What's a Kissabel Apple?

In this newsletter, I am going to share about my experience with my first Kissabel apple.

5 Seconds. That’s all it took for me to declare that I like this garden market store in Oregon. As the automatic doors of Bauman’s Farm & Garden store opened I immediately spotted a display of Kissabel apples - the 2nd apple on my list of apples I want to try in 2025!

Kissabel is just the name of a single apple variety. There are three different types of Kissabel apples, and their names vary based on their skin color: Kissabel Rouge, Kissabel Orange, and Kissabel Jaune. The unique feature of these apples is their flesh, which is either red or pink on the inside. Take a look at what Kissabel Rouge looks like:

These apple varieties were developed in France. The breeders aim to create new red-flesh apple varieties by crossbreeding wild red-flesh apples with different high-quality apple varieties (I don’t know the exact ones used). They were first introduced in Europe. I heard about them growing over there before learning that Stemilt was growing them in the U.S. They also grow the Aura apple I mentioned a few weeks ago.

So, what do I think of this apple? The boring answer: it was okay. It’s a pretty apple, no doubt, but I didn’t find the flavor of the two I’ve tried so far to be anything super interesting. The apple leans more on the sweet side, but there is some tartness to it. I felt the apple was juicy with some faint berry notes.

That said, I do want to mention that this is a brand-new variety here in the U.S., and the trees are still young. More mature trees tend to produce better-tasting fruit. My policy when trying a new apple is that I need to try it multiple times before making a final judgment. For example, I think the Cosmic Crisp apples I have now are better than the first ones I tried. You also have to consider the time of year. Did this apple taste better fresh off the tree, or is it one that improves after being in cold storage for a while?

Anyway you look at it, I’m not ready to make a final decision on Kissabel Rouge just yet. I’m looking forward to trying more in the future, as well as the other varieties.

I did bring one on my train trip recently because I thought it would be fun to take a picture of it while riding the rails.

• Listen to the latest episode of my apple podcast -

  Episode 25 - History of Empire Apples

• If you have any questions, please feel free to let me know. I hoped you enjoyed today’s newsletter.