Cosmic Crisp Apple Review
"The Hype Machine"
The Cosmic Crisp Apple is not a bad apple. And for an ordinary apple, such a tepid review would be perfectly acceptable. However, the Cosmic Crisp is no ordinary apple. Nay, it may be the most extraordinary apple our capitalist society has ever manufactured. And the word “manufactured” is all but too accurate as the Cosmic Crisp has been in development for decades. It has been taste-tested, focus-grouped, and cross-bred to become a marketable fruit darling akin to a teenage pop star singing songs written by a computer. And just like those grating songs you can’t get out of your head, the scales have been tipped in favor of the Cosmic Crisp via a hype machine boasting a $10 million initial investment.
The result? A beautiful-looking apple worthy of a Wes Anderson prop that could not live up to the lofty expectations set before it. With an above-average crunch, but below-average sweetness, this apple screams mediocrity. And as for that drop-dead gorgeous exterior? The debt is paid for such beauty with a thicker than expected skin that lingers like the disappointment of apple fans everywhere.
BONUS POINTS: +1 Beauty, Consistency +1
2025 UPDATE: Consistency +3, Taste +2, Juiciness +1 || As the crop has matured, the incredible consistency of this scientific marvel (while an affront to God) cannot be ignored.
- FLAVOR PROFILE -
SWEETNESS
2.5/5
TARTNESS
1/5
INTENSITY
2.5/5
COSMIC CRISP BIO
PARENTAGE
Enterprise x Honeycrisp
ORIGIN
Wenatchee, Washington – USA
YEAR
2019
AVAILABILITY
Late Fall – Early Winter
BEST USES
OTHER NAMES
WA-38, The Apple of Big Dreams
Samesies. Not a bad apple, but nowhere near the hype. Not going to beat any of the top runners.
Today, January 22, 2022, I ate my first Cosmic Crisp apple and it was extremely disappointed. The aftertaste nasty and made me concerned about pesticides remaining o the skin. I got online and see that there were alot of similar complaints posted in 2021. I bought them at a QFC in Portland, OR. I won’t buy them again. I need to decide what I am going to do with the remaining 5-6 because I am not going to eat them. Maybe I’ll return them to QFC.
I agree and so did my husband .
There was a problem in the 2021 crop associated with a fungicide used in storage of many apples. It left the mentioned bad aftertaste. I believe that was eliminated for the 2022 crop. Try again …
I bought four of them Friday night (06 JAN 2023), and shared one with my wife. I rinsed and wiped it dry with a paper towel then quartered the apple. The crunch was great, but the taste reminded me of having my mouth washed out with soap when I was in 1st grade. I felt bad for the grower, as well as the tree. Best of luck, the Cosmos is not ready for the Cosmic Tango.
The first time tried them was in Kentucky in September 2023. It was great, akin to honeycrisp. I bought some today Dec 13 2023 and they have a whisper of the taste of snuggle fabric softener. I finished the apple but it was a strange flavor.
Thats not enough to get the chemicals off the waxy skin unfortunately 🙁
I just bought a bag last week & they have sick a bitter flavor, it really blows because the first bag I bought were pretty good.
I ate my first Cosmic Crisp apple raw today and thought it delicious. Tonight I fried 2 apples in butter and sprinkled with brown sugar. Absolutely wonderful. Anyone who is disappointed, you can send your apples to me. I have been told they are long keepers!!!
I like them too! I actually seek them out for some welcome variety in my daily lunchtime apple.
They’ve always been the best apple in the Four Corners since they came out. I don’t buy anything else and everyone who eats them are amazed
I love you, finally a sane person and not some “ooo the microplastics and wax is all over my apple” like grow up pussy, we used to eat bugs. Shirley Stone and I would be watching you non cosmic crisp enjoyers with bigger sticks if we were back in like 200 B.C
These apples are fuckin banging and anyone who eats them gets hella puss
Thank you kind sir. You have made my day with your humor. These apple definitely hit and have made the rotation
you sound mentally ill
I ate my first Cosmic Crisp today and I loved every bite, was the best apple I’ve EVER eaten no kidding & I’m old! Loved the crispness, the tart and sweet taste and the skin was not bad either. It will be my apple of choice from now on.
That’s ok in my book!
I whole heartedly agree with you. They are now my favorite apple and my boss’s as well.
Same here! Best apple I’ve ever tasted!
I agree with you Patti. We tried a side by side taste test with envy, honeycrisp and cosmic. Couldn’t believe the difference and how much sweeter and juicier the cosmic apples were.
The first Cosmic Crisp apples that we bought were not appealing – bland and sour. HOWEVER, all of the Cosmic Crisps that we have bought this year were so wonderfully sweet (with a touch of tang) that I ran out and bought three trees. I have read that these apples are not tasty right off the tree – you need to let them rest for a couple of weeks after picking them to rebalance the flavor.
A fair and dutiful assessment. Cosmic Crisp is a serviceable apple. Most of the disdain comes from the hype it could not live up to.
Try again with this years crop.
I love this apple. I always buy organic. Makes a difference. I think our palates and souls respond to different tastes. Example: I cannot abide Red Delicious or Honeycrisp. But Cosmic Crisp is my little taste of paradise.
I didn’t know that you could buy the trees. I thought only growers in Washington could buy them. Where did you buy them?
The first Cosmic Crisps I had about a year ago were incredible. First of all, they were absolutely enormous. Like eating a child’s head, but with the perfect crunch and an immaculate balance of sweet and tart. Beautiful exterior as well. But then, I dunno, something went south with this new varietal. They shrunk in size, the texture and taste became mediocre, and even the exteriors looked like shit, all beaten up and haggard like they’d gone to hell and back. They’ve regained some of their glory recently, so maybe it’s a seasonal thing. At the top of their game, they’re very similar and comparable in quality to Envy.
