Learn all about the different types of "pippin". What apple varieties share the name?
I love getting to taste different heirloom apples. This website is giving me a good excuse to try as many as I can get my hands on. One of those varieties that I recently tried for the first time is the Pippin. There are several apples with the name Pippin in them. The grower wasn't sure exactly what type of Pippin this apple was.
Forgive my old photo above! That was the Pippin apples I first encountered over a decade ago. Today I want to look at all the varieties I have encountered over the years with that very name.
📚 What Does Pippin Mean?
The word "Pippin" mean seedling. Sometimes I see orchards spelling it as "pippen" with an e instead. These apples are among the first to be brought to the United States from Europe. They have the old fashion apple taste.
📋 List of Varieties
Typical Pippin apples are green with red, almost orange colored blush. The different types of Pippin will have different colors variations. The Cox's Orange Pippin has a lot of orange in it's color. You may also find some "russeting" on the apple, that is the skin with brown on it. This could be around the stem or covering the entire apple as you will see in an example below.
- Newton Pippin / Albemarle Pippin (same apple with 2 names)
- Ribston Pippin
- Cox's Orange Pippin
- Cherry Cox' Orange Pippin
If I had to take a guess on what apple that I found that was just called "Pippin", I would go with Newton Pippin. It seems to have the right appearance and flavor profile. I have found them at Stater Bros stores labelled as just Pippin. They were mostly green.
Newton Pippin / Albemarle Pippin
Let me tell you more about the Newton Pippin. It also goes by the name Albemarle Pippin as I mentioned above. I never saw it labelled that until I was in North Carolina. It is believed to be a favorite of George Washington as I have seen on several signs talking about this apple. One orchard said it was developed in the late 1600s and another said 1759 in New York. Either way it's old.
What is interesting about this apple is the skin color can be different. You may find some with more red blush on them or some that look like this:
These were grown in Wisconsin and were completely russeted. The apple is tangy and tart fresh off the tree, but will mellow out and be sweeter after 1-2 month of storage. The ones I have gotten in the grocery store in the winter were a lot sweeter tasting. The apple is used by cider makers.
Ribston Pippin
Next I want to talk about the Ribston Pippin. This one varies in it's skin color too. I have seen them more green with red blush from Oregon or I have found them they are mostly green in color like these Wisconsin grown ones below.
The apple has a sweet but sharp flavor. For texture it's best right off the tree, but many people like to wait a month to eat them as their flavor improves as that sharpness mellows out. It's all about what your taste preferences are.
Cox's Orange Pippin
This pippin apple is famous in England. It's one of their favorites. I once meet a guy at a farmer's market from England that was looking for Cox's. He was sad he couldn't find his favorite apple in the US. A lot of orchards do grow them, just not on a wide scale.
🍎 Check out my full review of Cox's Orange Pippin.
There is also a variety called Cherry Cox. These apples are more red in color than the traditional Cox's Orange Pippin. I tasted them side by side before and I felt the Cherry was a better version with more sweetness.
🍎 Check out my full review of Cherry Cox's Orange Pippin.
📧 Sign Up for Emails
Don't miss anything I am talking about on the blog concerning apples.
📧 Learn More About Apples
If you enjoyed this post and want to continue earning more about apples, I got plenty of content to share. I recommend starting with my blog post, How to Know When Apples are Best. This will help you pick out apples no matter what time of year it is.
Here are some specific apple varieties you will want to learn more about:
Have you tried this apple? What did you think? Leave a comment below telling us. Be a helper and share where you found it. You may make someone's day with your insider info on where to get them! If you are a true apple lover, you'll want to check out all of our apple reviews.
Mei Mei
I just love Pippin apples and only bought them about 20 years ago in my local Safeway. Believe me, I've never forgotten them and have never been able to find them since. I had a chat with the apple manager in my local Whole Foods and he told me that they are not in demand. Can you tell me where I can get them?
admin
Your best source would be your local farmer's market. But it depends on where you live. I live in Michigan, and we are a big apple state, so we have a ton of choices.
Kevin
We have a tree that was labelled liberty by the nursery but it is clearly something else, Orange Pippin is a possibility. The apple is yellow skinned with a bit of a red blush sometimes, speckles, and is slightly conical. It has is crisp and tart when it ripens in late October early November here in PA. Any idea how to get a definite ID on this apple?
Eric Samuelson
I don't know for sure. I would start by looking for a garden extension in your area and see if they know anyone that could do that. I do think that is a bit late for a Cox's Orange Pippin though, but I don't want to completely rule it out.
Lindy
In my Nana's CA backyard was a tree that yielded either Newton Pippin / Albemarle Pippin or Ribston. I'm not dure which. We had a great time picking them then canning applesauce made from them.
Eric Samuelson
That sounds fabulous! It can be hard to perfectly tell those apart but they do have some similar in flavor. Thanks for sharing Lindy!