Day 89 - Honeycrisp Apple Green Tea and Brontosauruses

Do you fancy a spot of tea?  How about DAVIDsTEA  Honeycrisp Apple Green Tea?

The first ingedient is dried Honeycrisp apples followed by sweet blackberry leaf, green tea, hibiscus, apple pomace (the solid residue left after milling and pressing apples) citric acid and pears.

This is a good apple forward tea.  I can barely taste the green tea.  I enjoy it with a little honey.

Isn't this tea steeper fucking adorbs!  It looks like a Brontosaurus.  The Brontosaurus (Apatosaurus) was a herbivore, subsisting on large quantities of leaves and ferns.  They did not chew but swallowed their food whole. 

There is evidence of apples in prehistoric times so Brontosaurusessssss may have eaten apples but not Honeycrisp apples.  I think they would have enjoyed DAVIDsTEA  Honeycrisp Apple Green Tea.

Next time, we get decadent with  Mrs Prindables Gourmet Carmel Apples.  Crunch on!

Day 88 - Terrapin Ridge Farms Apple Maple Bacon Jam

Three beautiful things: apple, maple and bacon in a jam form!  We be jammin' man!  Apple Maple Bacon Jam from Terrapin Ridge Farms out of Clearwater, FL is delicious!  

Terrapin Ridge Farms makes dressings, mustards, dips, sauces, jams and jellies.  My daughter ordered two jars of jam from them for my birthday, the aforementioned and a Apple and Horseradish Jam. 

They sent us two of the Apple Maple Bacon Jam so we just went with it.  I will definitely try the Apple & Horseradish Jam sometime and blog about it.  Terrapin Ridge Farms has some cool, unique flavors to choose from.  Check 'em out at terrapinridge.com.

Since we had two jars, my wife, we'll call her Laura, made some cool dishes with it.  She used it as a chicken wing sauce.

These wings were kick-ass!  The apple tang or zing, maple sweetness and bacon saltiness perfectly complimented the crisp chicken wings.

Laura also added the jam to some Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce on some baby back ribs.  It really beefed up the taste.

 Terrapin Ridge Farms Apple Maple Bacon Jam is also good on a cracker with some cream cheese. 

Next time, I review David's Tea Honeycrisp Apple Green Tea.  Crunch on!

Day 87 - Anderson's Apple Syrup

On pancakes, waffles or chugged straight for a diabetic inducing good time, Anderson's Apple Syrup!

Made by Anderson's Maple Syrup, in Cumberland, WI, a 12 oz. bottle sells for $5-6.  The website describes it as 100% Natural Apple Syrup made from select fresh squeezed apples, a perfected recipe of pure apple juice and sugar that is guaranteed to be the same high quality you have come to expect from their products.  

I thought Anderson's Apple Syrup was alright.  It did taste like apples, sweet but also tart.  Even being the apple lover I am though, I don't think you can beat good maple syrup.  I don't really have anything else to say about it.

I haven't tried Anderson's Maple Syrup but would like to.  They sell it in many sizes.  They also sell maple candy, popcorn, maple sugar, maple cream and their syrup is used in a Sprecher Wisconsin Maple Root Beer.

Next time, I review Honeycrisp Apple Spumante (non-alcoholic).  Drank/crunch on and be safe!

Day 86 - Apple Sauce vs Apple Baby Food

Easy to eat, even without teeth, delicious and nutritious.  Ain't no shame in it, I like apple baby food but which is better, apple baby food or applesauce?  Read on for a mix-up and a surprise player in da game!

For my taste test, I went with Mott's Applesauce, Beech-Nut 100% Natural Apple Baby Food and Gerber Organic Apple Baby Food.

The common ingredients among the 3 are pureed apples, ascorbic acid for Mott's and Gerber, lemon juice for Beech-Nut.  Mott's has added high fructose corn syrup.

Some stats:

Mott's : 110 calories, 25g sugar, potasium 2%, vitamin C 10%

Beech-Nut : 70 calories, 10g sugar, potasium 20%, calcium 4%

Gerber : 60 calories, 11g sugar, potasium 10%, vitamin C 45%

The baby food is ground more finely than the applesauce.  All 3 smell about the same.  I think the applesauce is too sweet.  Both the baby foods have no added sugar and to me are not quite sweet enough.  The Gerber has the best nutritional value. Based on everything, drum roll please... my favorite is BANANA BABY FOOD!  What happened there, a twist!  That's right, my favorite baby food is Banana!

I have Beech-Nut 100% Natural Baby Food.  It has 90 calories, 16g sugar and 50% of your daily potassium. Yum!

Back to the apple, this is an apple blog.  My favorite is the Gerber.  It has the most pure taste and is the best for you.  Let's make things even more interesting, all 3 apple purees mixed together!

This was a great balance of flavor, sweetness and texture.  Next, I combined The Gerber Apple with the Beech-Nut Banana and a little added cinnamon.  This was the best of all, so good that I gobbled it all up before getting a picture!

There you have it, be young at heart.  If you run out of toilet paper, wear a diaper!

Next time, I review Anderson's Apple Syrup.  Stay safe people and crunch on!

