Apple review: Aurora

[platypus]

Today's apple is the Aurora, which doesn't appear to have a fancy website making exorbitant claims. I found a few descriptions: "sweet, mild, and fresh in flavor with honey and tropical tasting notes." "A creamy light yellow to golden color with a perfectly balanced sweetness, exhibiting notes of honey and tropical fruit."

Then I found this guy's website. He's done detailed tasting notes on hundreds of apples and appears to be quite a connoisseur. "More sweet than tart, the flavors are mild to the point of attenuation, clean, and a little floral," he says. "Tastes include, faintly, plums and watermelon (not the candy flavor that some apples seem to have, but faint traces of the fruit). There is only a hint of Golden Delicious's honey."

He also describes the appearance of the apple in detail, with things like "Its calyx is parted and I can see curly golden stamens within." Do you two want to be alone?

When I ran into this at Vons, most of the apples in the display were bruised. I had some trouble finding a good-looking one. I didn't have high hopes; it would probably be another sweet, bland apple.



Verdict: I'm really surprised how much I liked this. Now I understand why people kept calling it light, crisp, mild, fresh. The flavor is subtle and interesting. It's not overly sweet, not noticeably tart. It's... light. It's also quite juicy, but doesn't come across as watery or diluted. I actually regretted running out of apple to eat.

Buy again? Definitely. Actually, I want to go back to Vons this weekend, because I think it's already out of season and I want another one.

Comments

[actiaslunaris]

(Here from reading lists of lists.) I'm really enjoying your apple reviews. As someone who has often wondered why the big deal with the different varieties, they're helping me decide what to try when I go shopping.

[platypus]

Hi! Dreamwidth is so quiet, it's neat to have someone I don't know drop by. I tend to lock most of my entries, but it seemed silly to lock apple reviews. I'm glad you're enjoying them! I'm pretty sure I have unrefined tastes, but it's been interesting so far. I really had no idea there were so many varieties even at a regular grocery store, or that they changed so much week to week. I can't find the apple that's supposed to taste like cinnamon anymore, dangit.