Opal® apple

USDA identification images for Opal

The identification paintings in the USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection span the years 1886 to 1942.

Citation: U.S. Department of Agriculture Pomological Watercolor Collection. Rare and Special Collections, National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, MD 20705.

Visitor reviews

• 20 Sep 2024 

  A friend dragged me into Walmart (kicking and protesting!) where I happened to see these apples - I'd heard of them but never actually seen them before - and decided to try them even though they were a bit high priced. I didn't care for them at all. They were soft and very "mealy" in texture, where I prefer a very crisp apple like Granny Smith. They were also almost tasteless which is quite off-putting as well. I definitely would not buy them again... I'm sticking to Granny Smith or Gravenstein apples.
• 07 Apr 2022 

  Clear Springs High School approves of this apple. 7.872356/10 stars
• 02 Apr 2020  TN, United States

  I was looking for new apple for snacking. The delicious apples are to hard for a small child to bite. I had been buying honeycrisps. I was in Kroger, when I noticed a new apple for sale. I purchased one opal apple to taste test. It was not hard like the delicious and the flavor was excellent. It is a sweet apple that children love. It is the only apple I buy.
• 29 Mar 2020  CA, United States

  I love this apple! I’ve never tasted anything like it before. Firstly it’s beautiful and almost glows yellow. It is both sweet and tart. The unusual thing for me is that it has flower-like overtones. I have never tasted that in an apple before.
• 21 Apr 2019  CA, United States

  Love the under tone of pear in this apple. It's sweet, juicy and crisp. It's the apple of the month at my grocery store this month, close to take the place of the Autumn Gold as my favorite.
• 23 Mar 2019  CALIFORNIA, United States

  this apple rocks my world. super juicy & sweet like biting into a watermelon. new favorite, knocked pink ladies down.
• 27 Dec 2018  TX, United States

  In general, I do not like apples at all. I found something appealing about the Opals and bought some to try. It is now the only apple I'll eat. Nice and sweet with pear undertones, fantastic...
• 22 Dec 2018  IN, United States

  This is the best apple I've ever had. Period. Seriously, the apple has the perfect sweet/tart mix is easy to bite into, yet is crisp. Also, the apple isn't easy to bruise and won't brown once cut.
• 06 Dec 2018  MASSACHUSETTS, United States

  I first noticed them at WalMart last year. As a previous poster noted, they were around for only a short time. They are back this year (it is early December as I write this). They have enough to feature them, and they are priced a little less than Honeycrisp. I have not seen scion wood or trees available. A previous poster noted, but I can't confirm, that one grower has the USA exclusive.
• 03 May 2017  GA, United States

  Just finished my first Opal apple. I love everything about this apple. Beautiful and interesting color, great size, soft, crisp, juicy, and OH SO DELICIOUS! Hints of tropical notes like coconut & banana. My new favorite apple!!!
• 14 Apr 2017  CALIFORNIA, United States

  Best Apple I've ever tasted. I feel like the last reviewer might not have had an actual Opal apple, because they're always a deep yellow color. Very juicy, very sweet, but for me the big thing is the skin. I HATE hard skin on apples. I don't have good teeth, so if the skin's too hard I'm chewing apple skin for 3-4 minutes every bite. This one has soft great skin, I can actually bite the apple itself. Favorite apple I've tried, and that's between 20-30 variety's. Opal I'll go anywhere to find.
• 08 Apr 2017  UTAH, United States

  The Opal apples I tried had a soft yellow skin with the faintest pink blush to them - much lighter than the photo here depicts. Overall the apples were very mild in flavor, mildly sweet, and mildly... spicy? The flavor actually reminded me subtly of a mild mulled cider... that had been watered down considerably. I suspect they would have been better chilled. The texture was light, crispy, and surprisingly juicy, which I enjoyed. Not a bad apple overall, but certainly not among the best I've had either. It was a decent enough apple, but the issue I had was that it was so very mild in every aspect that I couldn't really enjoy it. I would give it an average rating of 3/5.
• 11 Mar 2017  DE, United States

  I just recently took a liking to apples. For some reason I never particularly liked them. Anyway, instead of just taking bites out of them, I cut them into slices, and I decided to try as many of the 21 varieties of apples that are carried by my local Shop Rite. I had tried Pink Lady and Honeycrisp first, but then I decided to try the cheaper apples, because Honeycrisp and Pink Lady are literally 2-3 times the cost of almost every other variety. The cheapest of the 21 varieties is Opal, at $1.49/lb, compared with $3.99/lb for H.C.!! I actually like the flavor of Opal a little better than H.C. and P.L. Its mostly sweet with a slight tartness, and of the 3 that I've bought at different times over the past few weeks, I am yet to find an Opal that isn't crisp/crunchy, despite a previous reviewer's comments about them being too soft. I also like Cameo and Empire(among other recently sampled varieties), but I actually did find some flavor and crispness inconsistency with apples of both of those varieties. Not so with Opal so far.
• 03 Jan 2017  IA, Australia

