Nourse Berry sells Reka, we have bought that variety multiple times for 3- 4 years now.
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I think they taste fine. A little sharper in flavor than the average blueberry so I expect they would be excellent in baked goods (though I haven’t tried that yet).
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Tree of Antiquity also sells Rena, I just ordered mine recently.
what would people say is the best overall tasting blueberry?
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Probably no doubt the wild ones from the mountains of New England are the best… Freshly picked wild blueberries from New Hampshire or Mass. Soil and climate and growing conditions are all perfection. The birds arent lazy there either…
The closest you can get to that at home is probably Collins…which gets no love because its smaller.
Overall… probably i would say that anything bred by Draper at the USDA is worth growing. Cara’s Choice, Hanna’s Choice and Draper.
Most of the ‘best overall’ things to me are smaller and have a full complex profile. The big things lose flavor to size most of the time.
I would rather have a big handful of small tasty berries than a couple of big ol pretty ones myself.
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The only time I was happy with what I got from Nourse … it was strawberry plants and the year 1992. (Perhaps I could give them a more recent try…but there’s Hartmann’s, Finch’s, and even HoneyberryUSA) Not to mention Burnt Ridge and Jung’s. And others.
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Burnt Ridge is where my Reka came from.
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I may have a lead on Cara’s Choice if anyone wants to follow up.
They sold them in 2021…
Perhaps @disc4tw can call them and see if they still offer them and info for the group.
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Experiences vary between customers I am sure. I have never had any qualms with products ordered from Nourse over the last 5 years, that is as far back as my experience with them goes. On the other had I issues with Burnt Ridge and wouldn’t ever bother ordering from them again.
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I ordered a few times with them in 2004-2009, and now just this year.
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I’m sure it depends on what you’re ordering (and when). I’ve never gotten better blueberries bare-root than from Burnt Ridge (even from more expensive vendors).
I got my Reka from Edible Landscaping.
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I feel like the odd one out here because I personally enjoyed ‘Reka’ flavor so much the first time I tried it that I went and got my own shrub from @JohannsGarden. I found it had a unique flavor profile which I personally found it somewhat reminiscent of a Mountain Dew. I still have to get my hands on some of the top tasting blueberries to test my pallet and see if I have the same appreciation for 'Reka" but for now it’s one I really enjoy.
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Totally fair, everyone has different tastes!
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Agreed and there is always a chance of mislabeling so who really knows if we’re all comparing the same specimen.
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Soil can make a difference in flavor too, as can pest load being fought off.
I loved the Reka I tasted at EL, which is why I brought one home. Who knows if it’ll taste the same here. I mean, they have the knowledge and a full staff caring for the place; I have me and lots of neglect.
Blueberries like loose, rich, chunky soil in the root zone, and shallow feeder roots. It can be crap underneath. It might get a little cold here for that for me, but of the few berries I am getting, the ones that taste best are definitely the ones (regardless of cultivar) with a lot of leaf and other mulch, and the wild natives are all basically growing on rock and providing their own “soil” from leaf drop along with whatever else blows in from the surrounding trees.
I’ve never compared flavors, and I’ve never met a blueberry I didn’t like popping into my mouth faster than it can realize it is not growing anymore. I’ve not really met a bad one at the grocery store, either, but I have found some of those more bitter or bland.
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