Our Products
We produce over 20 varieties of pure apple juice and each 75cl bottle takes between 1.5kg to 2kg of apples to produce. We add no preservatives, additives or flavour enhancers to our juice, all the different tastes are brought about naturally from the different variety of apples that we use.
As well as our pure apple juice range we have a range of apple juice's mixed with cordial (97% juice, 3% cordial) which are ready to drink straight from the bottle just as the pure juice is.
Our juices can be bought from a large number of specialist retailers through out the South East of England. For your most local suppliers please check our stockists page or drop us an email.
The juices below are listed from our driest (Bramley) to our sweetest (Russet). We've provided a little snippet of history for each apple for those that are interested to learn a little more about their favourite apple/juice.
DRY 75cl
Bramley - The dryest juice we produce. Most well known for being a cooking apple. When pressed it's delicious and crisp, enjoyed best on a hot summers day poured over a glass full of ice.
The first Bramley tree grew from pips planted by a young girl in Nottinghamshire. A local Butcher by the name of Matthew Bramely bought the cottage and garden in which the seeds had been sown. Whilst living there, a local nurseryman asked if he could take some cuttings from the tree and then sell the apples. It was agreed that this could happn if they were to bear his name, and so the Bramley's Seedling was born.
The original Bramley apple tree continues to bear fruit to this day. Those few pips planted by a little girl in her garden in Nottinghamshire 200 years ago are responsible for what is today a £37 million industry, with commercial growers across Kent, East Anglia and the West Midlands. (http://www.bramleyapples.co.uk/bramley-apples-history/)
Grenadier - Another cooking apple although less well known than the Bramley. Less dry but still packs a good clean punch.
First recorded in 1862 in Maidstone, Kent. Origin is otherwise unknown. Fairly unappealing in appearance. Large, green apple which is often irregular in shape. Able to partially self-pollinate but yields better with a pollinator present. It survives well in damp conditions so is well suited to northern England as a tree. Appears early in the apple season.
Lord Derby - Yet another of our dry juices which is produced from a cooking apple. Slightly acidic tasting but about as 'sweet' as the dry juices get. Originated from Cheshire in 1862 but grown more abundandtly in the Eastern Counties and Kent by commercial orchards in the 1940's Lordy Derby is a lesser known cooking apple in present day. It has a bright green skin which turns yellow and is best used prior to this. It's flesh is fairly soft, dry and of a white colour. It has a strong, sharp flavour when cooked which comes though in the pasteurising process when juiced.
MEDIUM 75cl
Bramley/Cox - A 50/50 blend of our two most well known apples which has proven to be the most popular juice since we started out in 1995. See the bramley section above for it's history and the cox section just below for it's history.
Cox - We press our cox apples early in the season to give it a light, crisp and refreshing taste. Most growers these days have Queen Cox for the preferred rosey skin colour compared with that of the Cox's Orange Pippin which, as the name suggests, has a slight orange tone to it's skin. Both apples taste very similar otherwise. Most of our juice is made from Queen Cox but we sometimes use Orange Pippin too. We do not differentiate between the two with our cox juice.
Queen Cox is certainly the best known and most traditional British eating apple and is a self-fertile clone of the original 'Cox's Orange Pippin'. This means it needs no other variety to pollinate it, so can be grown alone. The fruits are always crisp when you bite in to them, and are packed with a sweet juice that carries a wonderful sharp, complimentary edge to the flavour. They are normally ready to pick in mid-September. Queen Cox was raised from a self-fertile form of the original Cox's Orange Pippin at the Long Ashton research station near Bristol, England in the 1970's. It is possible the scion material for this development was propagated from a naturally-occurring bud-sport of Cox's Orange Pippin found in an orchard in Berkshire in the 1950's, although the Berkshire form is not self-fertile.
Cox's Orange Pippin was raised by Richard Cox, in Buckinghamshire, England, in the early 19th century. The parentage is unknown but it is possibly a seedling of Ribston Pippin. The original form was not self-fertile, but most trees are the self-fertile form which was standardised by the Long Ashton research station in the 1970s and is somewhat easier to grow. Almost since it was first discovered, Cox's Orange Pippin has featured in the development of new apple varieties, as breeders seek to marry its excellent aromatic flavours with other varieties which might be heavier cropping or have more versatile climate characteristics. Many of these have become excellent varieties in their own right. Cox enthusiasts are likely to find Rubinette and Queen Cox of particular interest, as these two varieties arguably both match Cox for their outstanding flavours, and maybe even exceed it. (https://www.orangepippintrees.co.uk/apple-trees/coxs-orange-pippin)
Discovery - Discovery is one of the first apples of the season. It has a characteristic pinky/red skin which if left long enough to ripen on the tree bleeds into the flesh. If pressed at the right time it makes a beautiful pink juice which looks incredible in a clear bottle.
