Mutsu (Crispin) Apple Review
"The Rich Man's Jalopy"
55
Barely Worth It
Like a poorly designed car that is suped up with all the latest features but breaks down after three years, the Japanese Mutsu Apple (also known as Crispin in the US/UK) fails under the weight of its own overreaching reputation. Known as “The Million Dollar Apple” this rich man’s jalopy comes in three sexy colors based on sunlight exposure: the yellow-green Sun Mutsu, the bright red Red Mutsu, and the rare pale Silver Mutsu. Unfortunately, with a mild splash of flavor, waxy skin, and grainy flesh, this apple simply can’t be trusted to get you to work on time.
Taste
Crispness
Skin
Flesh
Juiciness
Density
Beauty
Branding
Cost/Availability
- FLAVOR PROFILE -
SWEETNESS
2/5
★★★★★ 2/5
TARTNESS
1.5/5
★★★★★ 1.5/5
INTENSITY
1.5/5
★★★★★ 1.5/5
MUTSU APPLE BIO
PARENTAGE
Golden Delicious x Indo
ORIGIN
Japan
YEAR
1949
AVAILABILITY
Late Fall – Spring
BEST USES
Dessert Baking, Munching
OTHER NAMES
Crispin, Red Mutsu,
Silver Mutsu, Sun Mutsu
Eat These Apples Instead
- Pink Lady Apples
- Aurora Golden Gala Apples
- Candy Crisp Apples
I tried a Mutzu for the first time this week and LOVED them!!! They a big and juicy and have a mild sweet flavor of hat I enjoyed. Not a jalopy.
I agree that Mutsu apples are not a jalopy! My wife made the best applesauce ever with these, purchased from a Western North Carolina farm stand the first week of October 2023.
Ate a Mutsu for the first time this week,to be honest the best apple I have ever tasted. Looking forward to baking with this delicious apple. Making apple sauce with them this week, also apple butter.
Best apple I have ever tasted. Looking forward to baking with this delicious apple. Also making apple sauce with them. It will be in my fridge for our grandkids to eat. So happy a orchard near my home grow these Mutsu apples.
Im sorry I understand having different tastes but you are factually wrong this is a good apple worth at least a 75. My favorite apple personally though i do understand why others arnt as big a fan
I have to take all apples into account when ranking – I’ll try again next year but I stand by this score
I see this is from 2022, but since 2000, this has been my favorite apple. Maybe the one(s) you tried was/were crappy, but I invite you to have one fresh from the trees at Spicer’s Orchards in Fenton, MI. If you still think they suck, I’ll buy you a bushel of whatever kind of apple you want. Pretty sure that my wallet is safe.
Also here just to share my apparently uncommon but still passionate love of this apple. I’d say it’s worth the curious attempting once to see if it’s their jam (or… sauce I suppose). My biggest complaint is that its less common to see in my grocers than other, more celebrity status apples.But whenever I do see them I always snag a few.
I appreciate the amount of effort needed to rank all these apples, and also get that means some are going to have to fall into the middling range. Thanks for the fun website!
Thank you for reading and thank you for your understanding. It’s a tough world out there for apples these days!
Another Mutsu fan here. I don’t buy or see them in supermarkets, though, only buy them from local orchards when in season. They are also notably larger than other apples. I’m in Western MA, not too far from U. Mass. where they were growing and studying them for a number of years as well–it was a favorite of my son’s when he went on school field trips to some of their orchards. It’s not our top favorite at the orchard, but we always include a few. I wonder if there is more of a regional difference with Mutsu than some other apples, or if it doesn’t ship well.
One thing that occurs to me is that the size of Mutsu apples when ripe is far more variable than most varieties. If you tried to pick uniform sizes in order to box and ship them, you’d have to pick them before they were full grown, I think, or use a subvariety that might be quite different than the mutsus I’m talking about.
Another Mutsu apple lover! As a poor college student, I saved up money to buy fancy apples each week and used their stickers to create a visual apple ranking on my cabinet. I tried a Mutsu apple for the first time (just out of college) when I moved to NYC. This apple was slightly tart and perfectly sweet. It quickly became my favorite apple! I would occasionally slice them and top with cinnamon to bring the tartness out. Delicious!
I was shocked to see them ranked so low. Only downside to the Mutsu apples—I haven’t been able to find them in the Mountain West.
