[mfarris]

Here in Los Angeles your typical store has 6-10 varieties of apple, almost all of them painfully similar.

Braeburn, Jazz, Fuji, Honeycrisp, Gala, Ambrosia, Jonagold, Envy... these are all the same basic apple: overly sweet, hard/dense, not a lot of taste outside sugar. Envy apples are the yellow version of the same thing. Pink Ladies are marginally better.

If anyone knows an LA area market where I can escape the tyranny of obnoxiously "crisp" sugar bombs in favor of Cortlands, McIntosh, Jonathan, or anything out of the ordinary... do tell.

If the Granny Smith wasn't available I don't know what I'd do.

[kppullin]

While a bit of a drive from LA, if you haven't made a trip out to Oak Glen I'd suggest a look at the various apple orchards out there: https://www.oakglen.net/ .

This place for example lists 25 or so varieties http://losriosrancho.com/produce/ and all the orchards I've visited over the years provide samples of most, if not all, of their stock.

[iamnothere]

Try them fresh from a pick-it-yourself orchard; the difference is unbelievable. The problem is that grocery store "apples" are often picked underripe, and they sit in a cold room for months before making it to the shelves.

[Doxin]

So is it just me or are jazz apples always very powder-y to the point of tasting spoiled? I don't get why any store would sell that so I'm assuming I'm doing something wrong...

[TimesOldRoman]

Aw man I love the Fuji and never tried a honeycrisp. Are they really similar?

[diablerouge]

I used to work at a grocery store, and actually don't feel the way OP does. Honeycrisp are fairly different, in my opinion. A fair bit tarter, and they have an almost fluffy light crisp texture. They even have a different cellular structure than your average apple, IIRC.

Though I agree that more apple varieties would be good, OP is underplaying the differences between the widely available apples. Growing conditions have a great effect in flavor and texture as well.