A midseason perry pear with medium acids and low tannins. Origin: traditional old English cultivar from the Bromsberrow and Haresfield districts of Gloucestershire. Related to, but distinct from the Yellow Huffcap. The name ‘Huffcap’ may have come from a potent ale that could “lift one’s cap”, or possibly from an alternate spelling ‘Huffcup’ referring to “lifting your cup” when making a toast. Tree: mature tree is large with few upright limbs and wide crotch angles; early flowering; fruit scab is rare. Perry: fruit milled up to 2 weeks after harvest; juice acidity 0.37, tannins 0.08, specific gravity 1.059; reliably produces a light, good-quality vintage with low tannins. Fruit: small, elliptical, often irregular, 46–54 mm long, 43–50 mm diameter with a distinctly bulging calyx end; no stem basin or calyx basin; calyx upright. Skin green to yellow, with slight orange flush; slight russet at stem and calyx end; lenticels numerous, but small and inconspicuous. Flesh has concentration of stone cells near calyx end and some around core. Ripens early to mid-October in England’s West Midlands, late September to early October in western Oregon; easily shaken from tree.
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