Apparently about a year late to this party (which is typical for me). Chacun à son goût. Crispins / Mutsus are my favorite apple to eat ‘raw’, perhaps accompanied by some cheddar or gouda.
And yes, I appreciate this site addresses *all* apples. My nod to that: I really don’t think there’s such a thing as an “all-purpose” apple. I’m fortunate to live where many varieties are locally grown.
i just had the privilege of trying these straight off the tree. that first bite was an explosion of perfect juice. that apple converted me to an apple fan. even after spending a week in my tiny dorm fridge, they were still the perfect apple. The Perfect Apple. i now have several other varieties of apple to try, but i honestly don’t think anything can top this apple. not sure what was wrong with yours. i am sorry for your loss
These apples are new to me as I just “discovered” them a few days ago at a local to me apple orchard (southeastern MA). While I’m no apple connoisseur, my daughter and I found these apples to be delicious right from the tree. We added a few to our “half a peck” that we picked and I’ll be dipping several in a hard candy shell to make candied apples. Much improved from the usual for this task, which is usually a Granny Smith.
Had some Mutsu recently from my local grocery store (Berkeley Bowl via Gizdich Ranch in Watsonville, CA) and wow they were fantastic. They definitely don’t deserve the low ranking here.
Looove these apples – they’re amazing fresh off the tree and for baking!
Excellent baking apple
I used to get Mutsu apples fresh off the tree in a Massachusetts farmers market in Melrose. They were the best apples I ever tasted: like big, sweet, juicy Granny Smith’s. I moved to Connecticut and haven’t been able to find a source for “fresh-off-the-tree” Mutsus since then. The ones I’ve found haven’t tasted all that fabulous. I think there’s a chance Mutsu apples just don’t age well.
I’ve been eating the Mutsu apples for about three years and I absolutely love them. Here in NH, we have many different kind of apples. Honey Crisp, Mutsu, and Crisp type of apple- to name an few- are my favorite kinds. Mutsu also made a delicious pie! Honey Crisp did too!
I wonder what kind of Mutsu apple you tried to rank this so low. My husband has a few of these trees. They are delicious!!
My all time favorite eating and baking apple! We had an apple tree growing up and this is the closet I’ve ever come to that delicious memory! Apple sauce, apple pies, and just eating fresh! I’m enjoying the first one of the season now. I’d grow a tree but you need 3 apple trees for this to pollinate and I don’t want any more bees on my property. I can buy a basket from the Amish and they’ll last us into winter just fine.
The Mutsu pictured is nowhere near ripe, it’s a Golden apple with some red blush. The one pictured has no russeting either. Can tell it’s not a good example just by looking at it.
A good Mutsu is delicious, one of the tastiest apples I’ve tried. Crunchy, honey sweetness with tang and floral notes. Please give these another try if you see a gold one with some russeting and red blush, preferably during fall time. It will put a Sweetango to shame.
You know it, Ben. The depth of flavor in a cut above the competition. And apart from the great flavor, texture, and juiciness, they get freakin’ huge! I’ve been scolded at the u-pick orchards for climbing the Mutsu trees to get the big, pinkish-red ones at the very top of the canopy. I started wearing a backpack, so once I’m up there I can grab all the big beauties. I’ve picked Mutsu that were close to a pound a piece. A pound of crispy, juicy, honey-licking pleasure.
Fall is the time for anticipation of when the Mutsu will arrive in our local markets here in NW Ma.and it never fails and it is alway a joy.
not a bad flavor, but the texture was grainy and dense and not juicy.
Mutsu is an excellent apple for baking, but is hit or miss for fresh eating. Only good when very fresh (like right off the tree). They make a terrific pie.
I call for a new Mutsu for you. You’ve got to find some orchard fresh Mutsu.
Every fall I hit up the local orchards here in southeast Michigan for u-pick apples. I leave each orchard with about 25 pounds in the bag, and about 5 pounds in my stomach (a veritable time bomb for the bowels!) I grab a gala here, and a honeycrisp there, until I find the Mutsu. They are late season pickin’, but once they are finally ripe, nothing else compares. They are large, juicy, and sweet with a good crisp texture. But most importantly, they have a real depth of flavor, in the same way that opal apples are pleasingly complex.
I do peel them. The skin ain’t great unless you’re a groundhog or beaver. You don’t look like a groundhog or beaver.
All I can think is that Mutsu must be variable based on climate, soils etc.
My experience with Mutsu is that it is a fine apple.