Honeycrisp Apple Review
"The Worldwide Favorite"
The new kid on the block in terms of well-known apples, this go-getter went from specialty store nobody to supermarket mainstay in no time. A fan favorite likely to soon overtake the serviceable Royal Gala and belligerently disgusting Red Delicious as ‘most in-demand’ apple, this sweet, snappy savior can be credited with bringing apples back into the discussion as a relevant fruit – as well as injecting its genes into some of the best apples mankind has to offer (including the #1 SweeTango).
While this trailblazer may have jumpstarted the Apple Renaissance, it’s up to future generations of Honeycrisp offspring to carry the torch as this splotchy MILF can be cumbersomely massive, weighing down grocery bags like a bulbous melon. And at the price – that can be a real deterrent.
BONUS POINTS: +1 Branding / Consistency, +1 Crispness, +1 Juiciness, +1 Skin, +2 Historical Significance
- FLAVOR PROFILE -
SWEETNESS
5/5
TARTNESS
3/5
INTENSITY
4/5
HONEYCRISP BIO
PARENTAGE
Keepsake x MN1627
ORIGIN
University of Minnesota
YEAR
1991
AVAILABILITY
Year-round
BEST USES
Munching, Baking, Juice
OTHER NAMES
Honeycrunch
Great review! So glad I found this website. Turns out I’ve been eating terrible apples this whole time.
Welcome to the other side!
Same here. I’m also really enjoying reading the writing – the humor is excellent.
Thank you very much!
I don’t think it’s “humor”. It’s philosophy.
Honey crisps are my new favorite apple since I can’t seem to find any Gravenstein apples in this neck of the woods.
There does not seem to be a review available on Gravensteins. It still remains my all-time favorite!!!
I’d caution buyers to be wary of undersized Honeycrisps. I recently picked up a bag at TJ’s thinking I’d finally found my favorites in a size that wouldn’t replace my entire dinner, only to be disappointed by the quality. I suspect they may have been #2 sorts that fell short on both accounts. Still not bad, but they didn’t stack up to the full size ones. I hope they do manage that eventually.
Full-sized Honeycrisps are definitely the headliners of this variety. Size varies on all apples but historically store-bought Honeycrisps have been gigantic. It’s only recently that the small ones have emerged.
Tried another of the smaller ones from a better store with the same result. It has an almost unpleasant musky aftertaste, which I’ve never experienced with the full sized ones. I read another article that said they’re not so great off-peak. I’ve never had a large one that wasn’t good, but I also haven’t paid attention to timing, which I will now. The article was also hyping the Ever Crisp as a better holding alternative, which was indeed better than these Honeycrisps but not on par with the good ones. The Fuji still comes through.
Follow up to follow up – got a full size, and while it may not be quite up to par with peak season it’s much better than the smaller ones. They need to go back to the drawing board on those.
Agreed. Small and medium “honeycrisp” can sometimes be disappointing. I often wonder if their labels on those runts are a loose interpretation of the “honeycrisp” brand. I cut into a medium apple tonight and it was mealy – a rare problem for real honeycrisps. Ugh! Right into the trash. I have recently found some very large, sweet, tart, very crisp and juicy honeycrisps that remind me of the days when they first emerged on the market and made a solace.
Whats wrong with replacing meals with full sized apples ?
I love honey crisp but have also found Cosmic Crisp and Pizzazz to be excellent! Variety is the spice of life! Try them.
I’ve been an apple lover my whole life and nothing can compare to a honeycrisp. They have tang and flavor in abundance. They are almost always super crisp and juicy. As others have noticed, there are two sizes, with the huge size being vastly superior to the non-huge ones. If I could make any change to a honeycrisp, it would be to reduce sweetness by about 10% and increase tartness by 10%. That would then be the perfect apple, it would not be possible to improve an apple beyond that!
Have you tried SweeTango?
Honey crisp apples are delicious! I wish they were a little sweeter. I recently found sugar bee apples and I like the sweetness in sugar bee! thank you for a great review!!
Thank you for reading!!
I only recently found apples were an amazing snack to fill my stomach between meals. I tried Gala apples a few weeks ago, and while it was mostly inoffensive, something was missing. I went to my local supermarket just a few days ago, and picked up a few organic Honeycrisp apples. For about $2.50 an apple, I had high expectations, and they certainly were met. It has a perfectly easy bite, a nice crunch, a pleasant flavor, is absolutely massive, and boasts a beautiful appearance to top it all off. I can’t wait to try SweeTango apples when they come in season. If Honeycrisp isn’t the best, I can only imagine what the SweeTango have to offer.
Find honey Chris apples to be a bit pass say, like I was all about them in 2003 but I’ve definitely moved onto other varieties. I find them a little too water locked and not sweet enough.
