I’ve grown 3 different types of Currants and wondering what would be a good one to try and grow for good flavor. Mainly looking for a low acid type.
Recently moved and I want to plant the best varieties.
I’ve grown Rovada which is highly rated, but didn’t think the flavor was as good as the unknown one I had. The unknown was collected from an historic 1700’s farm. I doubt that that currant been there since then.
Any sweet types you guys recommend?
1 Like
Bass, I also have grown Rovada. The main advantage of it is the fruits are really big so its easy to pick enough for cooking (about all I do with them). For flavor I find the old Red Lake variety to be better. Its from the 1930’s so it could be what is on the old farm. Red Lake is really small. I don’t know how acidic it is, all red currants seem acidic to me. I also grew Jhonkeer van Tets which is between those two in size/flavor.
Scott
2 Likes
I grow pink champagne, small fruit size, not high acid, but not much flavor either.
The terms “Low acid” and currant don’t really go together. The white currants in general are lower acid, but I’m not thrilled with the taste. They do suffer much less bird predation though. I’ve got both White Imperial and Primus for whites.
It’s interesting that IL mentions Pink Champagne. I’m growing 8 kinds of red/pink/white currants and it is my favorite. Not great, but a better mix of sweet and sour. It does get eaten by birds, so I don’t get too many, as I haven’t bothered to protect it.
I agree that the large berries from Rovada are convenient. I don’t have a strong impression of most of the others (Laxton’s #1, Cascade, and Jonkheer Van Tets). Red Start has had some disease problems which has stunted its growth and killed one of my two plants. Rather than replant a red, I’m putting a new black currant in its place this spring.
I had Rovada and pink champagne planted at the north side of the house. Not enough sun to sweeten it possibly.
Rovada never got as big as I thought, I"m wondering it was mislabled. But I’ll be planting jostaberry, tixia gooseberry as well for my new garden.
My Rovada and Pink Champagne are both in full sun. The Rovada (3 bushes) are actually in a pretty bad spot for currants- on a dry hill with fairly shallow soil. Yet they still have larger berries than any of my other red/white currants. If your Rovada is the same size as PC, then I would suspect a mislabel. Let me know if you’d like to try rooting any cuttings. I’ve had decent success just sticking them in the ground in the fall.
1 Like
I realize clove currents such as Crandall are not technically what most people think of for currents but they are my preference. They are larger than a gooseberry and easier to grow. In Kansas we cannot easily grow typical currants or gooseberries in the open because of the sun. The Crandall can be grown in full sun. The taste is excellent and the smell of clove currents are wonderful.
Bass, I have Jostaberry for several years now. It really does not produce a lot of fruits. Taste is not as good as either goose berry or current. You can get gooseberry that produce larger berry and tastes better. or get a current that taste really like current. I have couple gooseberry plants. One I don’t know the name, one I bought with Pixwell label attached to it. The Pixwell, if you let it fully ripe, it tastes very sweet. However, in my yard, chipmunk got the most of them before it is fully ripe.
Thanks for the input. I’ll have to find the real Rovada. Although I got mine for Norse they’re pretty reliable.
I had Tixia but lost it. It was pretty good with a nice sweet acid balance. They seem to do best at location facing east that get the morning sun but semi shade in the day.
I’m glad to head that Tixia can be good. I have mine in a similar location to Rovada (dry, shallow soil) and that combined with a bad Gooseberry Sawfly infestation last year has kept me from trying them off the bush.
But I did buy a half pint from Whole Foods which were produced by Nourse Farms (evidently they sell some produce too). They didn’t really impress me, as they were soft, and without much sweetness or flavor. The package didn’t say that they were Tixia, but they didn’t taste like Hinnomaki Red and those are the only 2 redish gooseberries that Nourse sells (to my knowledge).
The Hinnomaki Reds from my bush were quite good, even when they were just turning ripe. A nice firm berry with a sharp sweet-tart flavor.
1 Like
I started a new topic instead.
I have been growing currants for several years, starting with some found plants that I discovered growing next to old cellar holes in an abandoned section of my town. These make bountiful red fruit, quite tart and about the earliest fruit to ripen here, late June.
