Autumn 2024 planting seasonPre-order now for EU delivery January - March 2025

Tremlett's Bitter cider apple trees

Malus domestica
Tremlett's Bitter is listed in the RHS Plants for Pollinators
  • Picking season: Late
  • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
  • Flowering group: 5

Tremlett's Bitter is a traditional English cider apple variety producing a bittersweet juice.

Bio / Organic  fruit trees

Tremlett's Bitter organic cider apple trees for sale


  • 1 yeartree on MM111 rootstock23.25€
    Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years) Bare-root
    Sold-out

Contact us if you would like to go on the waiting list for next season.

EU delivery countries
  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Croatia
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark
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  • France
  • Germany
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Latvia
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  • Luxembourg
  • Netherlands
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Slovakia
  • Spain
  • Sweden
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Growing and Training

Tremlett's Bitter has a reputation for being one of the easier cider varieties to grow, and the blossom has some frost resistance.


History

Tremlett's Bitter seems to have originated in Devon, UK and although it is probably an old variety, seems to have been little known outside the south-west until the 1950s..

This article by Bill Bradshaw gives more insight into making cider with Tremlett's Bitter.


Tremlett's Bitter characteristics

  • Gardening skillAverage
  • Self-fertilityNot self-fertile
  • Flowering group5
  • Picking seasonLate
  • Food usesHard cider
  • Summer average maximum temperaturesCool ( 20-24C / 68-75F)
  • Country of originUnited Kingdom
  • Period of origin1850 - 1899
  • Fruit colourOrange / Red

Similar varieties

  • See also Amere Nouvelle
    Amere Nouvelle
    Amere Nouvelle is a traditional French bittersweet cider apple.
  • See also Dabinett
    Dabinett
    Dabinett is a traditional English cider apple variety, producing a bittersweet juice.
  • See also Dabinett
    Dabinett
    Dabinett is a traditional English cider apple variety, producing a bittersweet juice.
  • See also Kingston Black
    Kingston Black
    Kingston Black is one of the premier English cider varieties and produces a bittersharp juice.
  • See also Kingston Black
    Kingston Black
    Kingston Black is one of the premier English cider varieties and produces a bittersharp juice.
  • See also Michelin
    Michelin
    Michelin (or Normandie Blanc) is a traditional French cider apple variety producing a bittersweet juice.
  • See also Somerset Redstreak
    Somerset Redstreak
    An English cider apple variety producing a very high-quality bittersweet juice.

More about cider apple trees

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.