I find Honeycrisp apples to be a bit passé and overrated. I was all about them in 2003 but I’ve definitely moved on to other varieties. I find them a little too waterlogged and not quite sweet enough.
You’re not wrong! But you have to respect the trailblazers
This apple variety doesn’t do it for me.
Is it just me or have honeycrisps gone downhill over the years? They used to be amazing, but in recent years the ones I’ve gotten have seemed less flavorful and more “watery,” if that makes sense. I still think they’re a great variety, especially since I love my apples crisp, juicy, and not too sweet. But I’m curious if others have found them to be less flavorful than they used to be?
My understanding…and I’m open to correction…is that the University of Minnesota failed to control the licensing of who produces and grows the trees, and so there are only a handful of orchards that you can guarantee are the best honeycrisp. A Minnesota-grown honeycrisp in season cannot be beat.
The UofM has subsequently controlled SweeTango much better.
made a pie with honeycrisp for a friend of mine who is allergic to cinnamon. he said it was the best pie he’s ever had and i’m very happy i went with honey crisp over granny smith, which in a practice batch came out far too tart.
hot sexy apple
thanks rob! great review for a great apple type! can’t wait to see what they come up with next over there in apple world!
You seem to have a sweet tooth. You rank all the sweet apples very high, and tart apples very low. Honeycrisps are meh. All sweet, no depth to the flavor. Made for the masses used to over-sweetened foods.
4 of the top 8 apples are tart. Kanzi (the tartest apple I ever had) is number 3. Wild Twist, Lucy Glo, and Pink Lady are also tart.
I’m so confused. We had Honeycrisps recently that tasted *exactly* like pears.
I love me some honeycrisps. 12/10. Would recommend to anyone and anything that has teeth which won’t fall out.
You’re mad. Honeycrisp apples are overly sour, with chunky flesh. Perhaps the ones I had were just third-rate, but the Spartan will always reign supreme in my home. I actually don’t know what your opinion on the Spartan is, maybe give it a try?
I have been on the hunt for a Spartan apple for years now! Can’t wait to try it
You’re mad. Honeycrisp apples are overly sour, with chunky flesh. Perhaps the ones I had were just third-rate, but the Spartan will always reign supreme in my home. I actually don’t know what your opinion on the Spartan is, maybe give it a try? Anyway, the Honeycrisp (or at least the one I had) is a fallen angel.
My first ‘exotic’ apple was the Fuji, but when HoneyCrisps rolled out and found their way into every local farmer’s market I was hooked. Yes, the big ones are better than the small ones, and over the last few years there’s been a noticeable drop in consistent quality. An earlier poster mentioned lack of control from the Minnesota developers and that makes sense. Too many growers rushed to cash in… But the mostly good ones are great and the lesser are still better than most other varieties… Cheers apple lovers!
Killed the goose that laid the golden egg. A proper HoneyCrisp needs proper hand thinning early to singles to develop full flavor. Very hard to chemically thin. Last store display >10% were lopsided meaning not fully pollinated. That they were not knocked off chemically shows growing for bulk not quality. That they were not thinned means grower is not vigorously hand thinning if at all. The undersized ones are basically late season hand thinning of the doubles with the idea that what os left will size. So two harvest of improperly developed apples. Such explains bag of sweet water.
First off this cite is hilarious thank you for making it and secondly I love Honeycrisp apples more than life itself. It fills me with memories of going to the apple orchard and snaking as many slices of this apple that I could get without getting in trouble and buying a jug of cider made from Honeycrisp apples every fall. I may be biased but I will take my bias to my grave.
this ranking website made me try an apple again for the first time since having a horrible texture experience as a child. Turns out honeycrisp texture is great and it’s delicious! i like apples now! thank you
That is the most amazing thing I’ve ever heard. Welcome back!
These apples are wonderful; I remember the first time I ate one and how fantastically different it tasted compared to the more “plebeian” apples I’d been eating for years. So juicy and crunchy! But I do feel that they’re very slightly overrated. Sometimes their sweetness can taste overpowering to me and their massive size makes them ill-suited for a light snack or a side dish to my lunch. And that’s not even factoring the price.
But I am very happy to see these becoming more readily available and more people discovering their deliciousness. And my favorite apple, the Snapdragon, owes its existence to this marvelous fruit. I anxiously await the day they push the Red Delicious into the dustbin of history.
Honeycrisp apples are undoubtedly one of the best apples. With amazing stats across the board, I truly hope that it (and other phenomenal apples such as the SweeTango and Snapdragon) will eventually push the absolutely deplorable shit-filled rotting corpse that is referred to as the “Red Delicious Apple” into complete irrelevancy to the point where it is second nature to ridicule anyone seen with such an atrocity. The Honeycrisp is a tremendous apple
These were far too sweet for me, almost as if they were fortified with granulated sugar.