Dabinett is a classic English cider apple variety, which produces a "bittersweet" juice. It is also one of the most reliable and easy cider varieties to grow.
Whilst most ciders are created by blending different varieties, Dabinett can also be used to produce a single-varietal full-bodied medium-dry cider. It is therefore a good choice if you are only planting one or two cider trees.
Note that Dabinett apples are not suitable for eating fresh, they can only be used for producing apple juice and cider.
Dabinett is one of the most reliable cider varieties, with above average disease resistance.
The flowering data for Dabinett is quite variable, suggesting that local microclimates can have a big effect on it. It is basically a late-flowering variety, usually from the middle to the end of May. Fortunately it is reasonably self-fertile.
Dabinett is also a precocious variety, with fruit produced from a young age.
Dabinett originates from the traditional cider region of Somerset, England in the mid-19th century. It is possibly a seedling of Chisel Jersey.
Cider production in Europe is traditionally associated with three main regions - Asturias in north west Spain, Bretagne and Normandie in north west France, and the "west country" area of south-west England. These regions all face the Atlantic ocean and have cool temperate maritime climates.
Cider can of course be made with any variety of apples, but in these three regions apple varieties have evolved which are specifically intended for cider production - they have high levels of tannins which give "body" to the resulting cider, but which make them very unpalatable to eat fresh.
Good quality cider is almost always made with a blend of different apple varieties, using bitter, sweet, and sharp flavour components. It is quite common to mix in regular cooking and dessert apples to lend extra flavours.
If you are in an area with a hotter continental climate (with average summer maximum temperatures routinely over 30C) then you might want to consider using apple varieties that can withstand warmer temperatures, but still have good juice qualities. In this case rather than using European varieties you might want to seek inspiration from the very different "hard cider" traditions of North America, where dessert and crab-apples are widely used.
We have a good range of traditional English and French cider varieties, as well as a number of mainstream apple varieties with good juice qualities that lend themselves to cider production.