LISTEN: The Greenhouse Show’s apple taste test

SALT LAKE CITY — Curious about all those varieties of apples, but don’t know where to start? KSL Greenhouse Show hosts Taun Beddes, Maria Shilaos and the show’s producer Michelle Lee did a taste test to see what different apples taste like on Saturday.

The trio started off with a few other fruits, including a pluot, similar to the other hybrid fruits they tested on last Saturday’s episode.

A pluot is a hybrid between a plum and apricot, and they’ve been increasingly popular in recent years.

“Pluots are gaining in popularity because they’re [an] intermediate flavor between the two fruits,” Beddes said.

They then moved on to try out the Asian pear, a lesser-known species with a mild sweet flavor.

Next, Michelle Lee kicked off the apple taste test with a McIntosh apple.

 

How did it taste?

McIntosh apple

Beddes described the McIntosh apple as an “heirloom” that has been increasingly hard to find. They were very popular among Baby Boomers but fell out of the limelight over the years.

Fun fact: the McIntosh apple is also the namesake for the famous “Mac,”a line of personal computers.

“I like this one,” Shilaos said, though noting that she prefers sweeter varieties over the McIntosh.

Ginger Gold apple

The Ginger Gold is an early variety of today’s Golden Delicious apple. Like the McIntosh, this variety is not as sweet. But it comes with the advantage of a much earlier harvest.

“It ripens an early to mid-September,” Beddes said. “So it gives you something way ahead of Golden Delicious.”

Summer Lady peach

No, not an apple, but a tasty fruit nonetheless.

“Maybe I’ve been on a diet too long,” Shilaos said. “I want everything to be sweeter. This is really good, though.”

 

You can listen to the full apple taste test on the KSL Greenhouse Show.