Winter Love and Honey Freckle Apples, Are They Worth the Price?

My son and I went to S&R yesterday. Our mission was to buy some meat but when we passed by the fruit chiller, we saw several new fruits. We took a look at the price, boy were they expensive! But, my son and I are foodies so we couldn't help but get a few. 

We tasted the Winter Love Apple last night. According to some quick research, while I was in S&R, these are Japanese apples called Fuyo Koi, romantically dubbed as Winter Love Apples. They are from Iwate Prefecture. They have a higher sugar content than other apple varieties and a surprise ingredient - honey! I don't know how they added honey in the cultivation process but it does have a honey aftertaste. 

The apples are sweet and the texture is good. They're easy to peel, too!

Sorry about that pic, it was too late when I realized I needed to take a photo. 

This morning, we tried the Honey Freckles.

 

It's hard to find information about this variety other than it's usually given as a gift. 

It's easy to slice with an apple corer. That was unexpected. I usually have a hard time cutting apples using a corer. 

This variety tastes sweeter than Winter Love but for me, the taste is very similar to a Washington Red. It's just sweeter and with a very slight tart aftertaste. It reminds me of a pear. Even the texture reminds me a little of pears. It also has a thin slime (for lack of a better term) coating each piece. It's not gross, though. 

When I bit into one, I realized why it was easy to cut. It's not as crunchy as Winter Love or a Washington Red. I like my apples crunchy. I don't like soft, "malabo" apples. 

Because of that, Winter Love wins this showdown. As for the question, "is it worth the price?" I think the cultivation process is complicated that's why the price is so high. They also come in a nice gift box so that's another addition to the price. At the end of the day though, these are still just apples. I wouldn't buy them again. I would love to receive them as a gift, though! Hahaha! I'm also concerned about the sugar content. These are much, much sweeter than the everyday varieties we eat. I'm usually not concerned about fructose but I don't think the sugar in these is still natural. 

What about you? Have you tried these varieties yet? I'd love to know what you think!