How Do You Like Them Apples?

As some of you may recall, I had some pretty amazing adventures on my road trip back in May. One of the most memorable events was when my bike died right after I had passed through the little town of Lake City, Minnesota. For a quick refresher, click here for the night I broke down, and here for the following day.

Jump forward four months to the present day. I received a call from the mail room at work yesterday morning that there was a box of apples downstairs for me. I wondered...there were two options...one was a branch manager who had promised to send some cherries from Washington state when they were in season. He didn't manage to send any and I thought he might have sent a box of apples as a consolation prize. The other option I thought it might be was a delivery from Pepin Heights. When I got downstairs, I looked for the return address, and when I saw "Lake City," I did a little happy dance! I'd emailed Dennis earlier in September to ask about shipping times to a local retailer, but didn't expect such a gracious gift.

The box held twelve pounds, which translated into 18 of the most delicious apples out there. No...correct that...nine of the most popular apples out there (and drippingly delicious - HoneyCrisp) and nine of an upcoming star that is simply incredible. Dennis Courtier, who owns Pepin Heights, had told me some about this new apple, the SweeTango, while I got to tour the orchard in May, and he said it was the best apple he'd ever tasted. That's like Bach saying, "That's the best fugue I've ever heard."

The first orchard to commercially produce HoneyCrisp apples was Pepin Heights, which, up until recently had the dominant market share of the fruit. For those of you who have tasted the HoneyCrisp, you understand why people are willing to pay a premium for this fruit...its texture and taste are incomparable. Or at least, were incomparable. As the popularity of the fruit has spread, the trees are being grown in less than ideal locations that have compromised the quality.

The SweeTango should not be going down that same path, however, as it is being treated as a "managed variety" and Pepin Heights has been given the exclusive license to commercially distribute the SweeTango, limiting the production to select orchards within a growers' cooperative called Next Big Thing. With HoneyCrisp, anyone could grow the trees, and the University of Minnesota's apple breeding program (which developed both of these varieties) was paid a $1.30 fee per tree until the patent expired last year. With the loss of the patent, the program has lost nearly half of their funding for the program.

This time, they're being a little wiser with the distribution, limiting the quantity, ensuring the quality, and on top of the $1 per tree, are also going to receive 4.5% royalties in perpetuity, which should make a huge difference for the school's income. The HoneyCrisp brought in a little over $8 million to the breeding program. It will be interesting to see how much of a difference this arrangement will make for the university program. From the taste of things, I'd say a lot.

With all of the hype I've heard and read about the SweeTango, I was a little afraid to try one, just in case it didn't live up to the mighty reputation that had been fashioned for it. I cut up one for my co-workers to sample, and when one of the ladies took a bite, the first reaction was, "Oh, that's good." Then, "Oh my, I could eat 20 of these!" and, "It's so crisp and sweet, and even has a tang to it!" I mentioned that might be why it's called the SweeTango! Encouraged by her reaction, I bit into my first slice. The first impression is good, but it's the second one that gets you. It's a subtle flavor that you can't fully appreciate on the first bite. It's the next bite and the next which start to flesh out the nuanced flavors that dance. If you think an apple is just an apple, you would leave such foolish thoughts behind you after having one of these masterpieces.

As something like this must be eaten to be believed, I did my fair share of proselytizing at work, to the extent that, when I share my last two apples tomorrow morning, I will have only eaten a grand total of 3/4 of one SweeTango and one whole HoneyCrisp. It was rather nice to give the SweeTango out with its provenance, including the fact that it is in extremely limited distribution this year, as this is the beginning of the run for them, and no one else down here in South Carolina will be able to experience anything like it. Have I got you interested yet? Put SweeTango on your calendar for next year. It will be worth the wait!

(Much of my info above came from here, here and here. There is a YouTube video here, and you can even see Rose traipsing around the orchard at 2:52 :)