Day 61 - Pazazz and Bean Flicker Coffee Blonde Ale

Today's apple is the Pazazz, whose company slogan is, "Wow Right Now".  Also, a beer review of Bean Flicker Coffee Blonde Ale.  It's my blog and if I want to include a beer review, that's my business dammit!

The Pazazz is a new variety that was formed from the parentage of the Honeycrisp and an unknown variety. It was created at an experimental (and possibly secret and/or evil) fruit farm near Eau Claire, Wisconsin. They rely on bees to cross pollinate the trees, a process which results in a new variety of apple of which only one of the parents are known.  Of thousands of apple varieties created in this method only a handful make the cut. The Pazazz was selected for its exceptionally sweet flavor and its ability to be successfully grown in a variety of different climates. 

The Pazazz is part of a group of apples that are being commercialized in a new fashion by Apple Varietal Development LLC. This new process involves a club model where growers in the club are the only ones permitted to grow and sell the variety. This transfers control of supply from the tree nurseries to the growers and keeps the market from becoming oversaturated with a specific variety. It also ensures the apples being marketed under a specific name such as the Pazazz meet a certain standard in terms of quality. 

Pazazz is a large apple.  The skin is greenish yellow with a red brush stroke pattern overlay.  It is very crisp and juicy (juicier than a Juici) with a nice sweet/tart flavor.  I think this guy has pazazz and I predict this will become a more well-known apple in the future.  Wow right now?  Yes!

Bean Flicker Coffee Blonde Ale is made by Odd Side Ales out of Grand Haven, MI.  I found this beer to be a pleasant surprise.  It tricked my brain drinking such a light tasting beer with coffee.  It didn't seem like it should work but did.  I have had coffee Porters or Stouts and they can sometimes be quite bitter.

It poured a golden yellow with a fair amount of carbonation.  The head dissipated quickly but there was a nice, creamy mouth feel.  The ABV is 4.5%.  It had an aroma of coffee, vanilla and cream.  I found Bean Flicker Coffee Blonde Ale refreshing but with substance.

Next time I review the Ginger Gold apple and maybe... another beer.  Crunch on and drink up!

Day 60 - Juici

This Juici better be juicy and I hope it's good because I bought a 14 pack of these at Costco.  We will see, and taste, and smell, and hear?

Oneonta Starr Ranch Growers, located in Wenatchee, and formed in 1934 became the 1st exporter of Washington state apples, bringing them to the World.  As you might have guessed, they developed the Juici apple made available in 2016.  It is a mix of the very popular and delicious Honeycrisp and the decent but waning in popularity Braeburn.  

Juici is a good apple.  It is medium sized, pretty uniformly round and has a crisp bite.  The skin is not too thick and has a good apple smell.  The white flesh is INDEED juicy and the flavor is sweet/tart with some floral notes.  My only complaint is there were some tiny brown spots on a number of apples with no apparent bruising from the outside.

Next time, I will attempt a sophisticated review of the Pazazz apple so if you are fabulous and posh enough to be worthy, check it out and crunch on!

Day 59 - Musselman's Apple Butter and french toast

Today I review Musselman's Apple Butter.  Musselman's is a family owned company founded in 1907 in Biglerville, PA.  They also make apple sauce, juice and cider, pie filling and vinegar.

I love this stuff!  I have tried other apple butters and this is the best.  It has a smooth, velvety  texture and is sweet but not cloyingly so.  They use a traditional Pennsylvania Dutch recipe using only fresh apples, sugar, cinnamon and cloves.  It has 30 calories a serving which is less than most jams and jellies, butter or peanut butter.

I have only found it in a 28oz jar (it also is available in 17oz) which is big so in addition to using it on toast, bagels and english muffins, my wife Laura has made some killer recipes with it!  This morning, she made apple butter french toast.

