Red Falstaff is one of the best garden apple varieties for the UK. For a start, the flavour is extremely good - you will never have problems giving away a surplus of these apples.
And you almost certainly will have a surplus because Falstaff is also one of the heaviest-cropping of all apple varieties - fortunately the apples keep fairly well, they will last in a fridge until Christmas. It is also easy to grow and generally disease-free, and grows in a neat and tidy fashion.
Red Falstaff is an excellent crunchy juicy apple, with light cream-coloured flesh and an orange / red flushed skin. The flavour is a well-balanced combination of sweetness and acidity, and exactly what you expect an apple to taste like.
Red Falstaff is a sport (natural genetic mutation) of Falstaff, which is a cross between James Grieve and Golden Delicious. We tend to find that the James Grieve parentage probably has the greater impact on Falstaff's flavour, and it is pleasingly sharp when eaten straight from the tree.
The relation to Golden Delicious is much less apparent in the colour or flavour, but is reflected in the very heavy crops which Falstaff can produce, as well as the appealing crunchiness of the apples. Falstaff also inherits some of the keeping qualities of Golden Delicious - it certainly keeps better than James Grieve, and if kept well-chilled will retain the flavour and crispness for several months.
Like many apple varieties where James Grieve is one of the parents, Falstaff is very juicy and is a great apple for home-juicing.
