Day 64 - Rockit

Today's apple is the miniature Rockit.  They are sold in recyclable plastic tubes of 3 to 5 apples with a rocket shaped logo.  Going with this theme, I though it would be fun to send a bunch of these to Mars.  You could fit aprox 350,320 of these little guys in the payload bay of a space shuttle.  That would feed a lot of hungry Martians! 

I bought a big container with 3 lb of Rockit apples at Sendik's but I only found info about the tubes online.

The Rockit was launched in 2010 from Hawke's Bay, New Zealand.  It was bred to be small using crab apples mixed with other varieties.  They are pre-washed and marketed as a convenient, snack sized alternative to more unhealthy snacks.  The tube packages were designed so they could be displayed outside of the produce section.  The company slogan is, "your daily fruit blast" and they claim 65% more potassium and 10% more fiber than the average apple.  The fruit has a long shelf life.  The ones sold in the US are grown in Washington state.

The picture above show the size difference compared to an average sized apple.  I like the Rockit.  Unlike a crab apple, it is very sweet.  They are are crisp and juicy, pretty much everything you would want in an apple in a small package.  I think the Martians would like them unless they prefer humans.

Next time, I get my serious drink on with the Apple Brandy Blog!  I will compare 3 different kinds, Door County, Calvados Morin, and Paul Masson Apple Brandy.  It might take several shots to get the review right but luckily, apples are healthy!  Crunch on...

Day 63 - Organic Green Dragon

Chasing the dragon, eating an organic Green Dragon and listening to Nick Nutter's podcast, The Top Albums of 2017.  See below links to part 1 and 2.  Witness some spiky, edgy, fluffy and funly commentary on the music or 2017 that was the music of 2017!

 https://soundcloud.com/nick-nutter/the-top-albums-of-2017-part-i
https://soundcloud.com/nick-nutter/the-top-albums-of-2017-part-ii

The Green Dragon originated in 1920 at the famous (I'm sure you heard of it, dah!) Aomori Apple Research Center in Japan.  It is a cross between the Golden Delicious and the Indo, apples that also yielded the Mutsu and Shizuka.  

Green Dragon apples resemble a lime green Golden Delicious dotted with very small brown freckles. The skin is thinner than most green apples, yet also resistant to bruising.  It is one of the most aromatic apples on the market due to a plentitude of chemicals know as fruit esters.  Refrigerated, they will last for 2-3 weeks.

The flavor is very sweet, not too tart with some exotic fruit undertones of pineapple and pear.  At first, I found the inner flesh lacked crispness but as I continued eating, I realized it reminded me of the texture of a pear and it was good.  

Green Dragon, roar, twas' good!  Next time I hope for sky rockets in flight, an afternoon delight with the Rockit apple.  Crunch on!

Day 62 - Ginger Gold and Weihenstephaner Vitus

Ed Sheeran is doing a STADIUM tour!  I met this famous ginger just a few years ago when he was an up and coming singer/songwriting.  He performed on the Wakeup News at WITI, the Fox affiliate where I work.  He may be a more famous ginger but I was more excited when we had a rock star of fruit, Bob Barthel from Barthel Fruit Farm on the show in Sept of 2017.  He brought a couple apples I had never seen before, the Pippin (see my Day 43 blog, the biggest apple I had ever seen, big as a baby's head) and the Ginger Gold.  I tried a Ginger Gold that day and it was killer!

Ginger Gold is famous as the apple that Hurricane Camille brought forth. Camille brought devastating floods to Nelson County, Virginia in 1969, and the orchards of Clyde and Frances "Ginger" Harvey were badly washed out.  In recovering the few surviving trees around the edge of one Winesap orchard, another tree was found which Clyde Harvey recognized as being different. It was planted with the rest, but was found to produce yellow rather than red fruit.  An extension agent identified the parents as Golden Delicious, Albemarle Pippin and some other unknown variety.  The variety was eventually named after Clyde Harvey's wife.

I really enjoyed this early season apple, they start to ripen in August.  My Ginger Gold had a uniform shape and bright gold skin.  It was juicy and crisp with a mild but complex flavor, not too sweet but with tartness and even some spicy notes at the end.  It thought it had a slight ginger quality to it.

I will definitely get out to Barthel Fruit Farm in Mequon next season, as their website shows some apples that are new to me.  Now a beer review...

Weihenstephaner is the oldest brewery in the world, almost a thousand years old.  Weihenstephaner Vitus is one of the best beers I have ever tasted.  It is a wheat beer and a Bock beer (a Weizenbock) but unlike any Bock I have tried.

It has a complex character due in part to an extra long storage time.  It has a creamy mouth feel with some good head.  There is a strong aroma of bananas, cloves and citrus.  It has a high alcohol content of 7.7 % ABV with an IBU of 17.

Weihenstephaner Vitus yes, maybe Ed Sheeran would like it?

Next times, I review the organic Green Dragon.  Crunch on and get yer drink on!