I had the opposite experience here – see my comment below. I think only some growers know how to do it justice.
One of the goals of the Cosmic Crisp apple was to be an available alternative to more popular autumnal apples that can bridge the gap between seasons. In order to accomplish this, quite a lot of apples needed to be grown. In fact, a considerable amount of orchard space was dedicated to the Cosmic Crisp before it was even released to the public. This was quite a gamble, as the apple could have been a major flop and it would take many years to switch varieties. Hence the ten million dollar price tag in marketing. This would ensure the apple trees being grown years in advance would have a market. In Washington State, the Cosmic Crisp was licensed to 24 different growers, as a result you are going to get 24 slightly different apples. On the large vs. small front, apples grow different sizes on the same tree, so that could be less to do with how they are grown and more to do with how they were sorted.
If you saw my comment below this was way too big of a difference to write off as just that and others seem to have had the same experience. They don’t resemble the same variety at all except for the sticker. Not only larger but much different color as well as the huge difference in taste. There is no way these new ones came from the same Orchard as the others, and whoever grew the previous ones has no business doing so if they started with the same stock. That’s how you ruin a brand.
Sorry, Cosmic grower here. This is very wrong on many counts. Eat a few more & read more about the variety.
Yes indeed, Tom. Thank you for growing Cosmic Crisp: several organic ones on my counter at this moment, J’adore.
I have eaten three of these apples so far and they’re worth the extra money. Not only is it sweet and satisfying, it’s also filling–most apples just punch a slight hole in the hunger if that’s what you’re after in eating one. I eat just about every bite of this apple because it’s so delicious.
I think it’s an excellent apple and I will bake with it, too.
Had my first Cosmic Crisp today. It was in perfect condition, juicy enough to leave me with wet fingers, slightly tart and slightly sweet. I have no complaints at all. Quite delicious! I paid $1.47 a pound and that was on sale from their regular price of $1.99. I’d buy them again in an instant.
I was so glad to see the cosmic crisp apples in my Kroger store. They are so good and sweet with a light tartness at the end of every bite.Did I mention how juicy they are? Thank’s Washington State.
I had my first Cosmic Crisp this morning with breakfast. Great apple! I had been buying Honeycrisps, but I like this apple more. The Honeycrisps are expensive. These were about the same or less in price, but I liked the Cosmic flavor for an eating apple, even better than Honeycrisp. Like the Honeycrisp, the apple pulp is firm, the flavor both tangy and sweet.
I’ll be buying them again.
The Cosmic Crisp is a good apple and I support your decision.
My husband and I ate one of these for the first time not knowing of the hype, as I pick up a couple of any new apples I see. It was so large I could barely bite it, and cut it in half to share. My husband picked up on the slightly tough skin, but we were both impressed immediately by how delicious it was. I considered it equal to Sweetango, my favorite, in flavor, but it’s just one apple so far.
They’re so huge and showy, I had a comical mental image of an apple fan showing up in heaven and getting knocked over by an angel tossing these.
Like its Honeycrisp parents, these apples can grow to be quite large.
Actually they are mostly smaller sized than Honey’s. They are also more uniformly sized than Honeycrisp. I grow both varieties.
I have been buying some lately here in Sarasota, FL. and my most recent were not nearly as crisp as the ones more around harvest time. Is this because they may have been around for a while?
Linda
Some apples are more consistent than others and with the cosmic crisp has a large crop with a long season and therefore is bound to have wider variation in quality over the course of the year.
I don’t think so Linda, the cosmic apples are supposed to last a whole year in refrigeration, i haven’t experience this phenomenon (also in Florida) and i think it might be just a certain tree that got different levels of treatment or sunlight, but I major in engineering not botany, please correct me if I am wrong with this assumption.
I prefer the Honeycrisp apples off of my dwarf tree. I’ve only had supermarket Cosmics so, this might not be an apples to apples comparison.
Had an interesting experience with the Cosmic Crisp recently. As per my previous comment, the ones I tried a few months back were decent apples but nothing outstanding. However, a few weeks ago a new shipment came in that despite the same sticker looks like a completely different apple – these are the enormous, glowing red beauties others have mentioned, rather than the normal sized, slightly redder than average ones from before. I’m not usually suckered in by looks but since they weren’t bad the first time I decided it wouldn’t hurt to give them another try, and for once the taste matched the appearance. These new ones are every bit as crisp and juicy as I could hope for with a bold, complex flavor that’s well balanced. Up there with the best I’ve had! The only challenge is finishing one since they take after their Honeycrisp parentage in size 😉
I’m not sure what’s going on with this varietal – this was clearly a far bigger difference than just the amount of time in storage could account for, or even a poor year (and it’s still the same season.) I assume this batch is from a different grower and maybe there’s some trick to them that only some have mastered – in which case I recommend others cease production, or possibly sell it under a different name a la Cripps Pink to avoid sullying the reputation of this work of art!
Worst apple I ever ate. Just bpught a bag at walmart. They look beautiful and are firm, but were dound to be coated in wax when debagged. I gently scrubbed off wax with abrasive side of soapy sponge and it barely removes half the wax. Taste was most tart under-rioe flavor like a green banana. Skin was tough. I removed skin and flesh was same bitter tart taste. I will feed the rest to deer in another month when their GI tracts can handle sugar. I can’t believe people would eat these. Sorry I had to give a bad review.
Never but produce at Walmart. It is all low quality.
