Newtown Pippin is an antique American apple variety with a history going back more than 250 years. It is not the prettiest apple you ever saw, but it is one of the best-flavored - aromatic with plenty of acid and pleasantly refreshing, and sometimes a pineapple-like note. The flesh is dense, crisp and juicy.
Newtown Pippin is not an apple to eat straight from the tree, instead it should be harvested in mid-October and then stored in a cold dark frost-free shed for a month or so, which gives the rich sweet flavor time to develop. It is a versatile apple for use in the winter, for eating fresh, cookery and also for juicing.
The rich aromatic flavor of Newtown Pippin was held in high regard in Victorian England too. The well-known Victorian pomologist Hogg referrred to it as "A dessert apple, which, when in perfection, is not to be surpassed". Hogg also records that the Newtown Pippins tended to arrive in London markets in January, after the sea-voyage from the USA - at which point they will have been at the peak of flavor.
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Newtown Pippin is a fairly reliable tree. Although susceptible to scab and most of the other diseases of apples, its natural vigour helps it to keep going.
It is a heavy-cropping variety and can lapse into biennial bearing - this can be prevented by thinning the crop in late spring (particularly in the "on" year).
Advice on fruit tree pollination.
Newtown Pippin originates from Newtown, Long Island. It is one of the earliest apple varieties raised in North America, well-known in the 18th century, and a commercially-grown variety during the 19th century. It was introduced to England in the 1750s.
Historically two variants of Newtown Pippin have been recognized, a Green and a Yellow - the latter sometimes known as Albermarle Pippin, the former occasionally known as Green Newtown or Brooke Pippin. In practice they are both primarily green apples and almost impossible to distinguish. It is now thought there is probably no genetic difference between them, rather that Newtown Pippin is essentially a green apple, but with a tendency to develop a yellow flush in some local climates.
