Famed in Europe as one the best apples available, Cox's is also one of the more difficult trees to grow. It is prone to scab, mildew, cracking, brown rot, and papery bark disease; it has a "basitonic" habit–often wider than it is tall–and tends to biennialism. Cox's is sensitive to sulfur under certain conditions, and care should be taken if using this to control fungus. It is also prone to sun scalding, and for best results the tree will be pruned in such a way that the foliage protects the apple from direct sunlight during ripening.

Ripening mid September-mid October, this apple stores well and is best in November and December. It is pale green with red stripes and an orange flush. The flesh is firm and snappy with an extremely fine aroma and flavor that has given it something of a cult following. In Apples of Uncommon Character, Rowan Jacobsen writes that biting into a Cox's is "like cherry-vanilla ice cream with lemon zest and rose petals. It was heavenly. What it was not was appley." Cox's is a versatile culinary apple and works very well in pies and preserves.

Cox's Orange Pippin is a Ribston Pippin seedling first planted by retired brewer Richard Cox around 1825. It remained largely unknown until Charles Turner of Royal Nurseries added it to his catalog in 1850. By the 1880s it was one of Britain's most popular apples. Breeders have made many attempts to import the famous Cox's flavor into a more stable tree, and Cox's myriad progeny include Ellison's Orange, Freyberg, Kidd's Orange Red, and Suncrisp.