100% agree. We try to avoid Walmart altogether but Inwas there with my wife the other day and she went to buy some fruit and I said “oh hell no. I’ll make an extra trip to Kroger before I buy produce at Walmart.
Walmart usually sells organic and non-organic apple varieties. I’ve had good luck with their organic apples. Worth the additional price.
I had the exact same experience as you. There was a lot of wax, so butter, even with the skin peeled off. I also got them from Walmart. The first bag I bought from there (It was a smaller bag) was delicious. Kind of disappointing.
I just ate a cosmic crisp apple. It was crisp, attractive, juicy and sweet but, as with so many apples lately, lacked apple flavor. I grew up in Washington state and lived in Wenatchee for a time and can remember apples having a distinct apples flavor.
i had a nightmare where my dad was furious with me and he threw cosmic crisp apples at my head until i was bleeding. but the apple tasted fine, i guess. i think it’s too big. i can’t finish the apple in one sitting.
Lol
Honestly, I think you were generous with your review. Maybe I got a bad batch, but the apple is somehow both incredibly dense and a bit sandy. It has an astringent flavor, notes of sweetness at first bite that progressively get taken over by a not even sour, but somewhat bitter taste profile that combines into an almost mouth-numbing finish. I’ll finish the two bags I bought because I’m eating apples pretty much all day long, but this won’t be on my shopping list again.
The Cosmic Crisp has very large crops and so their consistency will vary, especially depending on how far it needed to be shipped and stored. I wonder if I should add “consistency” as an evaluation category?
85% of the Cosmic Crisp apples I’ve had have been the BEST apples I’ve ever eaten. Crisp, sweet, tart – sheer perfection. And they don’t brown nearly as quickly as most apples do. I HAVE had a handful of duds, apples that were either bitter or bland. But that’s to be expected with any fruit. I’ve had some unbelievably sour strawberries in the same batch as some really sweet ones.
This is all very true
It is NOT genetically engineered, it is a hybrid. Their website says it is a cross between the Honeycrisp and the Enterprise varieties. Genetically engineered (GMO) is something totally different, and should not be used to describe this fruit.
Thanks for pointing that out – I’ll update my description
you are correct!
I was duped into buying a Costco-sized case of Cosmic Crisps by an overzealous fan, and my eagerness was quickly replaced with displeasure as I struggled to get through my first bite of thick, bitter skin. After reading Adam’s comment, I’m remembering that yes, it was a bit mouth-numbing too. I suffered through that whole damn case. I’ve had to Honeycrisp and Sugar Bee those memories out of my mouth. After seeing that you rated Cosmic Crisps higher than Sugar Bees, I’ve determined that you cannot be trusted. I’ve yet to have a disappointing Sugar Bee.
They are by far the best apples I have ever had. Honeycrisp and Pink Lady used to be my favorites but they are trash next to this apple.
They are great for eating raw and even better for dehydrating. There is no need to dunk them into a water/citrus mixture because they do not brown during the dehydrating process and they taste great.
I don’t know about cooking them as I hate cooked apples. Cooking apples is an abomination against nature.
I am fortunate to live in Washington state because I can buy a tree and put it in my yard.
I also want to add that you never want to eat apple peels. It doesn’t matter if it is organic or not. Take them off.
I use a spiral slicer that also peels and cores and that is the best way to eat an apple. Eating a whole apple around other people is rude and dangerous to you because of the toxins in ALL apple peels.
Hate to break it to you, but people have been eating apples with the peel since we discovered them.
Thanks for your positivity! I’m puzzled by the negative, some quite negative reviews.
I can almost live on apples, dislike a day without at least one.
I am delighted how crisp and juicy this apple is, plus astounded it does not go brown!!! Even sitting out naked at room temperature, not even a tissue hiding it: not a trace of brown even 36 hours later!!!
And it’s certainly up there with any other apple sweetness I’ve experienced in my nearly three quarters of a century.
My only disappointment is it doesn’t seem to be available as organic, at least not here in N California.
Agree with your assessment. It would appear that many of the negative comments, including the ‘snobbish’ “Pretty Good” result have more to do with those that bought them in a bag, rather than picking up the produce individually, proper washing and the occasional like any fruit or vegetable, a dud. There are also likely some trolls on this site that really prefer to make negative comments just because they can and that it would influence some that would otherwise jump at the chance to have what I believe is one of, if not the best on the available market. Are there better apples? Sure but are they available to a large population or just available in small farmers market operations?
Cosmic crisp gets high marks in our house; it’s the one worth fighting for. 😉
I tried a Cosmic Crisp for the first time and it was so bad that I find myself writing a review of an apple for the first time in my life. It was so bitter, if I were blindfolded I would have thought I were eating an aspirin. This apple was given to me by an equally dismayed coworker. She couldn’t believe how bad it was. It was quite crisp, though. Something seriously needs to be done about the taste.
Some of the 2021 crop got exposed to a fungicide in storage that created a bitter taste. I believe that issue was corrected. Try one now – it will be from the 2022 season.
Like any fruit, an individual apple can be less than the rest of the bunch. With Cosmic Crisp apples the bunch is amazing. It’s got the crispness and most of the tartness of a Granny Smith, while having a smoother, sweeter overall flavor. These apples also don’t brown when the interior is exposed to the air nearly as quickly as regular apples do. I’ve tried many kinds of apples, but, for me, the Cosmic Crisp apples are by far the best.
