Apple - McIntosh

McIntosh is without doubt one of the great North American apple varieties. Like its 19th century contemporaries Golden Delicious and Red Delicious, it has become a highly influential apple variety with numerous offspring. However unlike those varieties its popularity has not spread outside North America, and indeed most "Mac" production, remains centered in New England and across the border in Quebec and Ontario. In general these apples keep reasonably well in store, but the flavor falls away quite rapidly - although remaining perfectly pleasant. Nevertheless to get the full vinous sugar rush it is best straight from the tree.

These characteristics - the crimson color, white flesh, and vinous flavor (which fades in storage) - are invariably apparent in its numerous offspring, making this one of the easiest apple styles to identify in taste tests. Indeed McIntosh appears to have very strong genes because its offspring are invariably crimson-colored with bright white flesh, regardless of the nature of the other parent. As a result, telling the offspring apart is a not that easy - the distinctive Mac flavor tends to cut across the characteristics of the other parent.