Cider apple
Cider is made in several countries and can be made from any apples. Historically the flavours preferred and varieties used to produce cider have varied by region. Many of the most traditional apple varieties used for ciders come from or are derived from those from Devon, Somerset and Herefordshire in England, Normandy in France, and Asturias in Spain, and these areas are considered to have their own broad cider styles although the many exceptions make this more of a historic footnote. Normandy cider is usually naturally carbonated and clear: Asturian cider apple varieties are mainly 'sharps' or mild 'bittersweets', producing a mildly acidic cider which is customarily served by being poured from height into the glass to oxygenate it.
Foxwhelp
The 'Foxwhelp' is classed as a "bittersharp" cider apple, containing high levels of tannin and malic acid. It has small to medium-sized fruit, usually ripening in September, with an uneven, ridged shape, and a deep crimson skin with yellow stripes. Its flesh is acidic and yellow with a red tinge, and its juice will produce a powerful, tannic cider. Hogg found that its "extremely rich and saccharine" juice had a specific gravity of 1076, and even higher in shrivelled fruit, and noted that it was used in most Herefordshire ciders to add strength.