What Food Critics Say

We asked food critics and bloggers across the country to take the Pepin Challenge and write about their results.

Pepin Heights HoneyCrisp are grown by carefully selected family orchards in the prime HoneyCrisp regions of the northern United States and Canada. Our HoneyCrisp thrive in the warm summer days and cool nights of the regions where they were bred to grow best.

Many of the HoneyCrisp showing up in grocery stores this autumn were grown on factory farms in other parts of the country, planted by the square mile and baking in blazing temperatures. That’s no way to grow the best HoneyCrisp.

Minneapolis Star Tribune

Forget the oranges. The current parlor game is comparing apples to apples -- and it's more serious than it sounds. Minnesota's superb HoneyCrisp … is in some circles considered a victim of its own success. Bred to thrive in the "warm days, cool nights" climate of the northern United States, orchards nationwide were given permission to grow the patented apple, once they ponied up the licensing fee. The result is that a HoneyCrisp grown in Washington state tastes different from one grown in Minnesota.

If you want a HoneyCrisp as they were intended to taste, buy … northern. If you can't tell, ask your grocer for proof of origin.

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

Two apples – one a Pepin Heights Honeycrisp apple and the other a mysterious unknown apple. Could I identify which one was the Honeycrisp?

Upon biting into the red-stickered apple, a fresh burst of sweet flavor entered the scene. Now this definitely tastes like a Honeycrisp. But the first apple was good too ... Enough with the slices. A bite straight from the fruit will give me the real answer.

That's better. Here's where the difference was really evident. The green-sticker apple lacked the crunch of the red. It tasted more rubbery than crunchy, and its pleasantly sweet flavor tasted watered down in comparison with the strong, full-bodied sweetness of the red. Yes, I thought, if ever there was a Honeycrisp, the red was a Honeycrisp.

So I had picked the Pepin Heights apple. There's no denying it was delicious.

Pepin Heights definitely took my Honeycrisp obsession to a new level. Honeycrisps are even better than I originally thought!

View the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Story

Sarah McGee (commenter at The Heavy Table)

I am in agreement with you about the disparity in the quality of HoneyCrisps. I wait to buy them … where I know I’m getting Pepin Heights.

Chicago Tribune

The Honeycrisp … has become the rock star of the apple world. Why all the fuss? Because we love apples and this one is a superstar. Aptly named, although “honeyjuicycrisp” might be even more descriptive, this apple delivers a whopping dose of flavor and crispness … One of the people most responsible [for developing the Honeycrisp] was Dennis Courtier of Pepin Heights Orchards.

As good as Honeycrisps are, they’re not all created equal. They were developed for the harsh conditions of Minnesota. Grown outside of their comfort zone, some may be good. Some may not be.

View the Chicago Tribune Story

Purely Delicious

You know the old saying about comparing apples to apples, right? Well recently I was asked to do just that. It’s no secret I fantasize about fall for one reason and one reason only: Honeycrisp apples. [My box of two apples arrived, and we were ready to take the Pepin Challenge.]

Eager to put our taste buds to the test, we washed and sliced them up. Both of us recognized the Honeycrisp like an old familiar friend. “Sweet-tangy-juicy-love.” We tasted the other --“eh,” not so good. It was easy-peasy.

So imagine our surprise that the trick was on us -- BOTH apples were Honeycrisp. [Pepin Heights] were brilliantly making the point that just because it says Honeycrisp ... doesn’t mean it tastes like one. PEPIN ... we agree.

Keep growing and we’ll keep eating.