Thanks, I did search when I got home from the store.

I was sure the had high sugar content. These were $4.99 @ pound...but we are talking Beau here so $ not a deterrent.

I see they're $2.99/lb. at Fresh Market this week. Don't think I'll be buying any though I can see the appeal for kids.

Hmmm. I don't even care much for grapes, but I'd buy them for the grandkids. I also saw a type of plum tree called "Bubble Gum". I can't confirm, but the description says the plums taste like bubble gum. I'm definitely planting one next year!

Like grainlady, though, I doubt that I'll see Cotton Candy grapes here any time in the near future. Or even distant future. (grin)

Wasn't it Jessica who found the "grapple", an apple that tasted like grapes?

Annie

Doesn't sound appealing to me but I could see kids loving them. I'm betting they're non-GMO too. <lol>

Plums that taste like bubble gum and grapes like cotton candy....Grandma is spinning. GMO to the max I bet.

GMO to the max I bet.

Well, no, not exactly. There are no genes from other species, but most of the new sweeter fruits (these grapes, witches' finger grapes, tango apples, etc) rely on techniques like embryo transfer that mean they could never happen naturally without a lab.

It's plant breeding not genetic engineering.

NPR:The Cotton Candy Grape: A Sweet Spin On Designer Fruit

Thomcord is another. They taste like Concord without the seeds. Picked some up at Trader Joe's yesterday.

Thomcord

Plant breeding connotes the natural process of pollen and stigma. This is far from natural. This is embryonic propagation.

Ugh... another in-depth process that I will now have to learn about to decide if I want to purchase the products of such efforts... especially since it's just a novelty.

What was so bad about the good old-fashioned birds and bees?

What was so bad about the good old-fashioned birds and bees?

I tend to feel like that, too, but on the other hand, things like radiation mutation have been part of plant species development for a very long time, longer than I've been alive, at least.

BTW I loathe Thomcord grapes. They do not taste anything like concord grapes to me, and it's becoming very hard to find real concords anymore as supermarkets have totally bought into the "seeds are BAD!" school of marketing. I like watermelon with seeds, too.

They're not as intensely flavored as Concords, but I think they're pretty good. I don't enjoy spitting out seeds with every bite.

Nope, not genetically modified, just a hybrid, like Sungold tomatoes, JonaMac apples and various other plants. Most GMOs are corn, sugar beets and canola, but they're in EVERYTHING. (sigh) The BubbleGum plum is also known as Toka, needs another tree to pollinate before bearing and is cold hardy to zone 3. I have not been able to discover the original "parents", it's apparently one of those "secret" trademark things...

Annie

I have to hand pollinate my cherimoya tree, and so that is not exactly natural either, and the cherimoya fruit is also very sweet and tastes like vanilla custard. Usually, I over-pollinate and then end up with more seeds, but I want to make sure the flowers are good and pollinated, and it is not that easy, since they are hermaphroditic and rely on perfect timing. Female flowers must be pollinated before they turn into male flowers, and pollen from male flowers must be used within 12 hours of the change. I managed to get six fruit to maturity last season, and I think I have a few more this year, but it is difficult to tell how many will stay on the tree.

I will have to look for the cotton candy grapes. At first, I thought you were talking about real cotton candy in the shape of grapes!

Yes, cotton candy grapes were here last year too. They're very tasty and if you like grapes, they're fun. I'm not a grape lover-- or rather they don't like me. Grapples don't seem to have caught on though. Has anyone seen the Witches Fingers grapes? They had them last fall. I wasn't crazy for them, but they were like dark purple fingers.

Beau liked then so I didn't get into the science of the grapes with him. Lily...not so much; my daughter has this 8 year old focusing on reading labels, checking for sugar content, calories, and unpronounceable ingredients.

When the first came out a few years ago it was all over the
Bakersfield news they sold a few in a local candy shop and made it very clear
there were shipping most all the crop overseas. They are grown just south of
Bakersfield in big fenced in fields along with some really huge grapes that
look like small tomatoes.

DH, before her retired,
sold to some of the big farms and a couple of guys that worked for him had
family they picked in the fields. I never knew what he would bring home but we
did get a couple of boxes of the big grapes one year they were big enough to
slice and round like a tomato. I have never seen them in a store anywhere here
in California.

Claudia

I haven't seen these around, but I haven't been looking. We're in grape country as well.... I bet they get exported. Perhaps Whole Paycheck has some. Here up in Nor Cal, most of our grapes get grown for wine.

I was very surprised to find the Cotton Candy grapes in the store here. I guess I would never have noticed them if it hadn't been for this thread. Of course I had to try one, even though I dislike cotton candy intensely. And sure enough, it was all I could do to keep from spitting it out! If I'd had a napkin or anything handy I would have spit it out! It left the most gosh-awful taste in my mouth! But I can see where kids, or anyone who likes cotton candy, might like them. It was a pretty weird flavor, to me, but taste is subjective. We had the Grapples here a few years ago, too. Personally I didn't much care for them, but I could have eaten them if I had to. Guess no one else liked them either, haven't seen them since. I wish Concord grapes would be available more here. Once in awhile, every few years, the stores might have them for a day or two. A rare threat, indeed!

Rusty

Fresh Market had CC grapes today for $3 @ pound.

Rusty, I'm not a kid but I like cotton candy but then I'm a sugar freak and cc is straight sugar as we all know.

Cathy, I'm not a fan of the odd flavors, like blue raspberry, but I like the traditional pink stuff, I'm not sure there is a flavor other than sugar, LOL. However, most of the people I see eating it at county fairs are adults, so you have lots of adult company.

Annie

I have a cotton candy machine. A $30.00 machine to keep kiddies totally occupied whenever I have a party.

You can make different flavors and colors using Koolaide powder, and you can get different flavored sugar in Spanish store, mango, pineapple, peach, etc.

BTW, it is a myth that sugar makes kiddie go bonkers. Sometimes it actually calms them down.

dcarch

I was at Publix yesterday and they had them for $3.99 a lb. I had my son try one in the store. I had to laugh because at first he was skeptical but you could see the surprise on his face as the cotton candy flavor hit. He said they taste like a grape with a cotton candy hint to it.

I asked if he wanted me to grab some for him and he said nah, not something he would snack on but def something to take to a friends house or have at a party to watch the look on his friends face when they tried them.

I had never heard of them before this thread. Then at Wegmans the other day they were sampling them. I didn't try one because I'm a focused shopper who would pass by a display of free filet mignon if it wasn't on my list. I'll try to un-focus and try them if they sample them again.

I went to sams club the other day they had a 3 pd box for $8.98. I wouldn't buy these but I just had to sneak one out and try it. It did have a slight taste of cotton candy and was very sweet

I'm a focused shopper, too - I'm focused on finding all the free samples I can find, lol.

They've had the cotton candy grapes here for a while, but grapes are one of those crops I only buy organic, and I haven't seen any here that are organically grown. I prefer grapes that have a mix of sweet and tart, so I'd pass on them, anyway.

Sally