North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Richard Moyer" <ramoyer@gmail.com>]

KQ,

Thanks for your input.  Agreed that the red and white currants taste largely similar within each group, and that there's much taste variety in the gooseberries.

 

As for professional tasting ability to distinguish black currants, the ability to discern levels of sugars, acids, bitterness, and total amounts and varieties of aromatics are both inherited (genetic) and learned, to various degrees.    There also are 'nontasters' in any cross section of humans, who notice no difference when presented with a range of certain flavors. 

 

Differences are there in black currants; granted they might not be noticed because so many of us eat with our eyes:

The most popular (western) Euro black currants look much alike and are selected for a certain set of taste characters, and since so much of our modern food breeding, purchasing and presentation depends on eye appeal, these black currants come across as very similar.  I'd be curious to do two taste tests with black currants, one with blindfolded tasted testers, and one without the blindfolds, asking participants to describe the differences in the fruits.  My kids can tell you the taste differences between our black currant cultivars; they much prefer some over others.  But to look at this group of fruit, they are rather boring. 

Tom noted in his post yesterday that apples have a much wider variety of tastes.  I wonder how much fruit shape, size and color variation affect our overall sensory perceptions.

 

Another point from me the black currant cheerleader:

Currants can hang for weeks once ripe, without fungal breakdown.  Sure beats the pants off "what to do with those ripe red raspberries before they rot".

 

Richard Moyer

East TN

Message: 5
Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2006 23:11:16 -0800
From: "K Q" < kumquat@operamail.com>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Black currant taste
To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
Message-ID: <20060717071116.3DB87244F9@ws5-3.us4.outblaze.com">20060717071116.3DB87244F9@ws5-3.us4.outblaze.com >
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I have also sampled the Corvallis currants in the past. Most of the European bred blacks pretty much all taste alike. If you can tell any difference, you should be working as a professional taster for a salary somewhere!

I found the major differences in the blacks to be plant growth habit and size of berry. There are some very large berries. Most of the Euro blacks have smallish to medium berries.

Also, there are a few strains of American black currants (from Kansas, I think) that are pretty tasty. None of the Euro taste at all. And not really like Crandall either, which I thought was pretty insipid (as grown in Corvallis).

The red currants all taste pretty much alike, same goes for white currants. Not much variation in taste on those two.

The gooseberries were VERY interesting. Some could not stand full sun at all, others thrived on it. Many subtle flavor variations made it very interesting. Some gooses have so many spines on the fruit you cannot even eat them. A goat might like them. I think they are wild forms.