I’ve been reading rave reviews about the most recent apple creation to fall from the producer’s tree: SweeTango, so called because it makes your taste buds dance. When I saw the brand prominently displayed at the grocery store this week, I had to give it a try. Maybe I’d make a pie or some applesauce.  Then I noticed they were $3.49 a pound! I bought one.  Not one pound; one apple.

Before slicing into the pinkish fruit, I polished it and arranged it for a still life photo.  I could hardly wait to bite into the highly touted fruit that one tester described as, “Heaven in your mouth!”  First, let me say, when it comes to an eating apple, I’m a Fuji fan, so this was going to be a hard sell.  As I bit into the pinkish fruit, I felt a crackling sound reverberate in my mouth. Wow! It was crisp and juicy with just the right amount of tang.  If the price was right, this could become my apple-a-day choice.

The new apple sensation developed at the University of Minnesota about five years ago is a combination of Zestar and the University’s highly successful Honeycrisp apple. Though it’s available for only a few months, beginning in late August, the fruit keeps well and is highly in demand.

But until there’s a price adjustment, I plan to stick with Granny Smith for pie baking, Jonathans for applesauce, and a Fuji-a-day to ward off doctors.