apples we use
Traditional cider is made from apples high in acid and tannin. For centuries in England practically each village had its preferred apple varieties and traditional method of making cider. It was not until 1905 that the English Ministry of Agriculture decided that cider was sufficiently important to the English economy that it merited scientific study.
In 1905 the Long Ashton Research Station was set up near Bristol in North Somerset for this purpose. The first job at Long Ashton was to sort out from the hundreds of different varieties of apples used in cider making, which were the best varieties. To do this they first had to sort out from the hundreds of local names given to each variety the most common names for the purpose of standard reference.
When this had been done the next job was to test the apples for their chemical composition and then to classify them. Examination showed that the important features of cider apples was their higher than usual tannin and malic acid content. From this system of classification the many varieties of apples were divided into four groups:
Sharps, Bittersharps, Bittersweets, Sweets.
Most cider today is made by blending apples from each group, together with the juice from culinary apples, to obtain the desired flavor and color.
Some varieties such as Kingston Black and Stoke Red are regarded as being sufficiently well balanced as to make a single varietal cider. Generally blended ciders are the most balanced.
As it is increasingly difficult to source rootstocks of cider apples the number of varieties available has become quite limited. We are fortunate to have been able to establish an orchard with the following true cider varieties.
Sharp - High Malic Acid / Low Tannin
Our orchard Includes: Browns Apple.
Bittersharp - High Malic Acid / High Tannin
Our orchard Includes: Kingston Black, Stoke Red.
Bittersweet - High Tannin / Low Malic Acid
Our orchard Includes: Somerset Redstreak, Dabinett, Tremlittes Bitter,Yarlington Mill, Michelin, Bullmers Norman, Browns Snout.
Sweet - Low Malic Acid / Low Tannin
Our orchard Includes: Sweet Alford, Sweet Coppin
Our cider, made using traditional cider apple varieties, is also blended with cider made from non traditional cider apples such as Granny Smiths, to produce sweeter or lighter blends which are preferred by some cider drinkers.
(For those interested in learning more about growing Cider apples we recommend “A Somerset Pomona” by Liz Coppas, a former orchard consultant at Long Ashton. Liz is a most delightful lady with an almost encyclopedic knowledge of cider apples. Copies of her book can be obtained from Dovcote press in the UK.)