Juice & Sweet Cider

Juicy, well-balanced fruit for fresh juice, sweet cider and syrup. Everything here scored 6 or higher out of 10. Sweet cider is the unfermented kind. For the fermented kind, see Hard Cider.

More about fruit for juice and cider

Concord grape scored 10 out of 10 for juice, the top score here, but it's only rated to zone 4. For colder places, Valiant and Bluebell grapes scored 8 and are both rated to zone 2. Romeo dwarf cherry and chokecherry scored 9 and are both rated to zone 2. Montmorency tart cherry scored 9 too.

Elderberries are some of our top juice and syrup plants. Adam's and John's scored 9, and American elderberry scored 8 and is rated to zone 2. Adam's and John's are partially self-fertile and crop a lot better planted together. Chokecherry berries make great syrup, and Les McCartney says sand cherry syrup puts chokecherry's to shame.

For sweet cider, look at the apples that scored 8: Gravenstein, Golden Russet, Ashmead's Kernel, Newtown Pippin, Kerr applecrab and September Ruby. September Ruby and Kerr are both rated to zone 2, so they'll handle a hard winter. Every apple needs a pollenizer, so check the pollination maps. If you want to ferment it, see Hard Cider.

Questions we get

What apples make good sweet cider?

Gravenstein, Golden Russet, Ashmead's Kernel, Newtown Pippin, Kerr applecrab and September Ruby scored 8 out of 10 for juice and sweet cider. September Ruby is rated to zone 2.

Can you grow juice grapes in a cold climate?

Yes. Valiant is rated to zone 2, and it took -50°F and still cropped the next year. It scored 8 for juice, while Concord scored 10 but is only rated to zone 4.