black currant (ribes nigrum)

## one of the great cold-climate fruits

black currant (*ribes nigrum*) is one of our favorite berries, full stop. fully ripe fruit is dark, juicy, sweet-tart, and extraordinarily aromatic, with a deep musky, resinous flavor unlike almost anything else in the temperate fruit garden.

black currants are often described in american gardening literature primarily as a processing fruit. they certainly make exceptional preserves, syrups, sauces, desserts, fermented drinks, and liqueurs—the classic crème de cassis being the obvious example—but that undersells the berry. for people who enjoy strong, complex fruit, a ripe black currant straight from the bush is excellent. the flavor is simply much bigger and stranger than a blueberry, raspberry, or table grape.

that intensity is one reason black currant has developed such a rich horticultural tradition across northern and eastern europe. generations of growers have selected and bred *ribes nigrum* for fruit quality, yield, cold hardiness, disease resistance, and processing characteristics, with important breeding traditions extending through eastern europe, the baltics, scandinavia, russia, ukraine, poland, and neighboring regions.

## what makes a black currant smell like a black currant?

the chemistry is almost as interesting as the fruit.

fresh black currants contain a remarkably complex mixture of volatile compounds. short-chain esters and terpenes contribute fruitiness and resinous character; c6 compounds supply intensely green notes; methoxypyrazines contribute herbal aromas; and extraordinarily potent sulfur compounds help produce the unmistakable musky character of the fruit. 1,8-cineole—the familiar eucalyptus- and mint-associated terpene—is among the compounds with particularly high aroma activity in fresh berries.

and the berries are only part of it. crush a black currant leaf or bud and the entire plant announces itself with a powerful currant scent: minty, resinous, green, and almost medicinal in its intensity.

in our nursery beds, that aromatic chemistry also appears to function as an extremely effective chemical defense. deer that readily browse neighboring plants leave our black currants alone, and currant sawflies that can strip less-aromatic red currants have likewise shown remarkably little interest in them. that’s nursery observation rather than a claim of universal pest resistance, but after years of growing different *ribes* side by side, the contrast is difficult to miss.

## a shrub of cold eurasia

black currant is a genuinely northern plant. its native range extends across europe through siberia and central asia to the russian far east—an enormous sweep of the temperate eurasian continent.

in cultivation it is happiest in the sort of conditions that heritage suggests: cool climates, reasonably fertile soil, and dependable moisture. unlike many conventional orchard fruits, black currant is also quite comfortable with some shade, making it useful along woodland edges and in layered edible landscapes where full-sun fruit production is difficult.

plants form manageable deciduous shrubs rather than trees, making harvesting straightforward and allowing several cultivars or seedlings to be incorporated into a relatively small garden. established plants can become tremendously productive.

for the cold-climate edible landscape, black currant combines several traits that rarely occur together: exceptional flavor, extreme aromatic character, compact growth, serious cold hardiness, shade tolerance, and—at least in our experience—remarkably little browsing pressure.

if you’ve only encountered black currant as a flavor in candy, jam, or cassis, the living plant is considerably more interesting.