I enjoy the Cosmic Crisp apples so much that I give them to strangers in the airport and stop people buying other apples in the store and recommend the Cosmic Crisp. I always carry at least 3 apples and other fruit when I fly to keep me from buying food in the airport.
it’s pretty good, love the size and texture. was looking for something closer to my home state of NY’s Macintosh , this has a little bit of the bite Excellent texture, I prefer a medium sour not as tart as the granny smith but not overly sweet like honey crisp or red delicious. Cosmic Crisp is a refreshing balance a little sweeter then i was looking for but well balanced, , I don’t mind the skin personally I like the firmness and crunch a lot. it’s a fair substitute for my elusive NY macs.
I have eaten very good ones, but most have a horrible chemical taste. When they don’t have that taste they are wonderful, but 5 out of 6 has been horrible. I am done with them.
This apple is NOT genetically engineered, in fact!
I first tried a Cosmic Crisp this September 2022, and found it better than most of the Honeycrisps and all of the SweeTangos I’ve gotten in my area this season. The rest of the shipment that I came back to purchase from the same chain grocery store (purchases in 3s and 4s) was similarly excellent and made me actually crave an apple so badly I went to the grocery store just to get more of them, something I hadn’t done since my first-ever Honeycrisp. Sounds like I may have lucked out, especially for an early fall example! The SweeTangos available to me this year keep disappointing me with a mealier texture than I’m told they should have, so until I get to try one of the ones that earned them their high praise, I think Honeycrisps and Cosmic Crisps are the ones for me. Cosmic Crisps give me more of the tartness I want but otherwise do a great job replicating the Honeycrisp texture, juiciness, and sweetness.
SweeTangos have been hit and miss this year and o have deducted two points from their score
I knew I wasn’t crazy! Both that two points had been deducted, and that SweeTangos (god I hate that name) have been on-and-off mealy this season. But damn, when they’re on, they’re on.
So true
Apples you are in September 2022, were actually from the 2021 harvest.
Depends where you live. I’m in WA state and my Transparent tree drops in July, with others following. We’re at peak right now (at least in my area).
Definitely a hit or miss apple. Their are either really crisp and tasty or mealy fodder for the trash bin.
one time i was curious about how long they could keep so i cut off a slice and left it on the counter for 24 hours and it never turned yellow. still a crisp white. whatever that means
Hahaha – excellent work! I think it means that it would work well in a salad.
I worked in a steakhouse a few years ago and served the self-proclaimed creators of the Cosmic Crisp apple celebrating the official launch. A bunch of rowdy business bros in suit and tie– not sure if any of them have stepped foot near an orchard before, but that’s beside the point. They cut one of the apples with a pocket knife and demanded I try it in front of them. The apple was good, but I was apparently not as impressed as they had hoped. While not the most obnoxious table I’ve served, they were definitely the kind of group that expected a song and dance, and then proceeded to tip 12% for a huge bill. For purely subjective reasons, I am requesting a 2-point deduction! Thank you for your consideration.
Haha – wow. Amazing intel! I will most definitely take this into consideration when I re-evaluate. Thank you for letting me know!
I’ve been an apple snob since childhood. An apple variety must consistently have the right tang, the right flavor, the right crispness, all of it, for me to approve. Most do not pass the test. To my very pleasant surprise, Cosmic Crisp meets my taste standards! It’s been years since I enjoyed a new variety of apple! Yum, yum, crunch, crunch!
For me there is no better apple. Most apples are mealy or flavorless. Having grown up in upstate NY, I have had many varieties. Cartland’s were always my favorite, this is now by far the best.
A really crisp red delicious with your annual dose of pesticides. I could have picked from a bad tree, but I had such a bad experience that I don’t want to waste my taste buds on that again
No need to force it – There’s better out there
You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about,, cosmic crisp is the GOAT. How about u get a life instead of ranking apples all day ??? I focus grouped this whole Website and they said it’s a dump and should be taken down
You take jokes way too seriously, friend.
I first learned about the cosmic crisp after listening to my favorite apple rating, scrumping and sports podcast. I finally had the opportunity to try one and I would rate it as slightly above average when eaten by itself. However, they are out of this world when eaten as a topping on my homemade pancake waffles.
Y’know when the cosmic crisp first showed at my store it was genuinely the second worst apple after the Red Delicious in terms of quality. I’ve honestly refused to touch it and even steered customers away from it for last few years. I mostly joked it was a bootleg honeycrisp with aggresive marketing.
Has the taste of it really improved that much?
Yup, you must have had a bad bunch.
They are amazing at the moment
Like Sweetango and Sugarbee, these were meh last year (but better than either those two). I did find that like Hunnyz, it improved the longer it stored or the later in its availability I purchased it. (And in general, I find that the apples I purchase at Aldi are sourced better/eat better than both bigger box stores and more local farmer’s market offerings. Aldi has fantastic Piñata this year).
I’m really enjoying them this year, but that said, it’s definitely over-hyped. Yes, it will finally shake sense into anyone who still buys red delicious (seriously, why?), but it’s only a better than ordinary apple when other better than ordinary apples aren’t available, and Envy seems to have seated itself as always available via various growers, so when I can splurge for Envy instead, I will, every time.
Cosmic crisp apples are my favorite. The ones I’ve eaten are very crisp and incredibly sweet. Honey crisp apples are mealy and flavorless.
