Is Honeycrisp Your Go-To Minnesota Apple? Discover Our Favorite.

Minnesota is home to many delicious varieties of apples, so we narrowed it down to three of our favorites: Honeycrisp, Sweet Tango, and Zestar. Of course we all thought Honeycrisp would be the winner, but we may have discovered a new favorite…

The Contestants:

Honeycrisp
Cost: $2.99/lb.
Appearance and taste: Honeycrisps were light red with tinges of green and yellow, giving them an appearance similar to a tie-dye shirt. They were noticeably larger than the other two apple variations. They were soft and easy to bite into and had a nice crunch and firm texture. We immediately took note of its juiciness and pleasant tartness. The taste and cell structure was more complex than the other two contenders. We certainly had to have more than one piece of this apple!

Sweet Tango
Cost: $4.49/lb.
Appearance and taste: These apples were dark red with numerous small, bright green and yellow color variations. It had a really great and satisfying crunch to it. It had a more muted and mellow taste about it, which many of us really liked. A few people noted it tasted like a baked apple, or even an apple that was freshly picked from a tree. It would be a perfect addition to any cheese plate.

Zestar
Cost: $2.49/lb.
Appearance and taste: Similar to the Honeycrisp apple, the Zestar had a mixed color of soft red and muted yellow. Although it looked appetizing, the taste didn’t quite do it for us. The apples we tried were grainy and soft, lacking a desired crunch. Most people were outright displeased with this apple after trying the previous two.

The Results:

In a very, very close vote, Sweet Tango beat out the heavily-favored Honeycrisp. Although everyone enjoyed the Honeycrisps, there was something in Sweet Tango’s fresh-picked taste that won over even its most dedicated fans.