Zestar! Apple

I have heard alot about the Zestar! apple, mainly for it being one of the parents of the SweeTango. I finally got to try my first slice of Zestar! this morning. To give you some background information, the Zestar! was developed at the University of Minnesota, just like it’s offspring. It was created by combining “State Fair” and “MN 1691″. It was released in 1998.

The Zestar! apple helps fill a gap. Most early season apples are mealy, which is why you should be making applesauce in August and waiting until later in September to start your pies. The Zestar! is a crunchy apple that is available early in the season. It also has a long shelf life, unlike it’s early season counterparts. You can store them in the fridge for up to a couple months. One negative of the Zestar! is that it tends to bruise rather easily, so one must be careful when harvesting and handling. A bruised apple will not have that long shelf live. I think this easy bruising is why I am not seeing this apple regularly sitting next to the Galas and Fujis at the local mega mart.

My Experience with this Apple (Rating Scale 1-10)
Crispiness: 7
Tartness : 4
Apple Flavor: 7
Sweetness: 7
Juiciness: 7

Overall Feeling: I liked this apple. A great out of hand eating apple. It has a nice crisp to it. Not as crisp as a Honeycrisp or SweeTango but it more than holds its own against the other apples harvested at the same time. It’s more on the sweet side with some tartness. The claim about this apple is that is has a spicy brown sugar like taste, and indeed it does. It seems this is where SweeTango gets it’s spice from. I recommend eating it cold because I think that brings out that taste even more. I think this is a great apple that you can get earlier and if you handle it right you can be enjoying for weeks to come.

Interested in learning more about apples?