She spooned a hefty portion of apple butter between two pieces of mini Italian bread and dipped it into a mixture of eggs with vanilla and cinnamon.  We topped it off with some maple syrup and good lord, yum!

Check out my Day 36 blog, when Laura made an Apple Butter Streusel Muffin, also motherfucking good!  Thanks woman!

Next time, I review the JUICI apple.  Crunch on!

Day 58 - Autumn Glory

Glory, glory hallelujah, glory, glory hallelujah, (everybody sing with me) glory, glory hallelujah, this apple from Walmart is pretty good!

Today's apple is the Autumn Glory.  I try not to shop at Walmart too often but I had stopped in for some cat litter or something.  I am not usually very impressed with their produce section but any store I'm in, I check for apples and sho enough, there it was 20 paces away, a shining beacon, a bag of apples of a variety I had never seen before, the Autumn Glory so I bought some.

Autumn Glory is a Washington State apple introduced in 2011 by Domex Superfruit Growers.  It is medium sized, has red skin with patches of yellow and is a hybrid of the Fuji and Golden Delicious. 

The company claims it has a firm, sweet flesh with notes of cinnamon and caramel and I agree.  There were some caramel notes.  It reminded me of drinking cider with some cinnamon.  I'd love to try some Autumn Glory cider.  A nice surprise from my stop in at Walmart.

Next time, I review Musselman's Apple Butter.  Crunch on and if you don't have teeth, you can still enjoy apple butter!

Day 57 - SnapDragon vs. King Cholesterol

Today's apple is the SnapDragon.  On to that in a minute but first...

Oh Apple, my liege, why hath you forsaken me?  I have given my body and soul to you, informing the masses of your greatness, the health benefits, the many uses, the yumminess!

My doctor just informed me after my recent physical that my cholesterol is high and I need to start taking Atorvastatin.  I'm going back in 90 days to get checked.  Many studies have shown apples to be great at lowering LDL or "bad cholesterol and increasing HDL "good" cholesterol but nooooooooooo, you don't want to do that for me!  Many apples consumed I have, as Yoda would say.

After a long walk out in the snow in my robe and slippers, I have cooled off.  I'm sorry apples.  It might be my love for beer and cheese and pasta and steak and donuts and maybe I need more walks in the snow but dressed more appropriately.  Apples are indeed a beneficial part of your diet to help with high cholesterol and I will eat more of them.  One to two a day has been shown to be very effective.  I don't actually eat an apple EVERY day but henceforth, I will.  Thanks apples!

SnapDragon is a new apple variety developed in 2013 by Crunch Time Apple Growers in New York state, an offshoot of the legendary Honeycrisp.  Crunch Time is responsible for the Ruby Frost which I reviewed on Day 16, which was tart and satisfying.

The SnapDragon is vibrant red with a uniform shape, medium in size.  I enjoyed mine very much.  It had "monster crunch" as the company claims.  It was juicy, sweet and had a snappy bite.  I would be proud to have a SnapDragon as part of my daily apple rotation.

Next time, I review the Autumn Glory, hallelujah and crunch on !!!

Day 56 - Spartan

Be strong young Spartan apple, like the warriors of ancient Greece.  You don't know who Daddy is but don't become another statistic, Mamma loves you!

Little Spartan went on The Jerry Springer Show with mother McIntosh.  For the longest time, he thought the cool, green, russeted Newtown Pippin from America was his father but lately, he was having doubts.  They were so different.  Jerry opened the envelope with the paternity test results.  The audience got very quiet, then the reveal... Newtown Pippin was not the father.  The crowd released a collective gasp that could be heard from the street.  Spartan cried, "How could you lie to me Mom?"  Mother McIntosh explained that she was young and times were different.  Mr. Pippin was a good father figure to Spartan and when he went away, she knew Newtown would not return.  She would rather Spartan think that Newtown Pippin was his father rather than having to figure out among the MANY other apples who it might be.

