First Kiss, Child of Honeycrisp Apples, Ready to Eat

MINNEAPOLIS -- If you love eating Honeycrisp apples, but hate having to wait until fall to enjoy them, there's a new variety of apple just for you. The apple breeding team at the University of Minnesota have announced First Kiss apples.

It will be ready to harvest in mid-to-late August, up to four weeks earlier than its parent Honeycrisp.

Back in the late 1990s breeders set out to create an apple with the taste and texture of a Honeycrisp that would be ready to eat before Labor Day. They crossed the Honeycrisp with an early ripening variety from the University of Arkansas.

First Kiss marks the 27th apple to be released by the breeding program at the University of Minnesota. They've been developing and evaluating apple varieties since 1878.