Arkansas Black Apple Review
"A Teeth-Shattering Oddity"
23
Despicable
This teeth-shattering oddity, boasting a deep red hue that’ll make a dark cherry look like a fluorescent glow stick, will destroy your helpless mouth with every unfortunate bite. A ten out of ten on the Mohs Hardness Scale, this apple would perform admirably as a drill tip in a diamond mine. While true the hardness marginally decreases if left in your refrigerator for a full year, those patient enough to plan lunch into the next decade will be sorely disappointed with a thick-skinned carbuncle that tastes and feels like an uncooked russet potato. Truly despicable.
Taste
Crispness
Skin
Flesh
Juiciness
Density
Beauty
Branding / Consistency
Cost / Availability
- FLAVOR PROFILE -
SWEETNESS
1/5
★★★★★ 1/5
TARTNESS
1/5
★★★★★ 1/5
INTENSITY
0/5
★★★★★ 0/5
Eat These Apples Instead
Arkansas Black Is Better Than
- Eating a Rock
This apple produced one of the best ciders that I’ve ever sampled, so perhaps it only flourishes after fermentation.
Good intel – I will add that to its description
ur wrong bozo
I just found this site and I’m hesitant to trust the validity of this site based on how low this apple is ranked.
this is an end of season crop that stores extremely well. The settlers would put this variety in the cellar and have fresh apples or for cooking in February. Where in other varieties “old” apples when mealy can be gross, this variety actually gets even better. if you’re a hoi-polloi grocery store apple purchaser, you’d give it a low ranking like this. This variety shows that not all apples are eaten the way they teach you in school.
Totally agree with you Evan. I find the Arkansas Black to be extremely desireable. I use it with other apple varieties for baking as it brings out the many flavors and textures that are “apple”.
You truly destroyed these posers
I have 27 varieties of heirloom apples growing in my orchard. The Arkansas black is phenomenal. It is absolutely delicious but you have to leave it on the tree until the night before the first frost which is mid October for us. It is crisp, sweet, and caramel-like in flavor which increases in storage. It is minimally bothered by bugs or fungus and I recommend it to all of my friends. I am not sure what happened to the one you tasted.
Wow your orchard sounds awesome! I’ve tried many Arkansas Black apples before and have had similar experiences each time. Maybe you have a particularly fresh, well-attuned growing climate for this apple but I have to rely on what is available to the public, and this has been my experience so far.
Thanks for your comment! the Arkansas black is absolutely my favorite apple. I understand why it might be unpopular; it really breaks the mold of what you can expect from an apple. Before I moved, they were available at my favorite grocery store for about a week out of the year in the late fall. I miss them.
The Arkansas Black was popular because of it’s amazing storing capacity. It comes off the tree late in the season and still provides fresh fruit until the next spring. There was a history before refrigeration.
Best aging/baking apple ever. I’d never eat it fresh, and never bake with it until at least Christmas. Produces amazing cider and apple pie after being aged for at least 2 months. I made apple butter in May from the remnants of a box I bought in October and the family is still talking about it. The flavor was unbelievable.
This makes a lot of sense. I just tried one fresh and it was like diving into a sandcastle that was half washed away. The taste was honestly superb but the texture was nasty and grainy and not pleasant at all. I could see this apple being perfect for cooking but I definitely wouldn’t recommend anyone eat it freshly picked
Agree. Whoever wrote the bad review article is a bozo.
This apple is my top favorite extremely hard,crisp, excellent flavor..
First litmus test for me to even get my interest is the feel or weight of the apple. The heavier the better in my humble opinion. This apple rocks.
This is legitemetly the best apple I have ever tasted in my life. My mommy let me eat it last day. Before tomorrow. Juicy and dry. Tart and sweet. Yummy and yummy yes sir.
Was just browsing the web, looking for recipes to preserve the bushel of Arkansas Black apples we just picked today, happily munching on one that fell and had a hole in it. Imagine my surprise to see that I was really eating a bitter drill bit, because my mouth tells me different. These are delicious even though they haven’t finished ripening in storage yet. According to my grandson, they also make the best pie ” in the world”. I’m in northern Michigan, and this is the first year we’ve harvested more than a few. I am looking forward to many years of having this black beauty in my winter dessert line up.
I can see them working in a pie!
