Apple varieties: flavor & cooking notes

Farmers markets offer an endless supply of different types of apples in the fall, with a limited number of varieties available at grocery stores.

Each type of apples can be rated on several characteristics:

How sweet or tart does it taste?
How firm or soft is the flesh?
Is the flavor mild or strong?

The answers also determine the best uses for each type of apple. For example, firm apples tend hold their shape when baked into a pie, but make a chunky apple sauce. Whereas soft apples break down in a pie but make a smooth sauce.

Jump to:

Sweet apples
Tart apple varieties
Sweet-tart apples
Effects on flavor & quality
Recipes & other resources
What to do with bad apples

Sweet apples

How sweet an apple tastes is dependent on more than just the variety. The ripeness at harvest, length of storage, and weather all affect their flavor. For example, unripe apples will taste more tart than when fully ripe.

While all apples are sweet, these ones are sweet with little to no tart flavors.

Fuji

A reliably sweet variety, making it a favorite for fresh eating.

Stands out as the sweetest snacking variety
Firm, crisp flesh that holds up when baked
Quick to brown
Good storage apple

Honeycrisp

A crispy, almost fizzy flesh makes this a favorite snacking apple.

Sweet, honey-apple flavor (very slight tart flavor, but sweet flavor dominates)
Firm, crisp flesh that holds its shape when baked
Also has excellent flavor and texture when baked into a pie.

Gala

Because of the mild flavor and thin skin, these are a favorite among kids.

Sweet, mild pear-like flavor, but not complex
Firm, crisp flesh, but can be grainy when baked
Very thin skinned
Slow to brown

Golden Supreme

A descendant of Golden Delicious but with slightly stronger flavor, especially when baked. Great apple for early-season pies in September.

Sweet, apple flavor. Not complex but very appley.
Firm flesh that softens when baked and holds its shape
Best when fresh, loses flavor when stored

Ambrosia

A very juicy apple with an distinct flavor. It has noticeable floral-honey notes as well as banana (which comes out even more when baked).

Sweet with almost no tartness and a floral-honey or banana flavor
Firm flesh that softens when baked and holds its shape
Slow to brown, making it great on salads and cheese boards as well

Golden Delicious

A classic apple flavor with medium sweetness and medium firmness. The sweetest green/yellow apples and great for pie.

Sweet, buttery apple flavor
Medium firm, softens when baked but holds its shape.
Quick to shrivel if not stored in a high-humidity crisper drawer.
Not related to Red Delicious

Envy

A cross between Braeburn and Royal Gala, Envy is the trademarked name for the Scilate variety.

Sweet and slightly floral. A mild flavor similar to gala but slightly stronger
Thick skin, crisp juicy flesh
Slower to soften when baked and can be grainy
Very slow to brown

Red Delicious

This beautiful apple over promises and under delivers due to the focus on appearance above all else.

Sweet, but bland flavor
Skins are thick and tannic
Flesh is often mealy
Short storage life

Tart apple varieties

It's hard to get a consensus on which apples to classify as tart since their acidity can be highly dependent on climate and harvest dates. However, more often than not, the following kinds of apples will be noticeably more tart than sweet.

Granny Smith

This apple will always be tart, regardless of the climate or when it was harvested.

Extra tart
Firm, crisp flesh that holds its shape and is slow to soften when baked
Lends tartness to pies, but not a lot of apple flavor
Good storage apple

Pink Lady

Pink Lady apples are Cripps Pink that have met quality specifications, earning the brand name. This actually helps ensure each Pink Lady apple will taste similar.

Perfect apple for cheese boards due to their sweet-tart balance, bright color, firm crisp flesh, and slowness to brown.

Tart with a very sweet finish and good apple flavor with hints of melon
Firm, crisp flesh that holds up when baked
Slow to brown
Good storage apple

Jonathan

These small apples are tart, but not as much as Granny Smiths. Their dark red color, smaller size, tartness, thick skin, and long shelf life make them the ideal variety for caramel apples.

Tart and slightly sweet
Firm, crisp flesh that softens considerably when baked, but mostly holds its shape
Good storage apple

McIntosh

These have a classic apple-spice flavor perfect for cider. They will turn to mush when heated, making them excellent for applesauce and butter, not so much for pie.

Tart flavor, but least of all the tart apples. Apple cider flavor comes out even more when baked.
Soft flesh that breaks down when baked or heated
Thick skin
Technically stores well when not bruised, but loses flavor quicker than other good storage varieties
Cinnamon & sugar apple sauce recipe

Mutsu / Crispin

A good candidate for apple cider, especially if you get ones that are on the spicier side.

Just barely more tart than sweet with cider flavor, sometimes a hint of anise. Skin can be chewy.
Crisp firm texture that holds its shape when baked, but can be grainy
Can get exceptionally large (and still taste good)

Jonamac

A cross between Jonathan and McIntosh, this apple inherited that tart flavor.

Tart and slightly sweet with an apple cider, spiced nutmeg flavor
Medium-firm flesh, but will fall apart when baked
Quick to brown

Sweet-tart apples

Most apples are a little sweet and a little tart, but neither characteristic overpowers the other. Some types of these apples will taste mild, while others will have stand-out flavor. As usually, that depends on the weather and harvest conditions.

Braeburn

An perfect sweet-tart balance with hints of cider and citrus zest. It is the best late-season apple for making pie in November.

