Stoke Red

Stoke Red is widely considered one of the highest quality English cider apple varieties. It adds a classic bitter sharp component to cider blends and can also be used to make a single-varietal cider. The apple is yellow with a red flush and some darker striping, and the surface develops a waxy feel. Stoke Red has generally good disease resistance making it a popular choice for organic growers. It blooms very late. Stoke Red can also lapse into biennial bearing, in other words bearing a crop only every other year. This can be avoided by ensuring that the fruitlets are thinned in early June to prevent over-cropping. Stoke Red was found in the village of Rodney Stoke, in Somerset in the early 20th century and was widely planted in orchards in the 1930’s.