The orchard

Trees were inherited, most varieties unknown. The description is the variety — add to these each year and they'll identify themselves eventually.

The red tree — "red delicious"?

Name is a guess, probably wrong. Small pink apples, watery flesh, good juice. Doesn't work as a straight cider — needs blending. 2026: by far the biggest crop, more than we can press. Select hard. Obvious job: bulk base, lifted with paradisæbler.

The green champagne tree

Small green apples. The reliable star — always makes excellent tart cider, and works on champagne yeast or wild. The benchmark.

The baking-apple tree

Bagæble — augustæbler, as the early croppers are called in Danish gardens. Fruits in August and usually missed entirely; the window is short. Green and red, firm flesh, bright flavour, warm acidity. 2026: caught it, ~17 L crushed must → ~9 L juice → 2026-01, first solo batch.

Juice character (2026, first ever look): dark orange, flat, mild acidity, no floral. 10.5 Brix ≈ SG 1.042 — low side for cider (1.045–1.055 typical), so ~5.5% dry.

Palate and hydrometer agree: modest sugar, mild acid. The fruit eats brighter than it presses. Probably a blender, not a soloist — but one year's data, and the lever for next year is picking later.

The paradisæbler (×2)

Species confirmed — crab apples. Super tart, very tannic. The seasoning: excellent mix-in, never solo.

The plum tree — retired

No more plum brewing. Didn't like the outcome enough. (Also the worst offender for mousiness — see faults.md.)

Solbær

~3 kg picked and frozen, 2026. Earmarked for experiments, nothing assigned. Freezing helps — breaks the cells down for better extraction.

2026 at a glance