Mourning the demise of the Mackintosh apple.

The Mac was always my favorite growing up. Firm and crisp, thin smooth shiny skin, pretty color. Then about 5 years ago they disappeared from the grocers. I heard something about the trees being unhealthy having all come from the same original tree (grafting).

I mourned the Mac. No apple could replace its delicious yumminess. I feared I would never see it again and would have to eat the inferior Gala, clearly an imported apple and bland to boot.

But then what do I see in a store in Drayton Valley no less! A bag of Macs! I let out a whoop that garnered me a few dirty looks from the valley girls out shopping.

They are everything I remember. I have been eating them nonstop since. Gotta get me more!

I like the Gala, although a nice crisp Granny Smith with a wedge of cheese is a beautiful thing.

Sometimes ... I cook up thin slices of apple and add them to my grilled cheese sandwiches, with havarti, on sourdough bread. *mind blown*

Sue, my sister still has about a half dozen Mac trees in her orchard. I like them when they are a bit green, but when they get to ripe I am not fussed on the texture.
Authentic, I am a Granny Smith girl too. We had an old Granny Smith tree outside our house in Australia. It was in the cattle pasture so it was pruned up high by the cattle. It never got watered or cared for and it had some of the biggest, bestest apples ever. Even thru the drought this tree would have great apples.
We didn't have a lot of sulfur crested cockatoos normally, but they would show up just before the apples were ripe. We would have to pick the whole tree when the first bird showed up because if we waited til the next day, there would be hundreds of the feasting and be done with the apples in two days. Used to infuriate me. Some apples would be just tasted and discarded. Stupid birds! And noisy too!
Can still taste them as I type.

I love apples, such a versatile fruit. Macs and Spartans are my faves. Hub like a Delicious, which to me taste exactly like a raw potato. I hate them, cakey, chalky, miserable things. But a good Mac or Spartan, yup, wonderful!

Gala or Honey Crisp  no effects in the stomach like some of the other types

I do love apples. My family grew them for a long time.
I like the delicious, both red and golden, but they must be on the green side or they are 'floury' like Uno says.

I don't mind Honeycrisps. I am a texture girl, if the texture of the apple is not right, I don't like it. I also like them a little tart, so that may be why I love the Grannies!

There is one called '' Pink lady "" that is close to a Mac , but sweeter and without the feeling I get in my stomach when I eat a Mac...........but I guess that's why there are so many varieties ..........to each there own

Taking a quote from Harold and Kumar go to white Castle. Harold: No. I want that feeling. The feeling that comes over a man when he gets exactly what he desires. I need that feeling!

Yay for you Sue. It's the little things.

Fuji for me! Yeah, i know it's a hybrid. Pppbbbttttt!

I love apples! And my kids do too! My son loves green apples and my daughter is partial to gala's. My favorite are red delicious! Mmmmmm!

Apples, mmmm. Love 'em all!
We are fortunate to have a place that sells their NS apples here. They sell seconds that beat the stores firsts. Must be the freshness thing.
Glad you found some Macs.
My favs are Honey Crisp, Macoon, Grannies, and Yellow Delicious....
Did I say mmmmmmmm?

I thought we still had MacIntosh around here. I'll have to look now.

Wouldn't miss them though. They just never did it for me. I like Pink Lady, Honey crisp and Gala.

Fowler wrote:I thought we still had MacIntosh around here.  I'll have to look now.

Wouldn't miss them though.  They just never did it for me.  I like Pink Lady, Honey crisp and Gala.

YES .............someone who likes the same one's as me !

Macintosh- the bomb!
Granny Smith- delish but a little tart and plays havoc with my tummy (you know what I am talking 'bout, Prairie Dog!)
Delicious- no, they are not. Taste like paper
Golden Delicious- a bit sweet, but will do in a pinch
Gala- Ok, will have to do because the Macs are disappearing
Pink Lady- never had them
Spartan- too much like Delicious
Fuji- merely O.K.

And for cooking- Transparent apples from the sunny Okanagan- all the way!

And now the best way to eat a fresh apple-

Sliced and dipped in Tahini!

Yellow Transparent? Too mealy. Ugh

Best apple ever is some unnamed late variety that is in back of my Grandparents old place. Some long ago worker probably chucked the core from his lunch (coming from the seed, it would be something new). Very late, very crisp. my father and I would always make a point to swing by and pick some when we were hunting back there. I must make an effort and go back there next spring with some pots and rooting hormone. try to get some sprigs started.

Also want to get a New Brunswick tree. You might be surprised but it is an old variety actually developed in New Brunswick. Very good for cooking.

When I was a kid, it was a HUGE treat to get to go to the city with my parents shopping (I now understand why we never got to go!). Anyway, the point of this is that I didn't know there were other varieties of apples until I was in high school. My parents only bought Macs, likely because they were cheaper. I like them, but got tired of them. When I am shopping I buy everything except Macs. We eat lots of apples, 5 or so a day between the kids and I. Perhaps I will give them a try again. We have them, and I see more of them this time of year. My very favorite is a sweet crab apple. Can't beat that consentrated apple taste. It is like the difference between California strawberries and a wild one!

Coopslave, Not sure if you can still taste the apples or the cockatoos.  

I was lucky enough to grow up just minutes away from the original orchard. Apples (and cheese) are huge there. We would always go apple picking after the first heavy frost.
I hadn't heard about their decline, BUT noted they were not readily available in the prairies. The few bags I've found here are not the same;(

I am very lucky.... Mom worked for the apple growers for about 20ish years. I remember as a kid hearing about minnesota 1914... Orr the sweet tango. I used to love apples.... Now like most fruits I am allergic to them (orr my face gets really hot really quickly so I have some kind of reaction anyways) what a twist... So no more apples for me

My favorite apple... would have to be a honeycrisp (hey it's the only one I remember ever eating). Russets are OK. not the best though, and I kind of like Pink Lady's

My hubby loves Macs and for a change once in awhile Granny smith I buy him Macs all year long 
I like sweeter Apples but seems only apple in abundance is Gala which I really only use those for cooking/baking with
I love pink lady but they only seem available for a couple weeks a year and then gone   Guess it depends on where you live but we always have Macs available and Gala is everywhere in mass amounts the rest seem to change and come in smaller amounts

They are a good apple! Though if someone is telling you the trees are unhealthy they giving you a load of manure. All apple (and cultivated varieties or cultivars of trees and shrubs) start off as grafts or cuttings from a single tree. The very first Macintosh tree, died within the last year or so here in Ontario. A sad day, when a Canadian horticultural wonder of the world loses its matriarch