week four of APPLES TO APPLES finds another influx of new varieties from devoto gardens—four this week. a fun week. every apple was at least decent, in its own way. i’ll go with the order in the picture, from left to right.

Golden Supreme

the golden supreme is another in the line of sweet, crisp apples. it’s light and juicy. the flavor is sweet but not overpowering. in fact, it’s a little too light. i’d like it to pack a little more punch. i bet this would be a great after-dinner palette cleanser.

the verdict: PUT ONE OR TWO IN YOUR FACE.

Gala

the gala is also essentially a sweet apple, but it has some tartness to it, as well. a nice interplay of flavors, and neither overpowering nor oversubtle. to be honest, i liked it more than i expected to. i should have bought more than the three i got.

the verdict: PUT THESE IN YOUR FACE.

Honeycrisp

i liked the honeycrisp when i first met it a few years ago, and expected it to be one of my favorites this week. instead, it ended up near the bottom. not a bad apple, but disappointing.

like the gala, the honeycrisp is a combination of crisp, sweet, and tart. it has one main advantage over the gala: it’s juicier by a fair margin. but i was surprised to favor the gala’s flavor. the honeycrisp’s flavor was ok, mixing sweet and tart, but the sweetness is a little…i don’t know. immature? maybe it’s a touch of that ‘delicious’ sweetness. and the crisp was not as crisp as it could have been. it felt like the texture fell apart a bit toward the end. all in all, it was not the slam dunk i was expecting/hoping for.

the verdict: PUT A FEW IN YOUR FACE.

Ashmead’s Kernel

this is not the prettiest apple—to be frank, it’s ugly, and not even in the cute way, really—but it is a joy to put in your mouthplace. is a dense, hearty apple that’s by far the most tart of any of this week’s entries. it is SUPER flavorful—the golden supreme’s opposite number on that score. the flavor is intense and complex; i can see why the internets say it’s a good juicing apple. it’s crisp, but not in the light way that the golden supreme is. it has SUBSTANCE. it’s fun, but it’s not frivolous. it’s the real deal.

the verdict: PUT THESE IN YOUR FACE.