Kidd's Orange Red

Kidd's Orange Red is one of the select band of apple varieties which can truly be said to rival the definitive Cox's Orange Pippin for flavor. It is primarily a sweet apple, but unlike most sweet apples it has a rich complexity to the flavors too. Kidd's Orange Red is fairly crisp but also pleasantly chewy, and each bite seems to release yet more juice and flavor. It's in some ways reminiscent of a good French dessert wine - sweet, but with a good kick to it.

Although regarded as a typical 'English' apple, Kidd's Orange Red was developed by New Zealand apple enthusiast J.H. Kidd in the 1920s and is a cross between the English Cox and the American Delicious, so in reality it is a marriage of the Old World and the New World. There is no doubting this is a Cox-style apple though ... but when you know the parentage, it isn't hard to spot the sweet scented contribution from Delicious in the background, and it is a combination that really works.

The tree grows attractively, and the crimson pink blossom is a particular feature. Although primarily an apple for eating fresh, Kidd's Orange Red also produces a very pleasant sweet apple juice.