Stayman Winesap Apple Review
"A Civil War Era Mistake"
Wrap a damp tee ball in an old t-shirt and you will begin to experience the masochistic horror that is the Stayman Winesap Apple. Each jaw-breaking bite is taken on the chin like a punch from Apollo Creed, and then followed by an interesting wine-like flavor that is most likely comprised of 40% tooth blood. The semi-tart wallop bellowing forth from this tank-fruit is absorbed by a hardened cloth-like skin that drapes down your neck like a swallowed roll of used medical gauze. Discovered in Leavenworth County, Kansas in 1866 by Dr. Joseph Stayman as a seedling of the Winesap Apple, for some reason the apple world (helmed by the Stark Bros.) quickly deemed this new cultivar as worthy of national attention. It must be assumed that anything outside of the murder fields of Gettysburg was welcome in this troublesome post Civil War era.
- FLAVOR PROFILE -
SWEETNESS
1/5
TARTNESS
2/5
INTENSITY
1/5
STAYMAN WINESAP BIO
PARENTAGE
Winesap
ORIGIN
Kansas
YEAR
1866
AVAILABILITY
Late Fall – Early Winter
BEST USES
Cider, Pies
OTHER NAMES
Virginia Stayman, Stayman
sir i think you should see a dentist
this level of pain inflicted by apples is unusual
Winesap apples in Wyoming are tiny and a little sour but good and they aren’t the best for eating but they make AMAZING jelly, butter, applesauce, and preserves
RIV to you but i’m different and there is no other apple like a stayman. complex sweet-tart flavor, wonderfully crisp, tough but biteable skin, and an aftertaste that reminds you that you have just had a Really Good Apple. this is not a masochist’s apple but it is a challenging apple. an apple that demands attention. an apple you are supposed to analyze rather than consume passively. the dark souls of apples, perhaps. with every other review on this site i have found some point to agree on but all i can say to this is, in the spirit of this being the dark souls of apples: git gud
nah, this apple is as trash as your average Baltimore Crabs fan
joke’s on you: nowhere to lift but up
(intentionally antagonistic demeanor aside WOAH hello fellow blaseball fan)
crack the crabs
You are so right, Solar. The Stayman Winesap is the best.
The “Stayman Winesap” apples I have had are disappointing. In the 1980s and 90s Kroger’s and other major grocery stores sold an apple called just “Winesap” that was juicy, crisp, a little tart and sweet both, but it also truly had a flavor of wine, a hint of fermentation. It had little splotches of pink in the flesh. It was a wonderful apple (second only to Jonathan apples). The Staymans I have had (including fresh from NC orchards) aren’t anything like them. Wish I knew where I could find that variety I used to enjoy so much.
Having grown to appreciate the many delicious eating apples of Washington State where my son lives, I like to look for other varieties to sample. Came across the Stayman that was grown locally near Charlottesville, I picked one up for grins. Saw this description before I cut it up to sample and fell over laughing. I found it to be a little grainy with a thicker peel and not that bad flavor wise, a bit like the apples available to me as child in the Deep South other than the Red Delicious. Not my favorite for sure.
You’ve smeared the best apple on the planet. The most elite Stayman Winesaps stand on the pinnacle of heirloom apples.
But true to the name Winesap, they must be approached like fine wine. You’ve got to know the good stuff from the swill.
For example, there exists no fruit on Earth as lush and full-bodied as the Stayman Winesap apples sold at Terhune Orchards in Lawrence Township, New Jersey. I know this because I am a well-traveled connoisseur of the spherical orbs.
The flavor profile should be deep and complex, earthy and elegant. Texture and mouthfeel should be thoroughly pleasurable and downright sensuous. When this is the case, no other type of apple compares.
So, two questions:
1. Where the heck did you get YOURS?
2. How are we to rank Apple Rankings if literally the BEST apple on the planet gets your WORST review?
I have been living in Florida for 20 years but do still occasionally remenice about the wonderful Stayman-Winesap experienced often in the Blue Ridge/Front Royal area of Virginia. It is the tart, sweet taste of a cool Fall morning. Wish I could grown them here alongside tropical fruit but, alas, everything has it’s best place.