In your estimation, what are the most important qualities that an apple can have?

Thanks for the question! I’m no expert but I do buy and eat a lot of apples so I’ll act like I’m one. I like crunch as the #1 thing. I think most people probably hate mealy soft apples. It’s like eating a toad made out of wet sand. And then juiciness follows crunch naturally. I don’t think I’ve had a crunchy apple that wasn’t juicy. You can usually tell pretty easily if it will be a good apple by firmness, but some varieties have fooled me. Envy is my #1 or #2 favorite apple and I got some recently that had some soft spots I didn’t notice. I tend to like sweetness more than tartness in apples but a cultivar with the right balance can be really great. And also, I tend toward more intensely flavored apples too, and those tend to be the most expensive ones. I don’t mind if the apple has a couple of small dings but I avoid bruised ones. Also I try to make sure theres no spider webs in the top where the stem goes in.

so tl;dr recap : crunch, firmness, juice, no bruises

These are some of the best apples currently. I was getting opals on the regular but they seem to be dwindling. These and honeycrisps and braeburns are the only apples that are currently good where I go. I haven’t seen a decent gala or fuji since last fall. The golden deliciouses looked good but were soft.

oilyrainbows replied to your photo:
got some of these yesterday. they’re pricy but…

Those yellow Opal apples are my new favorite (well, one of my favorites– nothing beats a Pink Lady). They have an intense flavor that’s sweet and floral, and were only 98¢/lb at Sprouts.

Opals are one of the better apples and are often on sale. To give you an idea how much I like them, I usually buy 3 different kinds of apples for variety and to try new kinds, but my last week’s buy was all opals. I was wary about the yellow color and pear-ish skin, but was really impressed by the flavor. They actually kind of taste like they were crossed with a pear.

I should probably mention that as I’m writing this, I’m trying another apple I haven’t had before, the sugarbee. I think it’s the crunchiest apple I ever had and really sweet.

got some of these yesterday. they’re pricy but they have a good balance of flavor that’s on the mellow side. They’re really juicy and really crunchy. I think the grower also makes the snapdragon, which has an equal crunch but a much more intense flavor that is just slightly tipped to the tart side.