First time eating sweet tango

12 years ago

As a huge honeycrisp fan I was excited to see it's offspring Sweet tango at my local grocer. Not sure if it's my location but it's one variety I've always wanted to try but haven't had the opportunity. I've read that ST has won several apple taste competitions. My thoughts were that it is a delicious apple. Texture was very good and as expected quite similar to Honeycrisp. It didn't seem to be quite as juicy as Honeycrisp but still well above average. The ratio of sweet to tart also seemed to lean toward the tart side versus honeycrisp. So those that think honeycrisp is too sweet might prefer Sweet Tango. The ST also seemed to be a little more manageable in size and not as unruly large as the honeycrisp.

Overall it's one of my new favorites but I still prefer honeycrisp due to it being juicier and a little sweeter in my opinion. In my local market price was identical.....both being pretty expensive.

As I understand it is a cross between honeycrisp and zestar. I've never had zestar but when researching what I'd like to plant next year I was wondering about Zestar as an early season apple but Pristine is pretty high on my list due to its disease resistence. What does zestar taste like in comparison to Honeycrisp and sweet tango?

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Comments (8)

appleseed70
12 years ago
Haven't thought about Sweet Tango speedster...thanks for the post. Our palates must be similar, because HC is my fave too. I agree with you, I wish HC was smaller as well.

I'm planting William's Pride next year for all the reasons you mentioned. WP is earlier than Zestar and more resistant to diseases than Pristine and Zestar. It is also said to be the best flavored of all the DR varieties and keeps about 50% longer than Pristine. WP is also a pretty apple although Zestar is nice too.
WP also seemed to be a bit more versatile in use than most early apples from my research.
speedster1
Original Author
12 years ago
Interesting. I've heard a lot of mention of Williams Pride. Maybe I should look closer at it. For some reason I thought I read that it can be mealy or mushy. Didn't realize it was similar in profile to Honeycrisp. I thought Pristine was a DR apple. Maybe I need to do a little more research. haha

As for Sweet Tango I believe it's a managed variety at this point and only certain growers are licenced to grow it. I don't think it can be grown in the backyard.
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appleseed70
12 years ago
Pristine is a DR apple...it's DR isn't quite as good as WP's...that's all. WP doesn't really have a similar profile to HC...I think it's more in the likeness of Empire or Macintosh from what I've read, although I've never eaten one myself.
murkwell
12 years ago
Strange, Honeycrisp haven't seemed very sweet to me the last several years. Maybe its just because they are picking them less ripe.

But compared to a really sweet apple like Golden Russet or Envy, they don't seem to me to have a lot of sugar and the acidity seems pretty one-dimensional.

I have a brix meter that I've never used. One of these days I need to break it out and measure some store-bought honeycrisp.

Does anybody have brix comparisons between it and other apples?
bob_z6
12 years ago
The Honeycrisps I got 1-2 weeks ago from the farmers market were pretty good (not great, but good enough that my kids liked them best) and topped out at about 14-15 brix, with a few down in the 12 area.

Golden Russet is a very sweet apple, often in the 20-22 brix range. It is also a much later apple, which gives it a chance to build up the sugars. I picked a few early this past weekend at a PYO orchard (the same one I got 30 lbs of 20+ brix GR last year). Given that this was a month early, I wasn't sure what to expect. So far, I've had 2 of them and both had black seeds (so they are at least somewhat ripe). One was ~14 brix and OK and the other was 16+ brix and pretty good. Not as good as those from early November, but they are better than most to my palate. Of course, my older daughter and wife both said "ugh, so dry", while my younger daughter (who normally doesn't like apples much) wanted more.

I haven't had any Envy apples- I'll need to keep an eye out for them. SweeTango is a very good apple. It definitely has more sugar than Honeycrisp. I got a couple batches of ST at the grocery store in late 2012 and most were in the high teens, with one hitting 20 brix.
speedster1
Original Author
12 years ago
Honeycrisp tastes sweet to me but there is definitely a tartness to them that is enjoyable to me. What makes them no 1 in my book is their superior texture and juicyness. Nothing worse to me than a mushy apple. Honeycrisp and Sweet Tango are super crunchy but not hard like a granny smith. And they are often so juicy I can't keep the juice from running down my chin.

I've eaten Envy apples before. I remember the flavor being quite good but the texture wasn't as good as Honeycrisp
murkwell
12 years ago
speedster, Honeycrisp definitely has unmatched texture, no question.

Envy in good condition has a crisp texture that I think most would consider much better than average. They keep really well, but with age the texture takes a big hit and the flavor remains incredibly sweet but becomes insipid.

Bob, thanks for your notes. They accord very well with my subjective experiences and what I might expect.
speedster1
Original Author
12 years ago
Honeycrisp tastes sweet to me but there is definitely a tartness to them that is enjoyable to me. What makes them no 1 in my book is their superior texture and juicyness. Nothing worse to me than a mushy apple. Honeycrisp and Sweet Tango are super crunchy but not hard like a granny smith. And they are often so juicy I can't keep the juice from running down my chin.

I've eaten Envy apples before. I remember the flavor being quite good but the texture wasn't as good as Honeycrisp