Hi,
I am working with someone who is going to begin making cider soon. We have space to put an orchard and are looking at apple varieties to consider.
While we have lots of the appropriately astringent crab apple for backbone, however, we're looking for the most fragrant varieties of apple we can find... The kind you smell from some distance away.
Any advice on what we should pursue?
Thanks!
Most fragrant apples
Moderator: appledude
Re: Most fragrant apples
I don't know whether the fragrance will come through in the cider, but several varieties come to mind: Cortland, Fameuse (Snow), Hewe's crab, and maybe Winter Banana. I won't even make cider without Hewe's crab. One problem is that these varieties mature early: first Hewe's, then Fameuse, then Cortland, then Winter Banana. So what I do is harvest each variety when they begin to drop, make the juice and freeze it. Just picked Cortlands this past week. Then in mid-October when the later cider apples are coming in I thaw the early product and blend with the early juice. Some work, but it seems to be worth it.