Sweet-tart apple flavor
Firm, crisp flesh that softens but holds shape well when baked
Great apple flavor that's both sweet and tart even when baked
One of the best apples for pie
Late season, often not showing up until mid-October

Northern Spy

Another top-notch apple for pie due to it's strong sweet-tart flavor and excellent texture when baked. Also a favorite for ciders.

Very sweet and very tart with a good apple flavor and sometimes notes of pear
Thin skin and butter-yellow colored flesh when ripe
Crisp flesh that has a perfect tender texture when baked
Good for long-term storage (even if it has bruises, a rare trait)
Late season variety showing up mid-late October and stores well, making it a great option for apple pies at Thanksgiving or into winter.

Golden Russet

Considered the "Champagne of cider apples" due to its intense, complex flavor and incredibly high sugar content (21%) to encourage fermentation.

Very sweet, spicy, only slightly tart. Rich, complex flavor that might have notes of honey, figs, apricots, pears, and even green pepper (from the skin)
Skin has russet (which looks and feels like a potato)
Very dense, hard, crunchy flesh that stays fairly crunchy when baked (and can get grainy)
Loses flavor complexities when baked
Good for long-term storage

Winesap

Winesaps have a spicy flavor with some bitter notes (which works quite well to balance a sweet apple cider).

Sweet-tart, spicy flavor that improves with storage
Very hard flesh and thick skin
Holds shape when baked, but sometimes turns grainy
Popular in warmer climates as the tree doesn't need cold winters to set fruit like most apple varieties.

Jonagold

An excellent example of an apple with a sweet-tart balance and great flavor. A cross between Jonathan and Golden Delicious.

Sweet-tart apple flavor
Medium-firm, crisp flesh that softens but holds shape well when baked. Great flavor in apple pie.
Thin skin

Ginger Gold

One of the tastiest early-season varieties.

Slightly spiced sweet-tart flavor
Medium-firm, crisp flesh that softens but holds shape well when baked
Slow to brown

Cortland

Similar to McIntosh in flavor and texture, but slightly firmer.

Sweet-tart with a slight cider flavor, can taste a bit sour when baked.
Medium firm flesh softens quite a bit when baked and can get mushy (similar to McIntosh)
Flesh is strikingly white compared to most other varieties
Slow to brown, a great apple for salads

Rave

As a Honeycrisp descendant, this apple has its parent's sweetness, but also a little more acidity.

Sweet-tart flavor (slightly more sweet than tart)
Crisp bite but airy flesh sometimes falls apart when baked
Slight jolly rancher flavor when baked
Slow to brown
A trademarked variety (University of Minnesota)

Juici

A Honeycrisp & Braeburn cross, this apple is a little more tart than Honeycrisp.

Sweet-tart flavor (slightly more sweet than tart)
Crispy and juicy, even at room temperature
Very dense flesh that takes longer to soften when baked
Thin skin
Slow to brown
A trademarked variety

Swiss

A mild-flavored descendant of Golden Delicious.

Sweet-tart balance, with noticeable pear-like flavor that comes out when baked
Medium-firm flesh
Skin naturally feels greasy (not waxy)
Smaller than average in size

Mollie / Molly

I've seen this labeled both ways - it's a mild-flavored descendant of Golden Delicious and Gravenstein.

Sweet-tart, mild flavor
Soft apple that softens a lot when baked, but will likely hold its shape
Thin skin

Rome Beauty

A beautiful apple with paint-spatter marks falls flat on flavor. Marketed as the "queen of baking apples" because it isn't good for much else, not because it excels in baked goods.

Bland, mildly sweet and slightly tart with a floral aroma that doesn't come across when eaten
Holds shape when baked but can be crunchy or mealy
Great for growers due to its heavy crop, resistance to disease, and attractive appearance

Effects on flavor & quality

Like with any fruit, one type of apple might taste amazing but be bland the next time. The descriptions here are based on freshly picked apples grown in good climate conditions. It's what each kind of apple should taste like.

Several factors can change or degrade the quality of an apple.

Maturity at harvest

Apples picked early tend to be more tart and less sweet than usual. They also store better.
Apples pick late tend to be sweeter and less tart. They can be less firm (but not always), and don't store as well.

Storage length

Some types of apples store well at home with minimal loss in quality. Other varieties quickly lose flavor and moisture (affecting the texture). The varieties that stand out as excellent or bad keepers are noted in their descriptions.
Commercially stored apples can last 4-10 months, depending on the variety. They have minimal loss in quality, but their texture does degrade over time. When taken out of the finely-controlled storage facility (and into your home), they can lose moisture quickly and become mealy.
Larger apples (of the same variety) generally break down faster than their smaller counterparts

Weather

Mother Nature adds her own variance to apples each season. The unpredictability adds a case for trying several types of apples each season, in case the weather positively affected types that weren't great last year, and visa versa.

Sources

Iowa State University, "Harvesting and Storing Apples" and "Climate, Weather and Apples"
More great resources for apple varieties: Orange Pippin, Home for the Harvest, Jessica Gavin, and Apples of Uncommon Character (book)
Harvard Apple Nutrition

Recipes & other resources

What to do with bad apples

Apples that have no flavor or a bad texture shouldn't be used to make a pie, but they doesn't mean they're destined for the compost bin. They just need a little help getting their flavor back.

Turn them into apple chips or apple sauce and add a generous amount of spices, sugar, and/or acid (like lemon juice).