Published October 2014

An apple a day sounds good in theory, but McIntoshes can get boring after a while. (No offense McIntosh; same goes for Red Delicious, Gala, etc.). That’s why we’re taking advantage of apple season to bring in unique apples from B.C. orchards.

“We’re always looking for the next variety,” says Jason Wiebe, Sunterra’s supply-chain partner. Jason spends two days a week in B.C. all summer long, visiting growers and checking on crops. So what are the requirements for an apple to make the cut from orchard to market?

“It has to be a great eating experience,” says Jason. Take the green Orin apple for instance. It might look like a Granny Smith or Golden Delicious, but it is very crisp and sweet with a subtle pear flavour. Salish apples also have a distinctive flavour that is tangy and juicy. The Salish is actually a new apple, developed at the Summerland Research Station in B.C. and debuted in October 2012. Sunterra carried these red-blushed apples before that, when they were just referred to as 493, so if you’ve been shopping here for a while, you probably had a Salish before it was a Salish (very hipster!).

The Ambrosia apple is also from B.C. (but not from the Summerland Research Station; it doesn’t start with an ‘s’). It’s a two-toned apple with a very sweet honeyed flavour that doesn’t turn brown when cut, so it’s a great choice for fruit plates or skewers. Another two-toned favourite is the Honeycrisp, whose name doubles as its description. Large Honeycrisp apples are delicious to crunch on, but are also good for baking because they keep their structure.

Because most our apples come straight from the orchard, you might find a white powdery plume on them. Don’t worry! This natural coating rubs off in seconds, leaving a shiny polished apple to sink your teeth into. So fill your fruit bowls, fry up some fritters, sip on cider and enjoy apple season.