King David Apple Review
"The Tart of Arkansas"

🏅 #3 RANKED SOUR APPLE | 🏅 #8 RANKED BAKING APPLE
A tart heirloom discovered by the legendary Stark Brothers in the Ozarks in 1893, this tomato-shaped, mahogany-skinned, assemblage of complex flavors will grab your attention just long enough for you to realize the King is dead. In fact, even the Stark Brothers carelessly discarded the King David Apple once its tenuous grasp on the throne was usurped by the upstart Red Delicious (which won their company’s apple contest the very next year and was quickly trademarked). While King David still rules over a smattering of tiny fiefdoms across America, its empire is a pitiful echo of a reign that never was. If tartness is the rule of the day, look to the Kanzi for a more steadfast leader.
BONUS POINTS: +1 Sour, +1 Baking
- FLAVOR PROFILE -
SWEETNESS
1/5

TARTNESS
4/5

INTENSITY
4/5

KING DAVID BIO
PARENTAGE
ORIGIN
Arkansas
YEAR
1893
AVAILABILITY
Mid-Fall
BEST USES
I hope the real thing looks better than your picture.
That’s a classic agricultural illustration from the 1800s. If you see one that actually looks like that – DO NOT EAT!
I see apples that look like that all over my farm on a daily basis. They’ve been recycled by the horses.
Kevin…Thanks so much for a great informational video on King David Apples. Despite the comments of your earlier reviewers, King David’s can be a great apple. I have been on a search for someone who will ship them. Found Liz at Door Creek Orchard, who took pity on me, and sent me a box of King Davids this fall. She went out of her way because she does not regularly ship apples. It was a bit late in the season and they were not as firm as I would like but I did enjoy them. My only other taste of them was thirty years ago in the mountains of Arizona in an abandoned apple orchard. So my quest was somewhat fulfilled by Liz.
I actually went to Arkansas and found no one in the NW area growing King Davids nor any apples for the most part…seems a disease wiped out apples in the area and no one feels it is a viable business any longer. I had a tree ripe Arkansas Black from an ancient tree at the historical Peed House…Think the tree to be in the neighbor of a hundred years old. Thanks again for your video and info on King Davids. Long live the KING! Tom K…apple eater
I got a King David from a scion exchange in Santa Cruz, CA, last spring and look forward to it growing up.