Day 85 - Rockin' Hard Cherry Apple Cider

From the quaint Wisconsin vacation region of Door County, comes Rockin' Hard Cherry Apple Cider!  Taken from the Door County Visitor's Bureau, "With 300 miles of shoreline, you can watch a sunrise and a sunset over the water without leaving the county. See thousands of acres of orchards, explore art galleries, devour cherry pie, sip on local wines and brews, splash in the lake or paddle along the bluffs, stroll through five state parks or tour 11 historic lighthouses. No matter what you're looking to get out of your vacation, our 19 unique communities allow you to live life well."

The region is known for it's many apple and cherry orchards and for it's vineyards.  I have never been there but someone from the Door County Visitor's Bureau visited the TV station where I work and brought some wine and apples.  I snagged a bottle of Rockin' Hard Cherry Apple Cider from Door County Cider Co.  

It is estate-grown, fresh-pressed tart and sweet cherry juice and apple, fermented with a slight effervescent and a crisp taste.  They also make Hardcore Apple Cider and Stone Cold Cherry Hard Cider.  They are all 5% ABV and cost aprox. $12.00 for a 750 ml bottle.  The website describes it as semi-sweet but I found it to be quite sweet!  It was just alright for me dawg.  I probably would not try it again but I would love to make it to Door County someday for some nice rest and relaxation, apple picking and booze drinkin'!

Next time, take out your teeth, you don't need em'!  Think back to those care free days when you wore a diaper (I'm wearing one right now!)  I will review/compare apple sauce and apple baby food.  Crunch on or just gum on!

Day 84 - Cosmic Crisp

Cosmic Crisp, proponents have called it the Beyonce of apples!  Is it worthy of this fierce description and lofty name and does this in turn, make Beyonce the Cosmic Crisp of the music world?  It's supposed to be all that and a peck of apples.  Millions have been spent to promote it as the next big thing.  Read on for the shocking results and photographic evidence!

Back in the 1980s', former Washington State University horticulturalist Bruce Barritt became concerned there was too much focus on lame-ass Red and Golden Delicious apples.  He launched a breeding program at the university and in 1997, Barritt crossed a Honeycrisp with an Enterprise and created what came to be known as Cosmic Crisp.  The goal was to create an apple with exceptional, flavor, crunch, juiciness, flexibility, slow browning and long shelf life.

The name Cosmic Crisp came about based on focus groups who thought the striking lenticels on the apple surface reminded them of outer space and the cosmos and of course, they were derived from an apple with crisp in the name.  I think Enterprise probable put thoughts of space in their minds as well.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the shocking photos regarding the alleged long shelf life of said apple.  Would Queen Bee approve of this?!!!!!!!!!

THE FOLLOWING MAY BE OFFENSIVE TO SOME VIEWERS

They (the apple people from outer space) claim Cosmic Crisp should stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to a year.  Imagine my horror when I saw this!  I had this apple for about a month BUT you know what?  Chicken Butt.  I think it must have gotten bruised in the fridge, making it much more prone to mold and decay.  I do believe they last a long time and they are slow to brown.  Here are pics of apple slices right after cutting and after 2, 4 and 6 hours.

They did not brown much which is impressive.  Most of the discoloration occurred after hour 2, interesting.  There are plenty of apples that start to brown within minutes.

My experience with the Cosmic Crisp, very hard flesh with a tart forward but balanced flavor, a loud, snappy crunch that could be heard across the Universe.  The skin was thick but not bitter, thick skin is sometimes bitter, 'twas a large, uniform specimen with a red and yellow, blemish free appearance.

Hubba-hubba Cosmic Crisp!  I hope this picture of Beyonce will get those nasty bruised apple pics out of your mind.

Next time I review Rockin' Hard Cherry Apple Cider.  Crunch on music lovers! 

Day 83 - Fanta Green Apple Soda

If you like a Jolly Rancher green apple candy and bubbles, you probably would like Fanta Green Apple Soda or pop if you prefer, though they call it soda and I call it soda.  It tastes to me just like a delightful Jolly Rancher.  It has a strong apple aroma, the flavor is sweet and quite tart.  There is a pleasant amount of carbonation.  It tastes a lot like Dekuyper Sour Apple Pucker liqueur, see my Day 6 apple review, https://mikegrunertblog.blogspot.com/2017/02/day-6-fuji-pucker-apple-raisin-bran.html, though Pucker is thicker and sweeter and boozier as it is booze.

Fanta Green Apple Soda has a neat toxic green color.  It is produced by The Coca-Cola Co.  The label displays "100% natural flavors".  Government regulations define natural flavors as those that derive their aroma or flavor chemicals from plant or animal sources, including fruit, meat, fish, spices, herbs, roots, leaves, buds or bark that are distilled, fermented or otherwise manipulated in a lab.  

The ingredients are: CARBONATED WATER, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, NATURAL FLAVORS, CITRIC ACID, MALIC ACID, CARAMEL COLOR, SODIUM CITRATE, SODIUM BENZOATE AND POTASSIUM SORBATE, (sarcastic Yum!)  But seriously, it is tasty, just not a health food option, probably best not to drink every day! 

The 20oz bottle has 280 calories and 75g of sugar, 149% of your recommended daily  value!  It is caffeine free.  This tangy concoction can also be purchased in 7.5 or 12oz cans or 2 liter bottles.

Next time, I will take you to an orchard far, far away with the Cosmic Crisp apple.  Drink up and crunch on!