Amazing in a pie. The absolute best
The first thing I looked for on this site was where these bad boys were. Never had a worse apple. Mealy and unpleasant. I know branding is 0/10 here but they must have some serious lobbying power somewhere to still exist instead of going to Apple Purgatory
You said it!
Perhaps they are like coriander (cilantro)? I love it, but some people hate it, saying it tastes like soap or dirt!
Good point!
No truer words have been said. Just a garbage Apple, was so excited to try it at first though. Complete let down.
THIS IS ALL TRUE BUT IM STILL ANGRY
Lol
I’ve never tried this apple, but since my baby woke up from me laughing at this review, I fucking hate it.
Update: I finally tried it and i fucking hate it even more now.
Arkansas Black is one of my absolute favorite apples of the season! Sad to see it dissed on this site as they sell out quickly at my local farmer’s market when they are available. Ah well, to each his (or her) own…more for me!
Melinda, I’m with you! I can’t get them where I live so drove 2 hours to buy some after waiting a few weeks because of a late harvest this year. Actually I have some frying in a little butter and brown sugar on my stove right now for breakfast! Hahaha
My Arkansas Blacks started bearing this year, I have hundreds of trees in 30-40 varieties. Some waiting in pots to go into the ground. Many heirlooms. And I can say that the Arkansas Black is not only tasty, but the firm flesh holds very well in the oven. I even set back a bushel of these for home use in pastries.
If you ate a rotten apple then shame on you. Perhaps this nonsense about bad apples originates from the Nazi monopolist orchards that interface with Wally’s monopoly box stores world wide, and who dip their apples in car wax (carnauba) to make them shine.
The Arkansas Black is one of the best heirlooms out there, and they have been tested since 1843. Go to school. Grow some apples. And THEN talk.
I’m in Louisiana, and this is the only apple we can get that’s “locally” grown. I’m a big believer in local food sourcing, so when these come into season, I buy a ton of them and happily eat them, at once genuinely enjoying them (hey, they’re apples) and also secretly wishing they were better than they are.
I gave my children Arkansas black apples around this time last year, and they’ve been asking me for them every couple of months since then. I can’t find any in the store. Hard to believe people don’t like them, they are a legend in my house now. Maybe you have gotten unripe ones.
While I agree with the commentary regarding the “drill tip” firmness, I believe you need to give the Arkansas Black apple a second chance.
After planting a lone Arkansas Black apple tree 10 years ago, we have learned that you simply do not touch these apples until after the first frost. They need cold exposure to develop their sweetness and improve their texture.
Is the Arkansas Black apple a top 10 favorite apple? No. But they persist on the tree long after the gems of late summer and early autumn have long been processed and enjoyed. A fresh apple straight off the tree in October or even November is a delight. The Arkansas Black apple does this well.
Every Arkansas Black apple I’ve had *in Arkansas* has been amazing. Every one I’ve paid way too much money for at a Whole Foods in California or whatever has been garbage.
I mean it’s not worth continuing to live in Arkansas just for the apples but I’ll definitely go out of the way to get some if I’m there in season, and I doubt I’ll ever waste money on one out of the region again.
I live in Arkansas but was unable to answer a question a friend of mine out of state ask me. He said he bought some Arkansas Black Appkes and they had a waxy coating on them and ask me if that was a natural thin for that variety. So thought you might be able to help me out with that question.
It sounds like the ones your friend got were waxed for preservation and presentation (like they do with most apples when they’re being shipped elsewhere).
True, the Arkansas Black is not my favorite apple coming off the tree, but WOW, winter thru spring they are so flavorful and crisp it’s hard to believe. Give this long lasting apple a try months after picking and you won’t regret having it in your stockpile.!
One of my faves are Arkansas Black apples…went to this site after reading about it in the NYT and am so disappointed in the review. And the AB apple naturally has a very waxy skin…which I’m sure that helped in it’s rep as a great storage apple. I enjoy them after months in my fridge, maybe more as the flavor seems more concentrated to me.
They do have a natural waxy feeling. We had our first backyard harvest of them last year and were amazed it was naturally like that off the tree.
Arkansas black is my favourite apple, I think you had really terrible underripe apples or old apples because they are juicy, crisp, slightly tart and decently sweet with an almost tropical flavour and are truly an outstanding apple.
