And the winners are....

At our apple tasting party on Sunday, we had 8 tasters with discriminating palates and varied apple likes and dislikes; we tasted 9 apple varieties:

• Pumpkin Sweet
• Winesap
• Connell Red
• Newtown Pippin
• Spencer
• Rome
• Stayman's Winesap
• Honeycrisp
• Snow (Fameuse)
  

We generally agreed on these -- Pumpkin Sweet was all good looks and nothing special under the skin, Newtown Pippin inherited none of its famous cousin Cox's goodness, Stayman's Winesap could be consumed if desperate, Winesap was good but with an astringent finish, Rome was all sweetness up front but with no staying power. On biting into a Fameuse or Snow apple, we agreed there was a lively sweetness, but it faded to nothing in moments, and the flesh was soft -- this could be becasue it isn't a good keeper, so it may be worth seeking out next fall. Our three favorites: Spencer, Connell Red, and Honeycrisp, with Spencer the clear favorite and the group split over Honeycrisp and Connell Red.

Still to be tasted: Northern Spy, Cox's Orange Pippin, Gravenstein, Spitzenburg, Calville Blanc d'Hiver, and Wealthy. And any others that look interesting the next time I'm at the orchard.