First year I tasted it I like it a lot- hasn't impressed me so much last couple. Actually I've been eating it for ten years from a site that had it mislabeled as straight Cox.

It is a good apple and much easier to grow than Cox but doesn't have the tart kick. For a sweet cox type I prefer Ashmead's Kernel, but if you have more than 10 varieties Kid could be in there. Just one opinion but I'm in Z6 NY so my Kidd's would taste much like yours if only we had the same taste buds (or brain).

I've been looking at the russet apples to get a few. I ordered a golden russet, but read that Ashmeads may be a little difficult to grow. Thankyou for your opinions.

Ashmeads is not difficult, just not a big producer as I understand it. Haven't been harvesting it for enough years to speak from reliable experience on that. It is both quite sweet and highly acidic, creating a very high brix complex apple.

The leaves and fruit are relatively easy to protect (not very susceptible to CAR or scab), the color doesn't attract wildlife and it's not hard to train.

Golden Russet takes a long time to come into bearing on free standing roots and is a magnet for stinkbugs and wasps. It also is difficult to train into a nice and efficient tree.

Roxbury Russet is a much easier tree and as reliable as anything I grow but it is not as sweet as GR and not as popular, taste-wise. I like it a lot but mostly eat Jonathons very early than Ashmeads and Goldrush.

Maybe I'll change my order, if I can. If it's anything like Gold Rush it will be one of my favorites.

I wouldn't call Ashmeads Kernel a sweet Cox-type, its more of a sweet-sour. Kidds is something like Gala (its child) but with a more balanced and aromatic flavor.

Kidds is an easy tree to grow. About all you have to watch is overcropping, that will give you less flavor and it will go biennial. It one of my favorite apples.

For the last two years my Rubinettes have been better than Kidds, Rubinette just has more flavor packed into it. But before that Rubinette was not so good. I am thinking it just took the tree a few years to settle in to good fruiting, but it will take a few more years to know that for certain.

Scott

It's good to hear different opinions on these apples thanks.

Scott, I don't know if you grow Cox but Ashmead is much sweeter- at least as grown here. Many Americans don't like Cox as it takes some getting used to if you were raised on Red and Yellow Delicious.

Ashmead is agreeable to most palates from my observation.