I actually really love Cosmic Crisp apples, they’ve been my favorite since I discovered them! I love Honeycrisps too, but I like that Cosmics (at least around here) tend to be a little smaller. I haven’t had any issues with chemical taste or thick skin like I’ve seen in the comments here, honestly the big trait that stuck out to me was the crispness. They have a “faster” bite than any other apple I’ve ever had. You can bite it and it’s like your teeth are in fast-forward, it’s incredible! They really are cosmic CRISPs. Maybe I’m just a simp for CC’s, idk, but they’re my favorite. 😀
The shelf life and anti browning of these apples make them perfect for depressed college students. I can forget this apple is on my counter for a month, eat a few bites, then forget again for a few hours, then come back and finish it, all with a perfectly tasty apple experience. Yall high functioning, neurotypical fucks can choose whatever fancy apple you want, this will be my workhorse until I get my shit together
Cosmic’ as are by far the most delicious apple ever!! I’ve tried them all and Cosmic’s are a true 10! I eat three every day I crave them, they are heavenly in my mouth, sweet but not overly sweet, medium tart super crispy, juicy oh yes so lovely in my mouth
I have had several bags of cosmics that were wonderful. Then the last bag that was bland. I just bought 3 more giant ones from Walmart that were pretty good but not as good as the ones in December.
Bought one today ; cut the skin off because everyone here says it sucks, it keeps changing flavor ? First I tasted red delicious, then I tasted granny Smith, now I’m tasting honeycrisp ? Truly Wonka’s full course meal gum but for apples
I agree with this! Some bites were sweet, some bitter. Some were mealy, some perfectly crisp. What a strange apple.
I recently had a Cosmic Crisp that was accidentally flavored with garlic. Surprisingly, it was fantastic. I usually have my apples plain or with tajin, but this was a whole new level of fruit flavoring. Somehow, the Cosmic Crisp’s flavor paired perfectly with a thin flavoring of garlic that had attached to my knife, making what I think was a strange new durian flavored apple. If you’re into fruit experiments, try it out.
Cosmic crisp is one of the juiciest and crunchiest with a really thin easy skin. I put this one up with honey crisp. One of the best and I’ve had everyone of your best.
It’s suprising how much variability there is in any produces flavor and palatabilaty, and sometimes if you want and apple out of season or from another country the chances of duds are much greater. I had a cosmic crisp today and it seemed like it was watered down. God knows the food chain it took to get this to my hand. Wish I would have just got the envy instead. Never had a bad time with pink lady, or contrary to this place a, cripps pink. Produce in season, local and grown by a farmer whose got an A game can be mind blowing. To bad apples don’t do well in my area.
as someone who is not much of an apple connoisseur, i recently got a bunch of these apples. I’m eating one right now and this thing’s MILES above the grocery shelves of red delicious, granny, and gold.
Had my first Cosmic Crisp and loved it! The skin is nice and thick , which I like and it tasted better than the Honeycrisp that I usually get. Will be buying more.
Why are these apples so hit or miss? I just tried them for the first time ever this past week.
The first apple I tried was one of the best apples I ever had.
The second apple had that strange bitter effect going on… I threw it away because I thought either the apple was bad, contaminated, tampered with, too much wax on it, or residual pesticides or something… after doing research it seems that the bitter taste is likely due to tannins, and perhaps these apples can have more tannins due to the thicker red skin? Although, I’ve honestly never experienced that from any other apples before.
I tried a third apple, which was pretty good. And now just tried a fourth cosmic crisp and it has the bitter taste again… seems to be more bitter at the lower portion of the apple… I would guess that might indicate the bitterness is from tannins or some natural aspect of the apple?
Will probably never buy them again if it’s a ratio of 50% good apples to 50% bitter apples. I guess the King Honeycrisp just can’t be beaten. Tried some other new varieties that I’ve never tried before as well, and they also aren’t as good as honeycrisp.
Do any experts on here have deeper insight into the bitter issue of these apples? Hoping it’s because of tannins from the thick skin and not because these are loaded with pesticides and herbicides or something. I used a fruit spray to wash it before eating though. I’ve just never experienced bitterness from eating any other apples before. So strange. It seems like it’s common with cosmic crisp based on the other comments.
I 100% agree with Travis! I recently discovered these apples and was so happy I did as my normal favorite, Empires are difficult to find. I peel and cut my apples (I know it’s weird, but that’s how I like them) and when a Cosmic Crisp is a “good” apple it is my absolute favorite hands down, but when it’s a “bad” apple it is so awful I’m forced to spit it out and throw it away. I came to this website to see if anyone else is experiencing this. I hope this problem can be fixed, they are too expensive to only be able to eat 50% of them!
I’m surprised by the negative comments. I’m in love with this apple. I shop at an organic only store with lots of apple choices, and this apple has been consistently great. I have not had a bad one yet, and I’m writing this in early April. I have a lot of favorite apples, but many apples have their quirks. Some don’t store well, so I only eat them in the early fall. I’m happy to have discovered these.
It’s okay. I’m partial to the crimson crisp, which I don’t see reviewed on this site
This is a solid eating apple. I’m more than happy to buy these when my 2-3 favorite apples aren’t available or don’t look good at the store. The skin can be on the thicker side which can be a turnoff.
I was eating a Cosmic Crisp yesterday and I was just bowled over by the tart-sweet taste. Very juic! too. I loved it so much that I cut a piece out of it and force fed it to my brother (who does not eat a lot of fruit from my observation) and he went wild for it. We would both give that particular Cosmic Crisp a 10 out of 10.
I tried my first cosmic today and was delighted. Not as sweet as honeycrisp, which I’m ok with. It was very juicy and the flesh is light, yet very crisp. I will continue to seek out and buy these apples!!
Just bought a Costco pack of Cosmic Crisp and they taste almost soapy? Came to this site to see if other people are experiencing this too. I’m going to try waiting a few more days and then try the apples again and see if that helps. I had Cosmic Crisps multiple times last year and really enjoyed them; maybe it’s just this batch but I hope the rest of the apples taste better after a couple of days.
