Apple Varieties
Arkansas Black
Arkansas Black are one of the quintessential American Heirloom apples. This variety was prized before refrigeration for its ability to store in the cellar all winter due to its thick naturally waxy skin that protects it from decay. And it's a great Cider apple to boot!
The flesh is yellow and mildly sweet. Properly ripened, Arkansas Blacks are loaded with tannins and polyphenols that give this apple its characteristic flavor which comes through fresh, baked, or brewed in a classic hard cider!
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Ashmead's Kernel
​This is an old-world full-russet heirloom from England dating back to around 1700. Ashmead Kernel has been one of the most difficult varieties for us to get to produce regularly, but it’s a worthy challenge we relish. The fruit is super dense, sweet, and sharp, and it shows us how a true heirloom dessert apple can taste.
Beni Shogun Fuji
Not all Fuji apples are the same. Some apple varieties, like Fuji, are actually a family of distinct, but related apples, called cultivars. The most coveted cultivars of Fuji among commercial growers are those known for their high yields, long term storability, full red coloring, smooth skin, symmetrical shape and/or harvest timing.
The Beni Shogun, on the other hand, is a bit of an “ugly duckling.” It’s flavor, however, is where it shines. Cuyama Beni Shogun have the classic sweet, balanced Fuji flavor that made them famous when they originally gained popularity in America.
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Calville Blanc d'Hiver
This French heirloom is recognizable for its distinctively large lopsided lobes on the calyx end of the apple. Calville Blanc are featured in many famous French Impressionist artworks from the late 1800s, but the variety originally dates back to the 1600s. Calville Blanc have long been used in hard cider, but are most prized for their delicate flavor and texture in fine pastries, and it is apparently “the apple” for a proper “tarte aux pommes.”
Crimson Gold
The Crimson Gold Apple is a classic American Heirloom apple. It was discovered by Albert Etter in Humboldt County California. This variety was lost for decades, but thankfully, it was re-discovered from an original tree. The Crimson Gold is perfect for fresh snacking and a prized ingredient for pastries, jellies, chutneys, and Cider.
Evercrisp™
Evercrisp™ is a recent apple variety that was found by crossing Honeycrisp and Fuji to get a firm, sweet, crisp apple with the best attributes of each of its parents. So far, it has been all of that, and more, but we’ve only had a couple of very limited harvests so far.
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Gala
Gala apples are a “summer apple” that ripens ahead of, just about, all other varieties. Cuyama Gala are sweet, crisp, and fragrant. Great for a snack.
Granny Smith
Even the Cuyama Granny Smith are sweeter and yet fully tart at the same time. As we do with all our apples, we grow our Grannys for flavor.
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Cuyama Granny may have a light dusting of gold, or a little red blush, but these are marks of quality. Green apples need light too, and we prune our Granny Smith to be open and bright and to produce flavorful fruit under optimal conditions.
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We think you'll agree that whether you are looking for that perfect apple pie, or if you just love the flavor blast, Cuyama Granny Smith are it!
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Honeycrisp
At Cuyama Orchards, we have a love/hate relationship with the Honeycrisp dating back to the early 2000s. Horticulturally and cosmetically, it is the most challenging variety we grow, but they “eat” like no other apple. Cuyama Honeycrisp are ridiculously sweet, tart, crunchy, and bursting with flavor.
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Kandil Sinap
Apple of Turkish origin from the Sinap peninsula on the Black Sea. Kandil, meaning lamp, presumably refers to its luminescent appearance, as well as its unusually tall shape. This heirloom dates back to the early 1700s. Cuyama Kandil Sinap are sweet and balanced in flavor, but generally a fairly mild flavored, mild textured apple. Great fresh, in salads, or paired with delicate foods or cheeses.
Nagafu Fuji
The Nagafu Fuji is the original Fuji apple from Japan prized for its firm delicious creamy-yellow flesh, its sweet full flavor, and its delicate thin skin.
Cuyama Nagafu Fuji are the pride of Cuyama Orchards, and we continue to grow this nearly lost Fuji heirloom which we consider to be the best Fuji scion of all.
Pink Lady®
The micro climate of the Cuyama Valley turns out to be just right for growing perfect Pink Lady® apples. Sweet, tart, fragrant, and bursting with flavor!
Originally from Australia, the Pink Lady® apple grows exceptionally well in the Cuyama Valley. Our unique little valley has the perfect Mediterranean climate where warm late fall days, and crisp cool nights allow the Pink Lady® the full 200 day season that it optimally requires.
Sundowner®
The Sundowner® apple is a lesser known sibling of the Pink Lady®. Its growing season is even longer than Pink Lady®, and this late apple, as the name implies, is the last apple to be harvested in the fall.
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The Cuyama Valley, with its late warm fall, is one of the few places that Sundowner® apples can develop to full ripeness. Sweet like its sister the Pink Lady, but bursting with tartness that flood the senses, the Sundowner® is one of the most highly flavored apples grown.
Sweetie™
Gala’s sweeter, crunchier, juicier progeny. Sweetie harvest in the summer, just after its parent - Gala, and yet has the exceptionally firm texture and keeping qualities of its other parent, Braeburn.