| Brown’s Apple A vintage bittersharp English cider apple which arose in south Devon in the early 1900’s. Esteemed for its tangy, scented, fruity cider. The medium, dark red fruit has a crisp, clean flavor. The flesh is often stained with red. |
| Dufflin Dufflin is an old Cornish variety, with records going back to the mid 19th century. The apples have a very high sugar content, adding a sweetness to the mild-bittersharp, citric qualities of its juice. It makes a rich and full-bodied cider, good for blending. Trees are vigorous and will produce heavy crops. Also has some resistance to scab. |
| Ellis Bitter The Ellis Bitter apple tree is strictly for cider. The apple is a medium ‘bittersweet’, with low levels of acid and tannins. The skin is yellow and waxy with an orange-red striped flush, and russetted lenticels. The fruit is medium-sized and conical, with a slightly flattened shape. |
| Fillbarrel This is a moderately vigorous tree with a spreading and slightly droopy habit. Care will be needed to avoid blind wood when pruning. It is strongly biennial and, like many heirlooms, susceptible to fireblight. This variety is used predominantly in cider production; it is not typically esteemed for fresh eating. Ripening mid October in NY, the fruit is red striped and flushed over yellow with a fine, attractive russet. The flesh is white with a green tinge and yields a bittersweet juice. From WSU: Tannin (percent tannic acid: 0.19; Acid (percent malic acid): 0.22; pH: 3.67; SG: 1.045; °Brix 11.2. |
| Grindstone There aren’t many English apples considered multi-purpose. Unlike in North America, where it was common for people to use almost every apple for fresh eating, cooking and cider, English apples have tended to be more focused, used for one of those things but not the other two. Enter Grindstone, also known (we’re not sure why) as American Pippin. Best known for its use in cider, this one is almost as well suited to being a cooker and is a passable fresh-eating apple in a pinch. |
| Harry Masters Jersey This tree is precocious and productive, low vigor, tip bearing, with a tendency to biennial cropping; it will need careful pruning to maintain annual bearing. It is late flowering with a late-midseason harvest, and it is scab and fireblight susceptible. This apple is used exclusively for cider production; it is not suitable for fresh eating. The apple is small, golf-ball sized, and conic, with dark burgundy flecks and stripes over yellow russet color and some russeting around the stem. The juice lends a distinctive, funk, often called “barnyard” to cider. It is a bittersweet that is useful for blending and will not produce a good single varietal cider. From WSU: Tannin (percent tannic acid): 0.21; Acid (percent malic acid): 0.19; pH: 4.34; SG: 1.051; oBrix 12.5. Harry Master’s Jersey was first raised from seed by a Mr. Harry Masters in Yarlington, Somerset around 1900. |
| Kingston Black Kingston Black is a small dark red apple, formerly grown in the West Country cider-producing regions of England, and now a popular variety amongst cider enthusiasts. However, it is not the easiest of varieties to grow, generally considered a poor cropper and somewhat prone to disease. English cider is traditionally produced using blends of Sweet, Bittersweet, Sharp, and Bittersharp juice – Kingston Black produces one of the best bittersharp juices. Hogg, writing at the end of the 19th century refers to Kingston Black as “the most valuable cider apple“, and Kingston Black is widely believed to have one of the best-flavored juices. |
| Sweet Bough Sweet Bough is another variety many people have never heard of. We’re hoping to play a part in changing that, as this is reputed to be the very best of all the old-time early sweet apples. Sweet Bough is certainly far from a newcomer to the world of apples, having been discovered in the United States very nearly two centuries ago (1817, to be precise). What sets this variety apart from other early apples is its flavor. When the first ripe Sweet Bough apples arrive on the scene, people are bowled over by their honey-sweet flavor, not to mention their juicy, tender crispness. Sweet Bough is a nice-looking yellow-green apple of good size and while it’s not a long-term keeper, who wants something this luscious sitting in the fridge for months and months? From a grower’s point of view, this is an extra nice variety, due to its productiveness and resistance to scab and other diseases. |
| Zabergau Reientte Zabergau Reinette apples are a medium to large varietal, averaging 7.5 to 8 centimeters in diameter, and have a round to conical shape with a sometimes lopsided, blocky, or flattened appearance. The apple’s skin showcases some ribbing on a golden yellow-green base, lightly touched with a pale red blush on portions of the skin most exposed to the sun. The skin is also covered in lenticels and a coppery, golden-brown raised russet that spills from the stem cavity over the surface, giving the apples a textured, rough, and sandy feel. Underneath the surface, the white to ivory flesh is fine-grained, crisp, and aqueous with a dense and chewy consistency. The flesh also encases a small central core filled with tiny black-brown seeds. Zabergau Reinette apples are aromatic and have a sweet and tart flavor with fruity, nutty, and subtly astringent undertones. When the apples are freshly harvested, they will have a much sharper, acidic taste with a faint nettle-like green flavor. As the fruits are stored, their taste sweetens and mellows, enhancing the nutty nuances. |