I miss how Cosmic Crisp apples tasted when you had to wait all year for them to reappear at the grocery store. Now they’re pretty hit or miss. I still prefer them over many other varieties available in the stores today, though.
These have been a staple apple in my home. My parents buy them because they’re cheaper than honeycrisps, and I have to say, they’re better than the review makes them sound! Maybe I’m just in a good area for them, but if I were presented with a honeycrisp and a cosmic crisp and not told which was which, I would not be able to tell the difference. They are very similar in color and flavor profile.
I love these apples but noticed they weirdly taste bitter and chemically when prebagged. The apples you bag yourself taste super sweet. I wonder if they’re handled differently.
First batch I had were excellent. Every batch I have tried since have had a bitter, chemical aftertaste. I am not trying them again.
I think there’s a fundamental misunderstanding about Cosmic Crisp out there. The point isn’t that it’s the best tasting apple; clearly it isn’t. The point is that it’s a very good apple that has far better shelf life than other apples, and requires far less careful temperature management during storage than other apples.
My favorite apple is still Gala. But with Gala, I’m never surprised to cut into it and find it brown inside due to improper storage. With Cosmic Crisp, that is highly unlikely to ever happen to anyone.
Also–restaurants. Long ago I was a fine dining restaurant waiter and shift manager for several years. Restaurants couldn’t include apple slices as part of their dishes because they were likely to turn brown before they reached the table. But Cosmic Crisp doesn’t turn brown. I tested one myself, letting a slice sit out on a plate for several hours. It eventually became dry on the outside, but not the slightest bit brown. That behavior will allow restaurants to incorporate Cosmic Crisp apple slices into their dishes.
This one is a weird one for me. The first time I had cosmic crisp it was in a hard cider and it was one of the best I had ever had. I saw them at the store a while later and had to pick them up- they were some of the best apples I have ever had. But the second time I bought them, they had that same bitter flavor that couldn’t fully be gotten rid of even with peeling. Third time the taste was fine, but the texture was all mealy! All I can think is different growers have a lot of trouble growing consistent apples from this strain… Really unfortunate, because when they’re good, they’re AMAZING. Also they last forever. That was one of the biggest things they bred for from my understanding.
I abhor the Cosmic Crisp. I have tried exactly three and that was four too many. I felt as though it was a thin-skinned apple and in my searches from peel to core, i found not one bit of crisp in its two-week-old-gala-esque squish. And the only thing cosmic about this apple is the price – by far one of the more expensive apples in your neighborhood discount grocer, if they even carry it. But it’s on prominent display at the boujie market downtown, so they can rake in the profits from this charlatan of a fruit. I would go back in time and eat a 1996 rural North Carolina public school lunch’s Red Delicious apple in happiness and joy of knowing the Cosmic Crisp doesn’t plague this world. And They had the audacity to call it “the apple of big dreams”?? but, like every millennials’ dreams from the mid 90’s, we need to give them up, they’re dead and soggy, flavorless and worthless. Just like this apple.
The most contentious apple! I guess Cosmic Crisp is a love-it-or-leave-it, inconsistent varietal. They have been my favorite apples for about a year. I like the thick, snappy skin, and the flavor is perfectly rounded for me. And they really are beautiful!! If you get a lot from presentation, these are a cornucopia-looking sort of fruit. Eden shit. It’s like a robin’s egg; you just wanna cradle it and polish it and marvel at it.
That said, there are a lot of bad CCs and the disparity is remarkable. A good CC is my perfect, fictional, idealized apple; speckled and round and mellow. A bad CC is one of the few edible foods that I will just throw right in the trash. They don’t brown quickly, but they do seem somewhat delicate in some strange way.
I’m from Wisconsin and I never heard a thing about Cosmic Crisps before I picked one up in the store, so the hype flew right by me. To me, Cosmic Crisp is the apple that made me care about apples: the apple from which I took an absent, apathetic bite and suddenly had to know what makes a given apple the way it is. They’re the reason I can tell a Honeycrisp and an Opal apart. They’re the reason I’ll never buy another Red Delicious. They literally changed my life, even if in a petty way haha. Cool fruit!
Just finished a Cosmic Crisp apple. The skin was indeed a bit too tough, but fine. The taste, however, was rather good. Not as tangy as a Honeycrisp or SweeTango, and not as juicy, but pretty sweet and tangy enough to keep eating. No bad after taste, no mealy texture, and a solid balanced flavor. I’d say they’re above average, but they’re no SweeTango.
Maybe it was a bad batch but the last two cosmic crisp apple is I’ve had have been absolute trash! Just the worst weird sour/bitter aftertaste after every bite. I wasn’t able to finish it. Can’t trust this apple
I won’t be buying these again and I am truly disappointed.
These have been my ONLY apple since I had my first one a couple of years ago. Crisp beyond belief, nectar sweet, oh makes my mouth water. Until I purchased a bag full just last week (01/25/2024). They were inedible due to the chemical taste throughout the entire fruit. I initially assumed there was a coating on the skin that was not water soluble, but no, I peeled them and that poisonous taste permeated the entire apple of every one I tasted. As someone else commented, it reminds me of having an aspirin melt on your tongue. Really, what IS it? I complained to the supermarket and emailed CosmicCrisp – Hey, growers, whatever is going on, these apples cannot be safe to eat. But then, no one CAN eat them, so I guess it’s ok.
I had my first one a couple of days ago. This is an **amazing** apple. Crisp, sweet, juicy, beautiful to look at. No chemical taste. no negative anything. I bought more today, ate one, exactly the same experience. Now a big favorite!