  Just found these and tried for the first time (probably harvested at least a couple months ago). Very large and lovely golden apple with prominent lenticels. Rather soft but crunchy texture. The real surprise was the aromatic, concentrated, tropical peardrop flavor. Mildly reminiscent of Green Dragon apples, but more aromatic and with more tartness to balance (though still leaned toward the sweet side). Very, very good. I'll keep my eyes open for these. Excellent, unique flavor.
• 25 Aug 2016  AZ, United States

  First I'd like to say "THANK YOU" to the developers, absolutely extra vacation pay to you! I find it the ultimate perfection in an apple, every facet a 10. Went to buy more...haven't seen them again! pity. Do they ship well?
• 04 Apr 2015  WESTERN STATES (AZ, CA, UT), United States

  The Opal apple is excellent. Give Kudos to the developers.
• 21 Mar 2015  VIRGINIA, United States

  I saw these apples at Fresh Market and they looked beautiful so I picked up a few. Wow! I am hooked. They are absolutely the best apple I have ever tasted. Very sad you can't buy in US because I would like to plant a few trees.
• 20 Mar 2015  CA, United States

  This is a delicious apple! But it is quite expensive here in southern California. Cripps Pink Lady is less expensive and also delicious, so I get Opals when they are on sale. I love the gold color.
• 28 Jan 2015  United States

  Meijer supermarket is stocking these currently at $1.99/lb about the same price as Honeycrisp and other "premium" apples. Always suspect of crossed golden delicious because they are never crispy enough but this one is and is a great complement to honeycrisp which is my favorite.
• 01 Mar 2014  CO, United States

  Gorgeous apple on the inside and outside. The ones I picked up were banana yellow, with hints of green and freckles. The flesh has a crisp, juicy crunch. The flavor is distinctly more tart than sweet - which is refreshing. If you like the Honeycrisp, you'll love the Opal. It's one of my new favorites.
• 31 Jan 2014  MARYLAND, United States

  Opal definitely gets my vote for one of the most attractive apples. The size and shape is exactly what you want from an apple and the color is absolutely gorgeous. So many apples marketed as "golden" are more often than not a pale unappetizing greeny-yellow. Not so with the Opal. The skin is a brilliant golden yellow that brings to mind the fruit of folklore and myth. The flavor is quite good but not memorable. You get a little more depth than with say a Honeycrisp or mass produced Golden Delicious. What pulls my ranking down from a 4 to a 3 is the loose density of the flesh; a fault it shares with Honeycrisp. I like my apples dense, with a crisp crunch. Opal feels hard and crunchy but when you bite into it the flesh gives way almost as if you are biting into a cantaloup or melon. Very juicy. This makes it of limited use as a cooking apple (might good for apple sauce). It is also self sterile, which won't please suburban gardeners who only want or have room for one apple tree. Still it is readily available nowadays and definitely a better choice than most other supermarket apples. Reach for it if you can't find any Pink Ladies.
• 31 Jan 2014  CO, United States

  I'm a manager of a produce department at a small natural foods store. I brought this apple into my store because I had never heard of it and was pleasantly surprised by these guys! Beautiful bright yellow color, the flesh is perfectly crisp and juicy. There is a nice, delicate sweetness to these apples with the most subtle hint or tart in the aftertaste. By far the best fresh eating apple I've had in my store all season. They were a bit expensive, as only one grower, Freshfruits of Washington, currently have the rights to grow it in the US, but absolutely worth it. It's a short growing season, so if you see them show up at your local store, buy a pound or two - you won't be dissapointed! Seriously delicious.
• 09 Apr 2013  MINNESOTA, United States

  We found them at Cub Foods a few weeks ago. My wife wanted to try them so we bought a few. They were wonderful. Nice and crunchy with a bite but still very sweet. We went back a week or two later and all were gone. We checked other store but no more in the area.
• 16 Mar 2013  CALIFORNIA, United States

  The opals I tried were very crunchy and hard with a strong sweet/tart, cider-like flavor. The first one was in-your-face tart, spritely, refreshing, but with good fruitiness. I left the others on the counter to mellow - they were a bit sweeter after a week or so on the counter but still had that intense cider taste.
• 12 Mar 2013  MISSOURI, United States

  Extremely tasty apple, crispy with a light fragrant sweet flavor and clean finish. I look forward to the next season of them. Highly recommend them for eating, still have to try them in cooking.
• 09 Feb 2013  WASHINGTON, United States

  This is an extremely good tasting apple. The local newspaper ad had them advertised as "the best tasting apple you have ever had". I thought-yeah, right! Imagine my surprise when I bought some to try and indeed, they are very delicious! Good mix of sweet/tart, and with a great crunch. I actually crave them now. I would love to get my hands on a couple of trees!
• 04 Feb 2013  MICHIGAN, United States

  A sweet and crunchy apple. Juicy. Very good. I was attracted to its yellow-gold color. Does not look like the photo here, but it is just like the ones on opalapples.com. Purchased at Busch's market today.

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