If you have clicked the QR code you have a special bottle of apple juice made from our own apples from our conservation orchard. Overbury has always celebrated local artisan produce and we are thrilled that we now have a small number of bottles of our own apple juice to share with you. The orchard was owned by the Atwood family until the 1950s when it was bought by the estate. We grow several heritage apple varieties and you can follow which one is in your bottle of juice below.
Please note - the best before date on your bottle is very much that. Providing the bottle hasn't been opened, it will still taste beautiful after this date.
Our apple juice is available from the estate office and also at our fortnightly pop up shop in Stockton's Courtyard throughout the summer.
2023 ASHMEAD'S KERNEL
In 2023, our apple juice was made from the single heritage variety called Ashmead's Kernel grown in Attwoods Orchard in Conderton. The trees were planted by the Overbury's farm's team in 2011.
Ashmead's Kernell are a late apple variety that is very old (18th Century) from Gloucestershire variety. It is well loved in the USA though in the UK its reputation is mixed - either loved or thought too unreliable.
The apples are actually quite unremarkable - small with yellow green skin and a fresh almost pear taste. It has been described as "having a crisp nutty snap, exploding with champagne-sherbet juice infused with a lingering scent of orange blossom"; it reminds us of eating lemon and pear drops at the same time. The flesh is firm and juicy. The fruit keeps well into the new year, getting sweeter the longer it is kept. Ashmead's Kernel is a versatile apple, not just for eating fresh, it can also be used for salads and cooking, and it is a highly-valued apple for juicing and hard cider.
Like many heritage apple varieties, this tree is not a regular cropper: on a good year it can make a bumper crop and on a bad year with a cold spring the harvest can be disappointing. It is also normal for it to begin cropping well a few years later than other trees, but the wait is worth it in our opinion. The blossom is very lovely and the tree is relatively low maintenance.
2022 WILLIAM CRUMP AND ASHMEAD'S KERNEL
2022 saw us picking and pressing our William Crump apples for the first time. This is another old variety and is named after the
It is a cross between the complex, sophisticated flavours of Cox's Orange Pippin and the refreshing, fruity flavours of Worcester Pearmain. It takes its name from Mr William Crump who was the head gardener at Madresfield Court who is credited with raising the variety and exhibited it in 1908 when it received the RHS Award of Merit in 1908. In 1910 it was exhibited by Earl Beauchamp and awarded a First Class Certificate in 1910 from the RHS.
Described as a high quality, well coloured dessert apple, this has a green-yellow skin with red stripes and orange-red flesh which is firm, rich, sweet and juicy in flavour. Despite this, it is now relatively rare and not one you will find commercially available today.
We pressed it with Ashmead's Kernal as we didn't have quite enough to press purely William Crump. It has a made a beautiful soft apple juice, not too sweet and very drinkable!
2021 Ashmead’s Kernal
In 2021, our apple juice was made from the single heritage variety called Ashmead's Kernell grown in Atwoods Orchard in Conderton. The trees were planted by the Overbury's farm's team in 2011. In the autumn they picked the fruit and it went to Pershore College for squeezing and bottling.
Ashmead's Kernell are a late apple variety that is very old (18th Century) from Gloucestershire variety. It is well loved in the USA though in the UK its reputation is mixed - either loved or thought too unreliable.
The apples are small with yellow green skin and a fresh almost pear taste. It has been described as "having a crisp nutty snap, exploding with champagne-sherbet juice infused with a lingering scent of orange blossom"; it reminds us of eating lemon and pear drops at the same time. The flesh is firm and juicy. The fruit keeps well into the new year, getting sweeter the longer it is kept. These apples can also be cooked and they make outstanding cider.
Like many heritage apple varieties, this tree is not a regular cropper: on a good year it can make a bumper crop and on a bad year with a cold spring the harvest can be disappointing. It is also normal for it to begin cropping well a few years later than other trees, but the wait is worth it in our opinion. The blossom is very lovely and the tree is relatively low maintenance.