Herefordshire Redstreak (early bittersharp)
Lovely petrol and ripe apple aromas. Lots of acid and nice tannins.
Ashton Bitter. (early bittersweet)
Early season English bittersweet. Hard, sometimes quite bitter tannins. Useful source of concentrated tannins for September harvest.
Bulmer’s Norman. (bittersweet)
Precocious and productive. Tannins are hard and can be bitter and the fruit drops all at once, bruises easily and doesn’t hold well. Can make a solid tannic blending apple.
Tydeman’s Worcester Early. (aromatics)
This apple drops all at once in late August. Be there or be square. Basically a summer apple with relatively low sugar, we prize this apple for the intensely pretty aromatics it will contribute to cider.
Major (very early bittersweet)
Ripens in late August/early September. Soft and fruity aromas and nice tannin. Prone to summer rots.
Cox Orange Pippin. (early acid, aroma)
Intensely flavored and quite tart, Cox is a nice blending apple for early September acid and nice ‘heirloom’ aromatics.
Brown’s Apple (sharp)
Big, red, early acid bomb with a bit of tannin. Delightful bright, fruity aromas. Strange upright growth habit. English.
Brandy (precocious bittersweet pear)
The earliest to come into bearing of our English Perry pear trials. Smaller, manageable tree. High gravity tannic fruit. Fireblight susceptible.
Ashmead’s Kernal (aromatic, late acid)
Floral aromas, lots of dry extract, high brix and insane acid characterize this English heirloom’s cider qualities. The tree is a shy bearer on our site.
Brown Snout (soft bittersweet)
Melt in your mouth tannins define this English bittersweet. This apple does not produce BSA in cider but has pretty aromas non the less. Late blooming and fireblight susceptible.
Chisel Jersey. (bittersweet)
An English bittersweet with beautiful aromas, hard tannins and a lot of bitterness. Very fireblight susceptible on our site, in part due to its extremely late blossoming.
Saint Edmund’s Russet (early heirloom aromatics)
Delicious tropical aromas, plus density and balanced acid. A lovely, weeping growth habit and regular annual bearing. Resistant to scab but will crack with excessive swings in ground moisture.
Yarlington Mill.
This highly biennial apple adds soft, supple tannin to the structure of a cider which tends to make the cider more voluptuous and approachable. In addition, it has lovely complementary aromatics like orchard floor, leather and smoke.
Dabinett. (bittersweet)
A beautiful example of an English bittersweet variety, Dabinett has all the attributes we want: ripe apple aromas, leather, smoke, sweat. It has nice firm tannins and good Brix, can be an annual bearer, and is very precocious and productive. So productive, in fact, that we’ve struggled to grow it right in our organic systems. It will often overcrop (the overcropped fruit is not nice) and runt out. We want this apple, so we are still figuring out how to grow it. We have a new planting on B118. Check back in 10 years.
Bramley’s Seedling. (pure acid)
The acid is a fresh, bright acid that doesn’t come across as “malic;” an important blending component useful for bringing up acidity without changing the flavor. A massive apple size makes harvest easy but this tree can easily be pushed into biennial bearing.
Somerset Redstreak (fruity bittersweet)
Absolutely love the beautiful fruity aromas on this English bittersweet. Early to mid September harvest. Very biennial.