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, +1 Historical Significance, +1 Baking
- FLAVOR PROFILE -
SWEETNESS
5/5
TARTNESS
3/5
INTENSITY
4/5
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.
I loved Honeycrisp a few years ago, but then i noticed they started to be brown and spotty inside the core. When is the best time to buy them so as to avoid watery and brown interiors? Thank you for your help! I love your site. I’d love to know more about the nutritional value of each apple type.
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 used to live in Stkn CA went to school with a Dirk Lemke! Gravenstein’s an old Dutch apple some say Russian fur trappers brought them to NorCal in Sonoma Co. we used to go to Sebastopol CA to the festival and mom would buy her apples by the crate for her killer pies! Hard to get anymore and never here in Hawaii!
I ❤️ Gravenstein Apples!! My Grandma who used to live in Santa Cruz CA used to have a Gravenstein Apple tree in her front yard. Some Saturdays, when my dad would drive our family over to Santa Cruz from Palo Alto, so he could go Surfing, we’d stop by my Grandma’s house. Sometimes she would have made an apple pie, with the apples from her tree. More often, I had some of my Grandma’s Applesauce, which she made in big batches & put into glass Mason jars, or a mayonnaise jar. My dad told me My Grandma’s recipe for applesauce; but the recipe really only “works” for me if I use Gravensteins. I don’t know where to buy these apples anymore, so I’ll just have to be grateful I got to eat these apples, pie & applesauce in my younger years.
Gravensteins are widely available in Sonoma County, CA in August. There is a Gravenstein Festival in Sebastopol. You can fly in to Santa Rosa airport if you want to attend–aka Snoopy airport.
And I thought I was the only one who used to love Gravensteins. I can settle for Honeycrisp, though.
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.
That’s been my experiences with smaller Honeycrisps–the small ones in the bags at TJ’s are not nearly as good as the larger single apples. Right now though TJ’s is selling a 5 lb bag of the large Honeycrisps for $5.99 and I’m on my second bag. And I have found Fuji to be a consistently good apple– even the small bagged apples have been consistently good. These two are my top 2 favorites.
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.
People with diabetes can’t do it. Maybe a 1/4 of an apple at a time.
I live in Minnesota, so YMMV, but I never buy produce at TJs here, unless it’s something like onions or potatoes that are almost always consistent. When I buy fruit it’s almost always insipid and flavorless. For the best apples, I go to a local orchard. It’s worth the trip and expense. Like many here, I didn’t eat apples all that frequently because they disappointed so often. When I get orchard apples, I eat them all the time.
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?
Sweetango are the best apple . Straight from the Garden of Eden? Move over honeycrisp!
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
Hell yeah brother
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.
Please do not comment. Your opinion is wrong. Do not disrespect the Honeycrisp apple.
Thank you, and goodbye.
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.
A co-worker turned me onto Honeycrisp Apples and I was heavy into them for a while. I don’t buy them as often now (I tend to lean more Envy or Wild Twist) but they are old faithful.
Wait WHAT? Where have you ever had a sweet Honeycrisp? I never have had one. The popularly of this Apple baffles me. I try one every year or two, and nope. Still sour. Ugh.
Honeycrisp is 10x better than any other apple.
Hi, why was this rating changed from a 91 to a 95? What changed, has the apple gotten better?
I started adding bonus points for aspects of the apple that are not included in the F100 ranking system to take those things into account
When they’re good they’re great, but the problem is that in my experience they are highly inconsistent. One in a bag could be heaven on earth and the other a mealy mess thats already composting.
Hi! I am so happy that I discovered this list! I am having fun taste testing apples, haha. Yesterday, I bought some Sweetangos and Honeycrisps to compare flavors. I did a side by side tasting and I must say, the Honeycrisp apple came out on top. It wasn’t even close! Since it is still “in-season” for Sweetangos, I was surprised by the lack of flavor and crispness that I experienced from them. Maybe I got a bad batch? Regardless, I believe based on my experience and others’ recent comments, the Honeycrisp is the true GOAT of apples. 🙂
Say what you want about honeycrisps, but they keep their shit together well into the late parts of the season. Also the best honeycrisps are in fact the size of my head. My husband has resigned himself to the second mortgage I take out buying honeycrisps each fall-winter. LMAO
just ate a honeycrisp so juicy that I was worried I might drown in the juice.
Um – no. My dislike for this apple grows every time I have the grave misfortune of finding it inside my mouth. It’s weird “bursty” flesh immediately causes me to drool, but NOT in a good way. Quite frankly, this apple is trying too hard. Me thinks it was designed by a committee of globalist stakeholder capitalists hell-bent on producing an apple that is all-things-to-all-people, in an effort to batter the public into submission. Because let’s face it, it’s hard to fight back against sinister organizations when you’re drooling.
eating a honeycrisp apple as we speak. thank you for this delightful website!
Please list it as perfect for beauty
Honeycrisps are easily the best apple in existence. I would fuck a honeycrisp apple without a second thought.
I demand a bigger sampling size for this apple. In many regions it seems to be going the way of the beefsteak tomato, the flavorless benign tumor that winds up in slices on many an In’N’Out burger. This varietal continues to be bred larger and larger and as such its flavor profile approaches that of construction-grade celery. Where are you even getting a Honeycrisp that approaches the alleged perfection you speak of?
I just bought a 6 pound bag of these (20231211). I see no real advantages in this apple. It is crisp and juicy but has barely any taste. It’s like crunchy water. It is *possible* that there are applications for this, but right now I can’t think of any. To me, as a consumer, it is an apple to stay away from.
