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A few years ago, I decided that I wanted to be a connoisseur of three things when I grow up: wine, cheese, and apples. My interest in apples was spurred by a short article I read as part of an ACT prep, about a blind apple-tasting competition. It seemed silly that there would be a competition to correctly identify apples from one-another, yet elegant that these people were so into their apples.

So last week when I went shopping I bought a few Jonathan apples. To describe it physically, it’s a red, small- to medium-sized apple, with noticeable imperfections on its rough outer skin. Many of the ones I bought were missing the stem, although I’m not sure what that might imply. Anyway, on to the taste.

The skin was rough, and perhaps thicker than the average apple skin. The fleshy inside was a bit tart, which is unlike most red apples I’ve tasted. I wouldn’t compare it to a Granny Smith, but it was definitely a distinguishing feature. It wasn’t too tart to be undesirable, but instead it gave it a distinctive flavor. All apples are juicy, but I think this brand may have been a bit juicier than most. Of the ones I’ve tried so far, they have free of bruises, and delicious all the way through.

At this point I’ve only tried the Jonathan apple by itself, but I can image many possible pairings. For starters, this seems like more than a caramel-and-nut apple than peanut butter apple. Also, it would be very tasty to cook them down for baked apples or jam. If you find yourself with more apples than you can eat before their go bad, you might even consider using these in a warm, seasonal apple cider.

Overall, I would recommend this apple to anyone ready to break away from the traditional red delicious, or if you just wanted to try something new. I wouldn’t say this is my favorite apple, but I would definitely give it two thumbs up.