In Aomori, apples are not just apples; it’s apple this, apple that, apple absolutely everything. And somewhere between biting into candied apples and sipping hot apple beverage on a freezing night, I finally understood the Aomori Apple obsession. The sweetness was layered; juicer, crunchier, almost comforting. It tasted bright like winter but also warm like an onsen, like Aomori itself.
Here are some of the Aomori apple-related things I brought back that stayed with me long after the trip ended.
Aomori Apple
I got the cut apple from a stall in A-factory foodcourt, tucked behind a supermarket. To this day, it is the best apple I have ever eaten. If I were Snow White 2.0, this is the apple that I’d gladly bite into even when I know it’d put me to sleep (Fafa, wake me up!). It was crisp, cold, impossibly juicy, and tasted like golden light of sugar. Even thinking about it now makes me drool. I talked about it so obsessively that Fafa even tried hunting it down for me throughout the rest of the trip, but nothing came close — not even the candied apple he got in Yifuin.
Dried Apple
We bought a packet from the small souvenir shop right opposite the JR station near Yoshinoya. The owner kindly let us sample different apple snacks, and everything tasted good, but the dried apple was so addictive. We told ourselves we’d come back the next day after deciding which ones we liked best. (We forgot.)
The dried apples were already delicious on their own, but paired with hot tea on a freezing winter night, the flavour somehow became richer, warmer, deeper. It was comforting in a way I still can’t fully explain, like tasting a hug.
Apple Tea
We got the Aomori apple tea from the same store, and it’s made with real dried apple. You know how people say layering matching lotion and perfume makes the scent last longer? Drinking apple tea after spending the whole day eating apple snacks felt like the food version of that. It made the entire Aomori memories feel cozier.
Also, a new food habit was unlocked.
I still keep some to this day and only drink it on especially cold Melbourne winter days when I want to relive a tiny piece of Aomori again.
The variations were endless, too. I also had apple leaf tea (yes, even the leaves became tea) and sparkling apple tea in Amori.
Apple Cider
Cold, sparkling, sweet, and refreshing after spending a good hour soaking in the apple onsen.
A taste of Apple Brandy
I never expected Aomori to have apple brandy tastings, but there I was, sipping a tiny glass of warm apple alcohol while pretending I understood flavour notes and undertones.
Apple Pie
As much as I think I’m not an apple person (pre-these Aomori apple experiences), I’ve always had a soft spot for apple pie ever since moving to Melbourne, especially when it’s served warm with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. So there was no way I was skipping Aomori Apple Pie. But here the apple pie was different. It came as an individual serving, fresh out of the oven, and with every bite, the warmth and gentle sweetness melted into my cheeks. Surprisingly, it wasn’t overwhelmingly sweet either.
Apple Cookies
Flaky, buttery, and somehow tasting so much like candy.
Apple Ice Cream
At some point during the trip, of course, I ended up eating apple ice cream too, because apparently, in Aomori, if something can be apple-flavoured, it will be. I expected it to taste tart-ish, but it was light and creamy, with a soft, fruity sweetness that tasted more like fresh apples than processed flavouring.
Eating cold apple ice cream while standing in the middle of a freezing winter somehow felt like the theme of our Aomori trip. Slightly out of the way, slightly unnecessary, but also exactly right.
Aomori Semi-Dry Apple Candy
Sweet, tangy, and easy to finish in one sitting. There were so many variations of apple candy that at one point, I genuinely started wondering how many ways Aomorians are reinventing apples.
Apple Wine
I think I officially reached the peak of my apple discovery in Aomori because, yes, apple wine exists. I bought a bottle from the supermarket downstairs and opened it almost immediately, as slightly drunken onsen time might genuinely be the best kind of onsen experience.
Was the wine actually good? Eh… not really.
But the sheer joy of being in Aomori, drunk on apple wine while fully embracing the absurdity of how apple-centric my life had become? That alone made it worth it.
At some point during the trip, I stopped questioning why everything in Aomori had to involve apples and simply surrendered to it. Maybe that’s the magic of travelling, sometimes a place slowly pulls you into its tiny obsessions until they become yours too. I arrived in Aomori thinking apple wasn’t my thing, but there I savoured them like a new convert.
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