One of the parents is Worcester Pearmain, the other parent is not confirmed. The apple tree was first introduced in 1949 by the Suffolk nurseryman Jack Matthews. The apples are smaller than many others and are produced very early in the season, from August until mid-September. In common with other early producing apple trees the fruits store for only a short period of time, a week at very most. For the maximum storage life keep apples in the fridge. They are best eaten straight after picking and if there is an excess they make excellent apple juice. The apple skin is bright red with small amounts of green and the flesh is a very light cream colour. The apples have a sweet and acidic flavour which suits most people. The texture is hard and crisp with lots of juice. (http://www.gardenfocused.co.uk/fruitarticles/apples/variety-discovery.php)
Ellison's Orange - Ellison's Orange is an early cross of Cox's Orange Pippin from approx. 1905, and without doubt one of the most significant Cox-style apples. Ellison's was developed from Cox's Orange Pippin by Rev. Ellison in Lincolnshire, England, at the start of the 20th century. Its other parent is believed to be one of the Calville varieties, originating in France and thought to be very old.
Its uniqueness comes from the strange aniseed flavour which can arise after picking - a facet of the Cox-family aromatic complexity which is not apparent in its parent. In a good year, and soon after picking, the aniseed is subdued or absent and some authorities claim Ellison's Orange can be as intense as Cox. In a bad year though, or grown in the wrong conditions, it can be quite unpleasant. The trick is to remember that Ellison's Orange, unlike most of the more complex apple varieties, is actually a mid-season apple, ripening in the UK in September. Also, like other mid-season varieties, it does not keep especially well.
If you don't like aniseed do not let this put you off because you would be missing a unique taste experience. Straight from the tree the aniseed flavour is barely detectable, and Ellison's Orange has such a glorious richness of flavour that it is highly recommended for anyone with an interest in apples. After a few days the aniseed is slightly more apparent - but merely as a liquorice undertone to a whole array of different fruit flavours.
James Grieve - One of the finest apples to have come from Scotland, it was first noted in 1893 by it's namesake and up to the 1960's was grown commercially.
This is a multi-purpose apple and can be used for eating, cooking and making truly superlative apple juice. It crops relatively early in the season as a cooker, leave it a month or so longer and you have a very tasty apple with a slightly unusual texture.
James Grieve is a mid-season variety that is picked in early-mid September. At this stage it is pleasantly acidic and refreshing and if it is too sharp for eating it can be used for cooking (cut it into small chunks, it keeps its shape when cooked). After a few weeks the flavour sweetens and becomes quite mild, and it is then an excellent apple to eat in slices along with a cheese course. The flesh is soft, somewhat like a firm pear in texture.
Howgate Wonder - A cross of Blenheim Orange with Newton Wonder originating in England around 1915. It used to hold the world record for the largest apple weighing in at almost 3lbs 11oz (1.67kg). Unfortunately, it has since lost it's title to a Japanese apple. Surprisingly sweet as cooking apple's go, yields a wonderful juice.
A very large apple that can be quite sweet and pleasant when eaten fresh but basically it is a cooking apple. Howgate Wonder is a traditional very large English cooking apple, which has been popular amongst gardeners since its introduction at the start of the 20th century. It is easy to grow, and produces good crops of large sharp-flavoured cooking apples.
The flavour has plenty of tangy acidity, but it is not quite as sharp as a Bramley. When cooked it produces an attractive lumpy puree, and it can also be used for juicing. Holds it's shape well and doesn't require so much sugar when used for cooking due to it's sweeter nature.
Blenheim Orange - The parents of the Blenheim Orange are unknown, it was first identified some time around 1740 in Woodstock, Oxfordshire. It takes its name from the nearby Blenheim Palace. If you cut the apple in half the flesh is a creamy yellow colour. Bite into it and the texture is slight crumbly rather than over-crisp with a distinctly nutty flavour typical of many older apple varieties.
The apples are slightly larger than normal apple with a shape that is rather flattened. The skin is moderately russeted and has a green and yellow to orange colour with some rather feint red streaking to it. The apples are used both for cooking and as a dessert apple. Great in apple pies because it cooks down to a nice puree with some body to it. For cooking purposes the apples should be used from early October, for eating it's best to leave them a month or so longer to develop a sweeter flavour.
