Honeycrisp
Crisp and juicy, with a family tree that took DNA analysis to untangle.
No photo of Honeycrisp yet
Origin · Minnesota, United States
Released 1991
No Honeycrisp photo yet
Taste & texture
- Sweetness
- medium
- Bite
- crisp
- Juiciness
- juicy
Honeycrisp flavor varies from one orchard lot to the next.
sensory study · Mid-Atlantic-grown apples; sensory panel at Penn State University Park, Pennsylvania. Exact orchard location not specified. · 2008
Read the evidence
For fruit from the second harvest, high-crop-load Honeycrisp ranked below moderate- and low-load fruit for taste. Moderate and low did not differ significantly; their color rankings followed a different pattern.
- Fruit tested
- Held for 60 days in regular atmosphere at 0°C; transported for tasting the following day. Uniform-size fruit without significant defects.
- Varieties compared
- Honeycrisp
- Use studied
- Fresh eating after the stated storage treatment
- Published
- 2010
Ask about picking maturity as well as picking date; the first available batch isn't automatically the best tasting.
sensory study · Mid-Atlantic-grown apples; sensory panel at Penn State University Park, Pennsylvania. Exact orchard location not specified. · 2008
Read the evidence
After storage, the 2008 panel preferred mid- and late-harvest Honeycrisp to the early harvest. Mid and late did not differ significantly in taste preference.
- Fruit tested
- Held for 60 days in regular atmosphere at 0°C; transported for tasting the following day. Uniform-size fruit without significant defects.
- Varieties compared
- Honeycrisp
- Use studied
- Fresh eating after the stated storage treatment
- Published
- 2010
Ask the seller whether a lot was picked for eating now or for storage, not just when.
extension guidance · Michigan commercial Honeycrisp handling guidance
Read the evidence
MSU recommends earlier maturity for Honeycrisp intended for long storage and combines starch clearing with background-color change. Storage readiness is a different target from a measured sensory optimum.
- Fruit tested
- Source-described harvest, ripening or storage conditions; not a sample from an atlas farm.
- Varieties compared
- Honeycrisp
- Use studied
- Fresh eating
- Published
- 2022
Ask when the lot was picked and how it was stored; both shape a winter apple's flavor and texture.
extension guidance · Michigan State University guidance drawing on several North American research programs
Read the evidence
MSU describes Honeycrisp as unusually vulnerable to chilling and internal storage injury. Its commercial guidance uses conditioning and warmer-than-freezing storage; an intact peel does not describe that handling history.
- Fruit tested
- Source-described harvest, ripening or storage conditions; not a sample from an atlas farm.
- Varieties compared
- Honeycrisp
- Use studied
- Fresh eating
- Published
- 2022
How to spot it
- Skin
- Ripe skin colour red, yellow
- Flesh
- cream
Harvest & storage
- Harvest
- mid
region: Region in United States
mnhardy.umn.edu ↗Context & source
- /observation/region
- Region in United States
- /observation/method
- extension_description
Origin & family
Where Honeycrisp began
Recorded origin
Minnesota
United States
- Institution
- University of Minnesota
- Crossed
- 1960
- Released
- 1991
Family tree
Loading recorded relationships…
On the label
Produce label codes recorded for Honeycrisp
Organic labels add a leading 9.
Field notes
Original source notes
- size
- medium to large · Minnesotamnhardy.umn.edu ↗
- flesh colour
- cream · Minnesotamnhardy.umn.edu ↗
- sweetness
- medium · Minnesotamnhardy.umn.edu ↗
- texture
- crisp, juicy · Minnesotaextension.umd.edu ↗mnhardy.umn.edu ↗
- season timing
- mid · Minnesotamnhardy.umn.edu ↗
- skin colour ripe
- red, yellow · Minnesotamnhardy.umn.edu ↗