I’m trying my first Cosmic Crisp now. So far, it has a very satisfying crunch when you bite into it, and a nice initial sweetness. However, there’s a slightly bitter aftertaste (and not the nice tartness of a sour apple), and some bites are a touch mealy. I have to agree with this ranking—it’s not my favourite, but certainly not bad.
I could not disagree more with this apple review. The thickened skin holds in moisture and leaves the apple super juicy. It is a very sweet apple, and the sound each bite makes is delightful.
listen you gotta talk about the shelf life because these stay fresh for so much longer out on the counter which is perfect for people who (like me) forget they bought apples until they have that sudden craving. they also don’t brown when you cut them making them perfect for adding to salads and things for parties where it gets left out a while.
I’m eating a medium size organic Cosmic Crisp now and my taste buds are singing frickin’ hymnals it’s that good. Got a 2lb bag today at Trader Joe’s for &4.69. Crisp, sweet and tangy, absolutely amazing. Better than the best Honeycrisp even and I love a good Honeycrisp. This apple should be ranked a lot higher. If you’ve had bad Cosmic Crisps maybe they were too big, too old, or sprayed or something.
At first I was pissed at the mediocre review because the Cosmic Crisps I’ve had have been amazing, but I’m starting to see that there might be issues with consistency in this apple. Seems like people have wildly different experiences!
Also, I really like that these apples aren’t too sweet. It’s nice to have a little more complexity in flavor.
Not that my opinion matters any more, but just had to say my husband I have been buying organic Cosmic Crisp Apples on sale cheaper than other apples at our local Organic foods Co-op its seems for the past month here in Minneapolis Minnesota; just go ahead and find fault in them cause we think they are the best and like the great bargain we are getting 😛 on the dang best tasting apples we have ever sunk are choppers into. Great job Washington State! I think they are better than the Honey Crisp from Minnesota. BTW the next the apple should… be called the Star Ship :))
Just had my first Cosmic Crisp today in the middle of March and it was very good. It reminded me of my apple tree with sweet/tart and size except my tree is from the 50’s or 60’s as my parents bought the place in 1971 and the tree was fully producing at that time. I have never tasted a better apple than one off of my tree but I think that’s probably typical of a lot of freshly picked apples in SW Washington State combined with some owner favoritism.
Just ate my second Cosmic Crisp and it was just a little sweeter than the first. Very juicy. One of the best apples I have ever tasted including Gala, Honey Crisp, Envy and Fuji.
This apple is over rated. Ate one and that was more than enough.
I saw Facebook ads for Cosmic Crisp months before it arrived in my store(s). Once I saw it there, bought a 3lb. pouch for $2.99, which was the same sale price as most of the other varieties mentioned in this thread. It is the best apple I have ever tasted! My husband and a friend that posted his opinion on Facebook agree. I haven’t tried it in cooking, such as a pie, but expect to do so before long. Haven’t had a bad one yet!
Not gonna lie guys I was skeptical of this apple! We had a blind apple tasting contest with the family and out of 9 varieties 10 out of 10 people voted cosmic as number one! I was surprised against honey crisp, pink lady, fuji and many others! It’s a great tasting awesome texture apple!
The Cosmic Crisp apple is nowhere near the “overrated” status that this ranking or the comments portray. I had my first cosmic crisp apple after a coworker of mine left one on her desk and went on vacation. Two days of it sitting within eyesite was enough for me to slice it and gobble it up. Might of been the best apple I’ve ever had – perfect amount of sweetness and juiciness. This was back in December of 2023 and I still think about that apple.
Highly recommend. Personally I think the overall rating should be 10 points above where it sits.
I had this apple for the first time back in December 2023 and I still think about that apple today. Not sure why people say this apple is “mid” or “overrated”. One of the best apples I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating. Personally I think it should be rated 10 points above where its at today.
Thank you to whoever grew it and thank you Jessica for leaving it on your desk before leaving on a week long vacation.
Cosmic Crisp apples have become my all time favorite! I like the crispness and the taste. I haven’t run into any that didn’t taste very good to me.
Reading these comments, I have come to the conclusion that there must be some kind of difference between Cosmic Crisps grown in the US and in Europe. I’ve only had the European ones and I am yet to find a better apple. Crispy, juicy, tasty. But again, any apples grown in the Val Venosta valley (only place where the Cosmic Crisp is grown) have been exceptional, so it might have been the soil or the climate.
Will buy this apple again.
Meh, all the ones I’ve had are duds. I’ll stick with the normal honeycrisp.
I’m in WA. The last few years, I’ve gone in September to a local farm and picked apples. They have Honeycrisp and Galaxy Crisp. The man giving everyone the rundown of which apples to pick and how says that you should leave your Galaxy Crisp apples in the back of the fridge for a few weeks. They were bred to have a long shelf life in cold storage.
It could also be that the initial batch of Galaxy Crisp apples were from older test orchards, and now the test market has been flooded with apples from younger orchards planted when WA state gave the go-ahead. There seems to be a tricky “sweet spot” for harvesting these apples. I think they will become more consistent over time.
very overhyped. i remember someone recommending this to me like it was mother, but it was much too tough and kind of sickly sweet. not a bad apple by any means, but its mother the honeycrisp remains on top. also expensive as hell. like a full 40 cents more per kg where i’m from. the honeycrisp is not only better but cheaper. the honeycrisp mogs this apple in terms of quality and economics.
I just disagee with the juiciness index, if I eat one by hand my fingers are coated with the apples juice. I like the sweetness index; thats what I like about Cosmic Crisp, just sweet enough, but not too much.
extraordinary, i.m.o. perfection (no idea of its quality as a cooking apple, and unsure if it is more complicated to harvest than many varieties) but doesn’t leave any room for improvement in an eating apple
So you’re mad Cosmic Crisp got money?