Lord Lambourne - Lord Lambourne was introduced in 1907 and is very much in the tradition of classic English high-quality dessert apples. It has a parentage of James Grieve x Worcester Pearmain and originates from England.
It has the pleasing uniform shape - round, and not too flattened - and typical orange flush over green, with a hint of russet. On biting into a Lord Lambourne the first thing that strikes you is the juice and acidity. The flesh is creamy-white and quite crisp, and the flavour is pleasantly strong. It is a fair bet that such a high-quality aromatic apple will have Cox's Orange Pippin somewhere in its ancestry but the link is not certain. The immediate parentage, as mentioned above, is James Grieve and Worcester Pearmain, and the parentage of James Grieve is not known although Cox is a contender. If so, then the aromatic flavour of Cox is rather more apparent in Lord Lambourne than in James Grieve, although the James Grieve acidity is still prominent. Lord Lambourne is, along with Ellison’s Orange, one of the earliest of the aromatic English-style apples, and whilst it does not have the complexity of the later-arriving varieties it is nonetheless a pleasing apple in its own right.
Laxton Fortune - A cross of Cox's Orange Pippin and Wealthy originating fom Bedfordshire in 1904. One of a number of varieties developed by the Laxton Brothers Nursery in the UK in the early 1900s and grown commercially on a small scale. It remains a popular garden variety in the UK.
A noted biennial bearer, it is a useful substitute for Cox's Orange Pippin (one of its parents), having some of the aromatic flavour of that variety but much easier to grow.
Whilst most apple varieties are not self-fertile (they cannot pollinate themselves and need a nearby apple tree of a different variety to set fruit) it is interesting that there is a streak of self-fertility running through Cox's Orange Pippin and its offspring, and Laxton's Fortune is partially self-fertile. This means it will probably set light crops even if there is no pollination partner nearby - but cropping will be better with another variety to cross-pollinate the blossom.
Perfection - A very much local apple from Bluntisham, Cambridgeshire. Propogated by Wallis & Sons in the early 1900's It's parentage is Worcestor x Cox's Orange Pippin. Not a particularly well known apple as only grown by Wallis' still to this day in Bluntisham. Towards the sweeter end of the medium juices. A Crisp red, juicy apple which yields a pleasant juice.
Chiver's Delight - In the 1920's one of the Chiver's family, Stephen, started to develop his own apple varieties, of which Chivers' Delight was the most successful. Unfortunately there is little information on the parentage of this lovely apple, although the flattened shape and sweet flavour hint at Cox's Orange Pippin.
Chivers' Delight was popular in the first half of the 20th century but has since fallen out of favour. It is a medium-sized apple, crisp, with a sweet but well-balanced flavour. Definitely worth trying if you manage to find any - this is an excellent apple.
A red flushed dessert apple with all the key qualities: juicy and crisp, sweet and tangy with a fruity aroma. The red flushed skin is on the waxy side, which helps the apple to store quite well, although the flesh tends to lose its crispness and turn a bit powdery after about 6 weeks - we recommend cooking with these fruit.
Chiver's Delight is an upright tree, so it's good for tighter spaces and it's a good, reliable cropper.
Sweet 75cl
Worcester - A pleasant and refreshing juice of the sweeter variety. Originates from Worcester, UK. Did the name not give it away?
A popular early-season English apple, sometimes with a strawberry flavour. Often used in breeding programmes to develop other early varieties. Originating in the 1870's from Mr Hale of Swanpool. The apples come into season a few weeks after Discovery, and it is relatively easy to find for a short period in mid-September in supermarkets and farmers markets.
Worcester Pearmain's main claim to fame is the strawberry flavour, although the intensity of this is quite variable. As with any early variety, the flavour is very dependent on the weather during the short period that the apples ripen. The parentage of Worcester Pearmain is unknown but a likely candidate is Devonshire Quarrenden - which also has the strawberry flavour.
Although it cannot be regarded as being in the first rank of apple varieties, Worcester Pearmain has been used as the basis for a surprisingly large number of breeding programmes. The early ripening period and the strawberry flavour are the main reasons for this, with growers hoping to introduce this dimension into new varieties.
Worcester Pearmain makes a good apple tree for the garden, and the flavour really benefits if the apples are left on the tree as long as possible. However, some of its offspring are also good varieties for the garden - Katy for example.
Braeburn - Probably one of the most well known apples in the current times. Originating from New Zealand in the 1950's. A well sized, juicy apple which yields well. Crisp and firm with an off white/pale cream flesh.
