint of tart that makes the overall flavor more complex.
Zestar! are very early season apple which can ripen in August and like SweeTango do not store great. So I’m curious if you waited too late in the season.
You don’t miss often here but on this one you didn’t even hit the target. This is a fine apple for those who enjoy tangy fruit. And it deserves at least a few points for its early arrival giving us a welcome reprieve from having only stored apples to enjoy.
I’m back again just to say I’m glad other reviewers are agreeing with me! I was the first comment here, begging for a retry of my beloved apple. Pleased to see that others agree. I really hope you try out Zestar! again. I’ll get you a batch from my favourite orchard, even! I can see from the rest of the reveiwers that we all want you to have the same experience with the apple that we do.
Much love and many good apples,
L.
This is my new favorite apple I was blown away by this review