I can’t speak to the cosmic crisp’s quality in apple form, but I can say it makes for a pretty tasty cider.
Europe, and in Ancient Russia
I have a very strong opinion on these, normally I’m not a commentor. I saw none of the hype or price gouging, and they often go on sale for $1.99lb at my local grocery store (Cub Foods). These are probably one of my favorite apples because of that, I feel like they’re very well rounded, often large and have a great crunch. I’m not sure if it’s been a bad season but the Swee Tango and Envy I’ve tried have not been nearly as good
I first tried the Cosmic Crisp a few years ago, picked some organic ones up at my local store here in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Instantly became my favorite apple of all time. A few months later my brother-in-law mentioned the Cosmic Crisp, had heard something about them being bred as the perfect apple but hadn’t tasted them yet, I perked up and said that I had and it did not disappoint. They eventually disappeared from that grocery store and a year or so later I begged them to re-stock them. They did, and when I tried them again, I was thoroughly disappointed. Much smaller, and the taste was “meh”. They’re gone again, but I’ll ask them once again to re-stock and hopefully will get a good batch. Chasin’ that apple…
Surprised at the review and tepid responses here. To be fair, I’m no longer in apple country. But cosmic crisps are bar none the best “grocery store” apple I’ve ever had. One trick – you HAVE to buy them medium sized. Too big or too small, and they’re mushy. But that medium size has the crisp and crunch along with a tart/sweet combo that is reminiscent of a fresh orchard apple. Also, don’t refrigerate them. Maybe I’m unbiased by a crazy ad campaign, because I’d never heard of them before they popped up on shelves here in FL. Either way… it’s a better apple than what is being written about it here. But then, this website also says macouns aren’t worth a purchase, so I guess to each his own. Somebody’s gotta eat that bland overpriced mush they named honeycrisp (and yeah, I get the irony that it’s a parent of this one).
I ate my first Cosmic crisp last night, and I loved it. It was just sweet enough and crisp but juicy. Got them at Kroger and will be looking for them when I need more. Honeycrisp was my favorite before.
Hands down, best apples I’ve ever had. I only buy these apples now. They stay crisp for a long time, I probably buy 4-5 a week.
I know honeycrisps are well loved and they used to be my fave. But to me, the cosmic crisps are more tart and juicy, whereas the last few honeycrisps I had were just sweet, not tart at all and not as crisp. Maybe I got a bad batch.
Right time of year these have grown on me. So has the Envy. Interestingly the SweeTango always falls short as does the HoneyCrisp.
I eat one cosmic crisp daily. Some batches, I’ll admit, have a bad aftertaste. With that being said, there’s a reason this GMO woke apple is the GAOAT. A good cosmic crisp is just simply delicious. Nothing wrong with focus tested, there’s a reason we like it .
I’m just trying to understand how this ranks higher than a honeycrisp. I guess that’s a hot take here. The cosmics I eat are so tart and sweet and have that strong apple taste that I don’t get from a honeycrisp. Honeycrisp has its own niche, for sure. But so does Granny Smith.
Also, this article fails to mention that people who eat cosmic crisps get so much pussy. To a notable degree. It feels in bad faith to leave that out. I wish I could place my trust in this apple ranking, but if the cosmic crisp scores so low, it throws the entire ranking out of order.
Pressuring for a recount. This is serious stuff.
Hi, I’m 13 years old and I love the cosmic crisp apple, The Honeycrisp pails in comparison.
I simply cannot believe that the joyous cosmic crisp is rated below the pink lady. Here i am, standing at my counter eating upon a much over hyped pink lady, thinking back upon my previous apple eating experience, the cosmic crisp, in hopes of tricking my brain, and in turn my taste buds, that I am still eating that wonderful apple rather than this dense baseball. Now dont get me wrong, pink lady stands as a classic Apple, but cmon. Cosmic Crisp all the way. #cosmicrispcongregation
I bought a few of these apples at the grocery store last week. I grabbed one out the bag on the way home a decided to give it a try. I bit into it and the rush of sweet, juicy flavor was so shocking and overpowering that it caused me veer off the road and crash my car. The apple was so delicious that I didn’t even care. It was the best Apple I’d ever tasted. I got out of the car to see what I had hit and a small boy was laying on the pavement. There was blood everywhere and he wouldn’t stop screaming. I quickly rushed back to the car and grabbed another apple. I handed it to him and he skeptically took a bite. Within seconds he stopped screaming and proclaimed it was the best apple he’d ever tasted as well. I asked him if he needed a hospital and he said he was now fine. Will definitely buy more once my car is repaired.
Had Cosmic Crisp for the first time today and was amazed by its juiciness.
2nd best for me after Kanzi and much better than Pink Lady (could only test 3 of the Top 10 here in Germany so far).
I remembered your rather low rating and went back to this site to check and thumbs up for updating, but might deserve a little higher still.
I tried one and didn’t want to waste a second to try another. The apple has great texture, but the flavor is garbage. I may try one or two this coming year to see if the 2025 crop tastes any better. Not as bad as the Cameo, but close.
Agreed the skin is a bit thicker on the cosmic crisp but it is the most excellent apple. It’s taste for a balanced sweet and sour is the best in the market. I can’t go back to anything else. I think the review is missing one of the key points of the “manufactured” cosmic crisp. It has reduced oxidation. After being cut open, it doesn’t turn brown nearly as quickly as other apples. That was a big selling point for it’s development.