Braeburn is one of the most important commercial apple varieties. It originated in New Zealand in the 1950s, and by the last decades of the 20th century had been planted in all the major warm apple-growing regions of the world. Braeburn accounts for 40% of the entire apple production of New Zealand. Even in conservative Washington state, the most important apple-producing area of the USA, where Red Delicious and Golden Delicious have always held sway, Braeburn is now in the top 5 varieties produced.
Braeburn has all the necessary criteria for large-scale production: it is fairly easy to grow, produces heavily and early in the life of the tree, it stores well, and withstands the handling demands of international supply chains. What marks it out from the competition is flavour. Braeburn was the first modern apple variety in large-scale production where the flavour was genuinely on a par with the older classic apple varieties.
Kanzi - It's parents are the Braeburn and Royal Gala (featured further down) and it originated from Belgium in the mid 00's. Our Kanzi is grown in Wisbech, so a little closer to home. A sweet but delicate juice.
The Kanzi apple ticks all the right boxes for a modern apple. It has the modern bi-coloured appearance, and does indeed look very attractive on the supermarket shelf. The marketing literature suggests that Kanzi is a crimson-red but all the examples we have seen are red-orange. It is a good firm fairly crisp apple, with a mild but pleasant apple flavour, slightly sharp rather than sweet and quite juicy.The Kanzi apple ticks all the right boxes for a modern apple. It has the modern bi-coloured appearance, and does indeed look very attractive on the supermarket shelf. The marketing literature suggests that Kanzi is a crimson-red but all the examples we have seen are red-orange. It is a good firm fairly crisp apple, with a mild but pleasant apple flavour, slightly sharp rather than sweet and quite juicy.
Falstaff - developed in Kent in the 1980s. For modern growers appearance is of great importance, and there is no doubt that Falstaff is a very attractive apple, reasonably large in size and with a lovely red flush over a golden yellow background. Falstaff is crunchy and juicy straight from the tree, with light cream coloured flesh. It mellows and softens somewhat as it ages, but remains juicy.
Falstaff is another variation on a familiar modern theme - growers attempting to improve on Golden Delicious. Whilst Falstaff probably owes its size and yellow background colour to Golden Delicious, when it comes to flavour it really takes after its other parent - James Grieve, a juicy and pleasantly acidic apple which arose in Scotland in the 1890s. The flavour lacks the complexity of the Victorian apples, but is nevertheless a very well-balanced combination of sweetness - from Golden Delicious - and acidity - from James Grieve. There is something in the flavour for fans of the older classic English style as well - it is quite likely that one of its grandparents is Cox's Orange Pippin. Like many James Grieve offspring, Falstaff makes a great juicing apple. Delicious and fresh tasting with a sweetness to it.
Spartan - Spartan is a historically interesting apple, being an early example of a variety developed in a formal scientific breeding programme in Canada. It was raised at the Canadian Apple Research Station in Summerland, British Columbia, in the 1920s, and the mother variety is McIntosh. There is some uncertainty over the pollen parent, it is usually thought to be Newtown Pippin.
Spartan is a small sweet apple, and a great favourite with children. It is very much a "McIntosh" style apple, bright crimson skin and whiter-than-white flesh. We leave ours on the tree as long as possible, until they are crimson all over, as this allows the flavour to develop. Straight from the tree the flesh is very crisp and juicy, but it softens a bit within a week or so of picking - although remaining juicy. This is also a good variety for juicing - the juice colour is not especially remarkable but the flavour is sweet and pleasant.
Cameo - Formerly known as Carousel, the Cameo apple was discovered growing as a chance seedling in an orchard near Wenatchee, Washington in the 1980s. Cameo apples can be found growing in apple growing regions throughout the United States. In addition, they have become an increasingly popular apple in the UK with orchards in Kent providing most of the supply. Ours are sourced from a grower local to Wisbech.
Fuji - The Fuji apple originates from Japan and was developed in the 40's but introduced to the general market in the early 60's. It is crisp and juicy, with dull white flesh which snaps cleanly. The flavour is predominantly sweet and very refreshing. Despite originating from Japan it's parentage is all-american. Fuji is a cross between the widely grown Red Delicious, and Ralls Janet, which is much less well known but is probably the reason for Fuji's attractive pink flush. Again, we source our Fuji apples from a little closer to home than Japan and ours come from an orchard just outside of Cambridge.
