Flavor: Honeyed sweetness with a mild tart aftertaste
Approximate Ripening: Mid September
Uses: Eating, baking
Trivia: Developed in the Netherlands in the 1950s and released in the U.S. in 1972, Elstar is a cross between Golden Delicious and Ingrid Marie.
Notes: Many offspring of Golden Delicious inherit their parent’s mild flavor, but Elstar strives for something sharper. Its sweetness is more pronounced—almost honey-like—and it comes with a little zip of tartness at the end. Elstar has a neat look and feel to it, too. The flesh is a lemony white, while the skin is almost marbled in appearance; you can actually feel the grooved texture when you hold one.