I am of course, kidding about the Jerry Springer part.  They don't have apple paternity tests on that show.  It was actually on The Maury Povich Show but it is true that until recently, it was thought that Spartan was a mix of the McIntosh and Newtown Pippin.  Recent DNA testing has ruled that out.  It is a mix of the McIntosh and an unknown variety.

The Spartan originated in 1936 from Summerland, British Columbia, Canada.  It is a small to medium apple.  They usually have a dark red skin with some patches of yellow.  The skin is thick and chewy.

My specimen was decent.  The skin took a lot of chewing, luckily, I have teeth.  The apple smelled very appily and it was juicy.  It didn't have a lot of flavor but there was a bit of a vinous or wine like quality to it.

Next time, I review the favorite apple of Imagine Dragons, the SnapDragon.  Crunch on!

Day 55 - Suncrisp

What huge apple secrets young Gary could have shared with me but I will never know because Gary is... dead!  Maybe he's not dead but he is missing.  His last words to me were, "Enjoy your Suncrisp apples sir."

It was October 23rd, the brisk feel of Fall permeating the air.  I went to Basse's Taste of Country, a great place to pick your own pumpkins, go for a hayride, get lost in their 8 acre corn maze (Gary, I'm just saying) or get some apples.

I entered the quaint country store filled with various jams/jellies, pickled things, pumpkins, apples, knick knacks and funny looking gourdes.  The room smelled of apple cider donuts and I would have got one or six if my visit hadn't ended so abruptly.  Perusing the apple section, I found mostly common apples like the Cortland and I wanted something more interesting.  I found a bag of Suncrisp apples that looked intriguing but I thought this place must have more to choose from, maybe in the back.

I went to the counter where a zit-faced teen with a Bieber haircut circa 2009 and a name tag that read: Gary, was manning the register.  He asked if I wanted the bag of apples I was holding and I said, "Yes, but what else do you got, where are the cool, experimental apples?  This place has acres of apple trees and it is prime season."  Our eyes met and I could see he was nervous and hiding something.  I said, "come on, show me the cool apples."  He claimed not to know what I was talking about but I pressed him like an apple in an apple press.  I got in his face and yelled, "Show me the fucking apples punk!"  He said, "Ok, keep it down.  I'll show you but it's gonna cost you."  I nodded in agreement.  I was willing to shell out phat stacks yo for artisinal apples.

We ventured into the back room, approaching a large crate.  There were some great specimens in that box, I could feel it!  Gary looked both ways nervously, we were just about to open the crate when I heard, "Stop right there, don't even think about opening that box!"  Three large gentlemen had entered the room, one with a shovel, one with a pitchfork and one with a machete.  They scolded Gary saying he should know better that nobody else is supposed to see this.  With eyes of daggers, they told Gary to say goodbye to the nice customer and told me I should leave now!  That is when Gary said, "Enjoy your Suncrisp apples sir."  I threw down five bucks and left.  As I was leaving, I heard Gary screaming, "no-no-no, I'm sorry, arrghhhh!"

I was a little concerned about Gary and returned to Basse's Taste of Country a few days later.  I asked the woman at the register if Gary was around.  She said no Gary had ever worked there.  I described him and stated I had been there a few days prior.  She said again more firmly that she had never worked with a Gary!  I bought an apple cider donut (it was delicious) and left.

Now for the review.  The Suncrisp was developed in New Jersey in 1994.  It is a mix of a Cortland, a Cox's Orange Pippin and a Golden Delicious.  They are small to medium in size and the skin is yellow with patches of red covering up to 40 percent of the fruit.  They don't brown easily and can be kept up to 6 months when refrigerated.  In fact, they are know to be sweeter and tastier after several weeks.

Wherever you are Gary, sorry if I got you in trouble.  If it's any consolation, know that I enjoy the Suncrisp apples you sold me, thanks dude!

Next time, I review the Spartan apple.  Crunch on, do it for Gary!