Soluna is like eating crispy wine and is currently at the top of my list. Prior to finding that, Lady Alice improves on Pink Lady, and it was my rockstar favorite. Envy is my go-to year-round when I can’t find rarer varietals; I’ve eaten hundreds of them. Cosmic Crisp is a fine last resort when Honeycrisp is too bright. Consider also trying Rubinette, Arkansas Black, Zestar. My notes say Wild Twist is a former Lady Alice but I definitely rank it just below L.A.

On the flipside: Kanzi “disappointment with every bite”, Ambrosia “pie apple because the raw texture sucks”, Autumn Glory DNF, Kissabel “lost its joy and turned grassy, DNF” Sugarbee “kinda one note, chewy, technically better than Red Delicious” Sweetango “knockoff Honeycrisp”, Evercrisp “painfully crisp, annoying to eat, fades to zero, looks like it was factory-polished, DNF”, Dazzle “all the flavourlessness of a Red Delicious with a nice crisp”, Ginger Gold “ten seconds of wonder and then mushes into disgusting texture and flavorlessness”