With the exception of the pink champagne my currants are producing. I wanted to post some impressions to see if this is typical for the color.
Black currant, Consort. The bush has the strongest unpleasant currant smell. The fruit kinda tastes like it, not a good thing. The skin is very thick. Is this the norm for black currants?
Red currant, Rovana. Good producer, thin skin. Acidic to the point of not being a good fresh eating berry but I can work with this.
White currant, Imperial. Now this is a fantastic fruit. Thin skin. Sweet. Extremely good for fresh eating but just about the entire crop gets earmarked for preserves because I then use it to make candied jalapeños, a family favorite. Bonus observation: All other currants propagate easy via cuttings but I have not been able to get this one to root yet.
Dear Don, I have grown all of the currants you have mentioned. Black currants are meant to be cooked. They are used in pies, tarts, jams, jellies, candy etc. Red currents and the other colors are all meant to be cooked as well. Those are used for making too âseedyâtarts but mostly jelly. They are not meant to be grown for âFreshâ eating. I have grown them for over 40 years.
There is nothing better than good black currant jam!
We found white currants to be perfectly edible by themselves. Then again we have a predilection for sour fruits. Heck my daughter is an extreme; she doesnât care for sweet cherries but loves eating sour cherries.
i eat both but like the sour cherries more. planted a primus white the spring of last year. it barely grew so i dug and moved it to a better spot and it took right off. my favorites are the blacks for processing. they make the absolute best jam and juice ever! the juice tastes alot like concord but richer. i barely add any sugar and its fabulous! i have 43 bushes started all over the property 3 years ago from pruningâs of 2 tiben black currants i got from Drew51. just stuck cuttings in late april and put some mulch around them. almost all took and grew with 0 care. i just been adding wood chips around them each spring to keep the weeds down. most are about 4ft. tall and have a good crop on them now. another week or 2 it be up to my ears in b. and red currants.
mrsg47 is correct that currant jam is mighty fine eating.
But, I have not called it quits on selecting the best currants for fresh eating.
So far, Iâve tried and like Rovada if fully ripe fresh from bush to mouth. Ditto for the variety Pink Champagne.
Iâve collected about 5 reds and about 10 blacksâŠso I hope to sample most next spring for the first time. (Meantime I can eat Black September, Ben More, and Ben Sarek and Tiben if I am hungry, and Titania if I donât let the smell linger too long on the nose. I have about 5 more blacks that should bloom in the springâŠand at least 3 more red ones, Tatran, Detvan, Redstart.)
Theyâre too easy to raise to not do a couple plants just for the fun of it.
And, you may find various uses for them.
I find the red and white currants are both excellent for fresh eating if you let them dry on the bush long enough. They take a good couple weeks after coloring up to fully ripen, at which point they are a nice juicy sweet-tart treat.
Hopefully one of these years my blackcurrants will actually fruit for me as well.
I have red,black,and pink currants. At beginning. I liked the prettiness of red and pink currants, and they are ok to eat fresh. I disliked the black currants for very strong flavor. But over the years. I grew to really love the flavor of black currants for its fragrance. nutritional value.and dark red color. I can eat black currants fresh, but most times I mix it with grapes to make beautiful color and nice aroma red wine.
This yearâs red wine, waiting to be bottled.
Weâve made a bunch of black currant wines here over the years too. It really retains its flavor and aroma when fermented, unlike some other fruits weâve tried. Really tasty stuff. Probably one of the closer facsimiles of grape wine weâve been able to make.
Is there a currant variety that has smaller seeds than Red Lake? Iâd like to try one thatâs better for eating fresh, since we donât consume much jam or jelly.
In N.Zealand, several cultivars of black currants have been bred to need reduced chilling hours. Besides one short video on YouTube, any other info out there on these varieties?
