Interesting…I thought maybe it was the addition of the other fruit and the sugar…the astringency was still there but it was greatly mellowed.
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I think it tasted fruitier too. And the texture improved with the sediment settling. I used a masticating juicer. This year a used a steam juicer and canned it, and it didn’t taste that great. Similar to bottled straight juice I’ve bought before.
In the 80s there used to be an aronia juice cocktail available at Costco, similar to what Ocean Spray does with cranberries, and it was delicious. So I came into this as an adult prejudiced in favor of aronia.
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The aronia harvest grows every year but they can be difficult to sell. This year that may not be the case with shortages on everything. Aronia are popular in many other countries like Russia. In the USA they are used exclusively for juice. The berries are ultra healthy like elderberries but with a higher orac content. At this point I’m not sure I would tell anyone to plant more than they consume around home.
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Really enjoyed reading this thread. Who knows how all the multiple agricultural shortages will play out and how it will affect demand. I hope you get a windfall out of it one way or another😎
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True enough!
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I don’t know how large the demand is for aronia berries for wine making but there may be a market there. Also sellers of frozen and dried aronia berries may or may not need them from independent growers.
I only have one aronia tree so the berries are in big demand by the birds who steal them.
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Literally i grow thousands of pounds of aronia. I’m searching for buyers now before September arrives. The bushes are heavy with berries. One brewery was making an aronia beer that was a popular fad for 2 years but now i think wheat beers are king. The juice bars went out all together and the owners changed to alcohol I’m told. At one time I had a deal with superberries which is now under different management. The berries are very important for juice blends but finding the buyer is not always easy with speciality crops. Here is more information Grow Aronia Berry for Health and Profit - Homestead Hustle
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Do you process the berries first? If you process them yourself what do you do? I found these storage bags on AliExpress it would make juice pasteurization and storage easier.
50/100pcs Stand Up Aluminum Foil Drink Bag Packaging Spout Pouch for Beverage Liquid Juice Milk Tea Coffee Outdoor Storage Bag|Storage Bags| - AliExpress
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Normally sell bulk in food grade bags. When we pick the berries there is a bag lining the bucket which once the bucket is full we pull the bag out tie it off and repeat. We also weigh the berries.
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I finally got a little that I will be able to harvest this year. I’ve had this Viking for like 5 years, but it’s probably in a bad spot (too shady, perhaps). I’m planning on taking cuttings and planting them in a sunnier location.
I’m planning on making a tincture with them… thinking about the wine too.
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I like aronia juice in coke, sometimes with a little vodka or whiskey…
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Anything like Tempranillo or Malbec?
Going to use these late season aronia to add to some apple cider. @39thparallel and I always come up with more projects.
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Does aronia lose any astringency after freezing or perhaps harvested past peak ripeness (assuming the deer or other critters dont eat it by then)?
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Not many folks know this, but Aronia berry bushes can be grafted with pears, and they produce in literally 1 to 3 years. They do this in Russia to speed up tasting/testing new varieties. The grafts of pear do not last for a long time, perhaps 3-5 years, but you get to taste the pears much sooner than grafting to normal pear rootstock. I grafted a couple of Russian pears to aronia last year, and they grew well and made it through my winter (-38C) fine, but did not flower this spring. The Aronia cultivar is Viking, but I understand this is part mountain ash as well as aronia. But you have many pear varieties, so for fun you might want to graft some to aronia next spring and see your results.
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I’ve got some pears grafted to aronia but they have not fruited yet. Aronia as rootstock . Mentioned you in the thread above using cotton easter.
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Yeah, me too. My Shipova that I grafted to aronia have fruited though.
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i had one i got from cricket hill but it languished and died. got 6 varieties on a reg. mtn. ash that are growing like crazy. mostly grafted 2 years ago. maybe see some fruit next year hopefully. have stacyville , nova, summer crisp , patten, bartlett and another i forgot to tag. i may take a aronia sucker next spring and graft a different pear on it.
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