I picked up some ‘Riverview’ black currant plants a couple years back and got a small harvest from them last year, sweeter fruit with that rich, slightly musky black currant flavor. Not bad out of hand, but hey, I eat the red ones too! More vigorous plants than my reds, which max out at around 3-4’
Last year I got some wild clove currant cuttings from CO, and had success rooting a few. One of these young starts has a few flowers on it, and wow, what a wonderful aroma these put out, I will be anticipating the day when my yard can be graced with this sweet perfume.
I hear the fruit is good too!
I like these ‘wild’ selections as I believe they are more disease resistant than cultivars
Local red in bloom
Riverview Black currant in bloom
Clove currant start blooming.
I am interested in the Crandall clove currant, anyone care to share their experiences(and perhaps a cutting or start) with this one?
3 Likes
Crandall are good currents Jesse and have the same clove aroma as the ones you have now. The berries supposedly get as big as a nickel but for me they are the same size as normal clove currants which are the size of a gooseberry. I grow yellow, red , and purple fruited clove currants.
Wow that plant looks great! Did you get a decent harvest this year? I know this is an old post, but i was harvesting white currants today. I grow one in a 10 gallon root pouch. It’s doing well! I added a bunch of black currants this year, so looking forward to getting a decent harvest. Maybe in 2 years the plants will be of decent size.
I got a taste this year, and should have a small harvest next year. Here’s the whites I picked today. taste is not great but the most expensive jelly in the world is white currant jelly which goes for $40.00 for 4 ounces. Yes a tiny, little jar for 40 bucks! So I’ll see how they do! I actually want to mix them with my yellow cap black raspberries for jam.
1 Like
I think that what you are referring to isn’t just plain old white currant jelly, but preserves made out of white currants with the skins included, but the seeds individually removed by hand with a needle of some sort.
I found an article which describes it:
A bit more on how it is made:
My white, red, and pink currants were almost entirely eaten by wildlife this year. As soon as they were about ready, they vanished. I think birds and chipmunks did most of it (just like they decimated my sour cherries, gooseberries, and mulberries). Even my raspberries are getting eaten (though I’ve gotten many of them, sometimes half eaten).
The one berry which thankfully isn’t getting disturbed (much) is the black currant. I’ve picked 9.4 pounds of them so far and have made 16 jars of jelly/jam. Best ever.
2 Likes
Wow! Looking forward to working with black currants in the future!
My black currant harvest is almost done- just a few more bushes to give a 2nd/3rd pass. I’ve been keeping notes, so I hope to put up a report. Just from eyeballing it, Blackdown and Consort are the two stars.
There were also a bunch of new plantings from last year that had a few berries. At least two of them had very large berries. I don’t remember which ones though I think it may have been Strata and one of the Lomonds (Ben or Sarek). It is too early to have any strong opinions about them anyway, but I am encouraged that maybe I can find a productive one with large fruit. Picking them is quite a bit of work and I wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t my favorite jam.
1 Like
I want to add a Crandall clove currant too. I lost my Blackdown plant, as a neighbor kid pulled it out of the ground! I didn’t find it till a few days later! Argh! I was gone for the weekend.
I added Tiben, Black September, and Ben Sarek this year. All grew well so far this year. I got the latter two from Indiana Berry, and they were huge plants, produced a few berries even. Nourse stopped selling black currants. I may pick up another Blackdown from Indiana since the plants are so big, plus I want to order Crandall from them too. Mostly for ornamental reasons. Although the berries being different, way different than other blacks, I have to try it.
I curious how Tiben will do, it is a Polish cultivar that on paper is said to out produce all mentioned in this thread.
I love currants. My mom has red and white in northern ohio. Anyone tried them in the deep south 7b/8a? From what I read, it does not spund promising but I’d love to grow them here.
The seeds are removed with a goose quill, one currant at a time. I’ve watched them make it. The store is not far from my house. Tastes different than our white currants or the white currants I grow. The currants used for the confit tastes like honey. Really good!