Jonagold - A high quality American apple, developed in the 40's. As its name suggests, this is a cross between a Jonathan and a Golden Delicious. It is quite widely grown, and unusually for a Golden Delicious cross, is not limited to the warm apple regions, although it is not often found in the UK. Jonagold is a large apple, and makes a substantial snack. The colouring is yellow of Golden Delicious, with large flushes of red. This is a crisp apple to bite into, with gleaming white flesh. The flavour is sweet but with a lot of balancing acidity - a very pleasant apple. Jonagold's other parent, Jonathan, is an old American variety which was discovered in the 1820s. Jonagold is a sweet and refreshing juice, delicious when chilled. It is our only sweet juice that is supplied to Waitrose.
Royal Gala - Originating from New Zealand, Gala is a cross between Kidd's Orange Red and Golden Delicious - a highly promising start. Bearing in mind that Kidd's Orange Red is the offspring of Cox's Orange Pippin and (Red) Delicious, Gala is effectively a union of three of the world's most important and distinctive apple varieties. The colouration of Gala is exactly as you would expect from a cross between a Cox-type variety (Cox is one of the parents of Kidd's Orange Red) and Golden Delicious. It starts out as a very light coloured Cox, mainly orange streaks over yellow; mature apples are much darker, often a strong red colour. A light juice with a subtle flavour.
Crispin - Introduced in the 1930's and Known as Mutsu in it's native Japan and in the USA, Crispin looks like a large Golden Delicious and one of its parents is Golden Delicious so it has that lovely sweet honeyed flavour. Very little information is available on the Crispin or Mutsu. It looks like a large, bland apple but once you've bitten into it you realise that it's actually rather delicious. Definitely worth trying and produces a sweet but refreshing juice.
Russet - Egremont Russet is a classic English russet apple from the Victorian era. Whilst russet apples have generally fallen out of favour, Egremont Russet remains popular with discerning apple lovers who appreciate its unique flavour and apearance. Part of its enduring success is down to niche marketing. This is an apple that dares to be different ! It is a russet-skinned variety with a dry flesh - a style of apple that has not attracted the attentions of mainstream apple breeders, but nevertheless seems to have a dedicated following. Also, inspite of its unique appearance, Egremont Russet has many of the characteristics which mark out a good apple: a harmony of flavour and texture, and a good balance between sweetness and sharpness.
The difference is evident as soon as you pick it up. The skin is entirely covered with "russet", which feels like very fine sandpaper. Some other varieties have streaks of russet, notably Cox's Orange Pippin, but in Egremont Russet it completely dominates the appearance. The colour is an attractive dull gold flecked with yellow.
Egremont Russet is a medium-sized apple. The flesh seems quite dry and gets drier with keeping - it is moist rather than juicy. Traditionally described as "nutty", the flavour is more delicate than most varieties, and quite sweet. Both the flavour and the soft flesh are reminiscent of a firm pear.
75cl Mixes
Apple & Elderflower - A mixture of 97% sweet apple juice and 3% elderflower cordial. Our best selling mixed juice year round.
Apple & Ginger - A mixture of 97% sweet apple juice and 3% pure ginger juice. Fiery!! Needs to be shaken before it's enojoyed as much of the ginger juice settles to the bottom of the bottle reducing the impact.
Apple & Raspberry - A mixture of 97% apple juice and 3% raspberry cordial. 'Berry delicious' Actually classed as one of our medium juices unlike all the others which are most definitely sweet. The raspberry makes it slightly more palatable for those that don't have a really sweet tooth.
Apple & Spiced Elderberry - A mixture of 97% sweet apple juice and 3% spiced elderberry cordial. Amazing heated up and enjoyed on cold winter days or drizzly autumnal days. The perfect substitute for mulled wine and the kids can enjoy it too.
Pear - 100% pear juice made from a 50/50 mix of comice and conference pears. Sweet and delicious.
24cl Apple Juice
Medium - A mixture of Bramley and Cox as in the large bottles.
Sweet - A mixture of sweet variety apples depending on the time of season which it is produced.
Apple & Elderflower - A mixture of 97% sweet apple juice and 3% elderflower cordial. Our best selling mixed juice year round.
Apple & Ginger - A mixture of 97% sweet apple juice and 3% pure ginger juice. Fiery!! Needs to be shaken before it's enojoyed as much of the ginger juice settles to the bottom of the bottle reducing the impact.
Apple & Raspberry - A mixture of 97% apple juice and 3% raspberry cordial. 'Berry delicious' Actually classed as one of our medium juices unlike all the others which are most definitely sweet. The raspberry makes it slightly more palatable for those that don't have a really sweet tooth.
8litre Bag in Box
A medium/sweet juice. Much like the small sweet bottles the variety can often vary depending on where abouts in the production season we are and the apples that we have available. Most often it is either single variety Howgate Wonder which has been left to ripen on the tree or a blend of 75% Royal Gala and 25% Bramley.