They are terrible when they are underripe, but they are delicious and not hard at all when they are actually ripe. They are my favorite apple with the possible exception of Mackintoshes.
Better than the average sweetango. I’ve had sweetangos harder and less flavorful than a good Arkansas black. Sure the skins a little thick but once you get past that there’s a pretty damn good apple hiding within.
I devoured an Arkansas Black from a fruit stand in Greenbrier, Arkansas on a chilly October afternoon about a decade ago while visiting family. It was a pretty tasty apple, as I recall. Wish I had another one now to see if it is as good as I remembered.
Love your reviews. I haven’t laughed so hard in quite a while.
Whoever did this review does not understand that Arkansas Black apples are NOT meant to be eaten when they are picked from the tree. They must ripen for 2-3 months in cold storage so that they can properly ripen and mellow. The apples change from hard tart rocks to lovely mellow delicious apples that make great apple butter, pie and cider. They also make good fresh eating. This was a very important attribute before food storage became easier.
Anyone who’s interested in the Arkansas Black should check out Black Apple Hard Cider company in Springdale, AR!
https://blackapplehardcider.com/
One of the few apples I’ll gladly eat at room temperature and not chilled. (I like my apple cold and crisp, like my soul.)
first year of blooms and apples for my black arkansas-it is june 12 2024 and my small tree has about 45 apples 3-4 inches in diameter-if they ripen in october shoul be a fairly large apple but everybody posts small to medium-what gives-location west tn
I have not tried one of these before, but I’m dying to.
Curious how you’d rate them next to a Black Diamond (another variety I have yet to taste). Hopefully you can do a review of one of those soon!
True, the Arkansas Black is not my favorite apple coming off the tree, but WOW, winter thru spring they are so flavorful and crisp it’s hard to believe. Give this long lasting apple a try months after picking and you won’t regret having it in your stockpile.!
This is my favorite apple. I liken it to a somewhat improved Macintosh apple. Sweet and slightly tart with a hard skin and soft flesh.
The ones I’ve had have a waxy residue on the outside. I was told that’s natural aspect of the apples. Is that feature universal to the tree?
Also, I’m one of those that think cilantro tastes like soap so perhaps there’s a link.
I’ve only had Arkansas Blacks grown in Pennsylvania… I agree that they are beautiful and dry hard rocks. They might be good for an outdoors Halloween display with some ornamental pumpkins…
If you want to add a whole ton more to your rankings, head to Brightonwoods Orchard in Wisconsin. Best orchard I’ve ever been to and has over 100 varieties every year.
The Arkansas Black I’ve gotten from Graton, in Sonoma County California are outstanding. I’ve found that if they ripen on time and I pick them up from the farm late in October, or early November they will be sweet and firm. This varietal will hold for months if I can keep them in temperatures in the 50’s. The flavor mellows and the get softer as they age.
By the description, it sounds like the reviewer may have gotten apples that were picked much too early.
I was given some Ark. blacks and not knowing their history I decided to make crockpot apple butter. Cooked all day on low with added spices and sugar and came out the best apple butter on a piece of toast I ever had!
I’m a huge fan of your work, which has inspired me to branch out into ever more varieties ! This morning a friend of mine ably avoided the Arkansas black rock at the farmer’s market based on this guidance, instead favoring a Black Oxford. We’re fans but would love to see your review on them as well — this comment is a formal request to please try them if you get the chance 🙂
the texture is grainy and dense, more reminiscent of a pear. the flavor is sweet and tart. mine was basically a miniature apple.
Huh? I bought some at the farmers market. I was happily munching on one when I read this. The apple is not hard and tastes great. If it had been given to me and told me it was a Fugi apple, I would believe you. It’s not hard, it’s not mealy or anything bad. It basically takes and eats like most other apples.
The Arkansas Black heirloom variety is deliciously tart and firm. There’s no mealy, mushy, sickeningly sweet banality with this variety. Only the Granny Smith tops it for tartness. It’s black coloring also makes it the coolest looking apple of all. Keeps for four months in my root cellar, and longer in the fridge! My grandfather used to grow these in the mountains of NC, and I’m dehmned glad I can still find them to purchase from small independent orchards.
For my taste/flavor, longevity & storage requirements, the Arkansas Black Apple is champion – period… end of story.