New apples have been slim pickings lately, aside from my unexpected encounter with Cox's Orange Pippin a few weeks ago (I went back for more the next day, but for some reason none of them were as good as the first). So when I saw an apple called Lucy Rose at Bristol Farms, I had to take it... even after I recognized the logo and realized it was the red counterpart of the disappointing Lucy Glo. "Lucy(tm) Apples are part Honeycrisp, which give them their sweet, tangy flavor and crunchy texture we all love," says the website. Oh boy, Honeycrisp, I say with a notable lack of enthusiasm.
They also had Lucy Glo, much bigger and more robust than the rather tired-looking ones I found last year, so I figured I'd give it a second chance and do a side-by-side comparison.
I didn't read their specific flavor notes ahead of time. I'm going rogue! Let's see what I think of them without any coaching!
First, I cut them open to see the red interior.
That's... kind of disturbing, there. I should have done this on Halloween.
Yikes. That's, um, a lot more vivid than the one I had last year:
To my relief, Lucy Rose was a bit more restrained in color.
I sniffed the apples first, like the expert apple connoisseur I am. Lucy Rose smelled slightly sweet, almost artificial. It reminded me of a Jolly Rancher. Maybe I need more practice. Lucy Glo just smelled faintly of apple.
I ate Lucy Rose first. It tasted...
It tasted like black cherry Koolaid.
I'm not kidding. I tried to discern more subtlety in the flavor: it was sweet, in a very sugary way, and... nope, exactly like black cherry Koolaid. It was pretty weird, but I still finished the first half. Eventually I detected a bit of apple flavor, and the slightest tang of tartness, but the primary impression remained the same. At least it didn't look like it was BLEEDING when I CUT IT.
I tried the first half of Lucy Glo immediately after for comparison. Just biting this thing was creepy.
It was also very sweet, but the flavor was less Koolaid in nature and a bit more tart. It was better than the one I had last year, I'll give it that.
Both apples were big, and half of each was definitely enough. Eating them wasn't awful, but both Lucys were very sugary and artificial in flavor, to the point where I felt like I'd just eaten an entire roll of Sweet Tarts rather than an apple.
Oh yeah, let's have a look at those flavor notes: "Lucy Rose has a red skin and sweet berry notes in the flavor profile. Lucy Glo has a gorgeous yellow skin that allows the red interior glow from within and is tangy with a hint of sweet." Okay, that was not entirely wrong, if by "sweet berry notes" you mean "black cherry Koolaid" and by "tangy" you mean "Sweet Tarts."
Verdict/Buy again? This was an interesting experience, but not one I'd care to repeat.
They also had Lucy Glo, much bigger and more robust than the rather tired-looking ones I found last year, so I figured I'd give it a second chance and do a side-by-side comparison.
I didn't read their specific flavor notes ahead of time. I'm going rogue! Let's see what I think of them without any coaching!
First, I cut them open to see the red interior.
That's... kind of disturbing, there. I should have done this on Halloween.
Yikes. That's, um, a lot more vivid than the one I had last year:
To my relief, Lucy Rose was a bit more restrained in color.
I sniffed the apples first, like the expert apple connoisseur I am. Lucy Rose smelled slightly sweet, almost artificial. It reminded me of a Jolly Rancher. Maybe I need more practice. Lucy Glo just smelled faintly of apple.
I ate Lucy Rose first. It tasted...
It tasted like black cherry Koolaid.
I'm not kidding. I tried to discern more subtlety in the flavor: it was sweet, in a very sugary way, and... nope, exactly like black cherry Koolaid. It was pretty weird, but I still finished the first half. Eventually I detected a bit of apple flavor, and the slightest tang of tartness, but the primary impression remained the same. At least it didn't look like it was BLEEDING when I CUT IT.
I tried the first half of Lucy Glo immediately after for comparison. Just biting this thing was creepy.
It was also very sweet, but the flavor was less Koolaid in nature and a bit more tart. It was better than the one I had last year, I'll give it that.
Both apples were big, and half of each was definitely enough. Eating them wasn't awful, but both Lucys were very sugary and artificial in flavor, to the point where I felt like I'd just eaten an entire roll of Sweet Tarts rather than an apple.
Oh yeah, let's have a look at those flavor notes: "Lucy Rose has a red skin and sweet berry notes in the flavor profile. Lucy Glo has a gorgeous yellow skin that allows the red interior glow from within and is tangy with a hint of sweet." Okay, that was not entirely wrong, if by "sweet berry notes" you mean "black cherry Koolaid" and by "tangy" you mean "Sweet Tarts."
Verdict/Buy again? This was an interesting experience, but not one I'd care to repeat.