I like to try every kind of apple that shows up in my local stores. I finally got around to trying Honeycrisp and I’m agreeing with the commenters who don’t like this apple or don’t see why it is so highly rated. I’ve tried two. The small one was sour. The large one was okay, but nothing to write home about. They did not compare to the Sweetangos or Sugarbees. Even the Cosmic Crisp I tried was significantly better. I did read many of the comments, and perhaps the popularity of the apple has been its downfall.
BTW I’m in Memphis and I’m trying to grow my own apples. I got a “St. Clair” and a “Yellow Hamilton”. These are old Southern varieties with a much lower chilling requirement. No fruit yet, but I’m hoping for something from the St. Clair this next season.
Honeycrispis my favorite but lately the ones I have purchased have tasted chemically?
What’s happening?
Yes, that’s exactly my experience with Honey Crisp. I have had several terrible experiences with this apple–it always tastes like someone forgot to wash the pesticides off. Chemical through and through. This makes me baffled by its popularity. I started to wonder if I was the only one who tasted that chemical taste when eating Honeycrisps. My only theory here is that I am a supertaster and picking up on something that others don’t taste (similar to how different people experience cilantro differently?–for some it’s delicious and for others it’s soap?)
I’ve had some really great Honeycrisp, but lately they’ve been awful. Huge, extremely dull skin color, and have to second Wendy on the “chemical” taste (little flavor otherwise). Not sure what is going on.
When they’re good, they’re good, but when they’re bad they’re inedible, which happens too often with a relatively expensive apple.
I find this happens a lot with especially large examples. It seems to have something to do with the depth of the indentation at the flower end.
Honeycrisp are awesome when they are grown, picked and stored correctly. The cell structure surely has people wanting to crunch over and over.
The Honeycrisp is too inconsistent. Since there is no corporate entity imposing quality standards, anyone can grow it. Lots of farmers try to cash in on the high prices that Honeycrisp apples sell for, and some of them don’t bother to grow a quality apple. The Honeycrisp section in my grocery store is now filled with greenish apples with weird bumps and mushy texture. I have to carefully pick through them to find the beautiful red ones with no blemishes and firm texture. I’ve started to skip over the Honeycrisps entirely and get some of the newer variants that are more consistently good. I’ve read that the same thing happened to the old standbys like the Red Delicious, Macintosh, and Granny Smith where industrial farming with no quality control has made them a shadow of the originals.
Agree completely. Once the apex of apples and now a 20% chance of getting something good.
Doing God’s work out here! Fantastic website.
Honey Crisp = most overrated apple in the history of man.
It was great in the 2000s, but now, 3 out of 4 I can always taste some insecticide or some other unnatural taste.
losing my mind over “splotchy MILF”. never did I think I would see that used to describe an apple but you know what? it’s spot on.
Honey Crisp is the goat Envy is number 2. Everything else I’ve tried isn’t near as good as those 2. (pink lady, gala, red delicious, golden delicious, fuji, cosmic crisp, granny smith, pazzazz, pacific rose, lemonade apple, and ambrosia)
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this is mother. that said, you must get the big berthas. little tiny honeycrisps are often not juicy enough and too tough. big divas contain multitudes of juice and have a very satisfying crunch… truly the best mass produced apple. i see the sweetango is ranked above mother, but sweetango apples are hard to come by… this is the empress of the grocery store. consistent and always there for your pleasure.
I feel like Honeycrisp MIGHT be overrated, but I really don’t care, it’syummy
SO satisfying to eat! Probably the perfect size and perfect crispness for that size. can just rip right into these and get mouth fulls of one of the best apples. I’ve never been too fond of any apple skin but this ones pretty manageable, especially since 90% of the apple here is just the flesh. As someone who snacks on apples a ton. I’m a big fan of the size here. Really holds me over instead of one of those crappy small apples…
Envy deserves a ranking this high IMO. I am an envy apple lover and I urge all honeycrisp enjoyers to try it..honeycrisp was my favorite before envy, but lacks in flavor comparatively. Still a great apple though!
I just can do it anymore – all too often I’d bite into an inedibly bitter honeycrisp, followed by the next, and the next, until the entirety of my expensive haul was in the trash.
I don’t know what causes that, but it sure does tend to spoil the whole bunch.
We have all collectively been gaslit to think Honeycrisp are sweet, juicy, and crisp when they in fact bear none of these qualities. Honeycrisp are large and widely available, and that’s where their positive qualities end. They’re flavorless, dry, and lack any density or crispiness. People just keep buying them because that’s all they know. Diversify your apple experience. If you’re looking for an apple that actually has the characteristics and traits that Honeycrisp are alleged to have, Cosmic Crisp is the answer. Now, with respect to the ranking system presented here, the skin should not be taken into consideration. True apple fans peel their apple prior to consuming, so the skin has no impact on the experience.
How about including in the rankings how difficult they are to grow? Honeycrisp is infamous for having every problem in the book 😉 Also, where are all the disease resistant apples? Thanks for considering!
Alright, I accept and appreciate Honeycrisp as the rightful reigning champ of the supermarket apple – lovely snacking apple, could never fault you for putting them at the top end of the list as an eating apple.
But number four baking apple? Above Braeburns, and on a list without Haralsons, McIntoshes and Cortlands? If I asked a friend to pick up apples for a crisp or a pie and they brought me honeycrisps I’d thank them through gritted teeth and never let them shop for my produce again. Nowhere near the necessary tartness for a good baking apple. Granny smiths, fujis, and galas are all available at every supermarket as better baking apples and those aren’t even the best of them. Sheer absurdity.
Honeycrisp grown outside minnesota are trash, FWIW.
Anyone griping about their quality, check the sticker for origin.