Differences Between Currants

Red and White Currants

• Red currants (Ribes rubrum, R. petraeum, and R. sativum) offer fruits of deep red, pink, yellow, white, or off-white. Most cultivars produce clusters of berries. Bushes commonly called "white currants," like Blanka or White Imperial, are actually an albino type of red currant. White currants are considered the best for eating fresh.

Black Currants

• Black currants (Ribes nigrum) produce dark black or purplish berries. Like most red currants, they are mostly used cooked.

Buffalo Currants

• A relative of red and black currants, Ribes aureum is native to United States prairies. It's a hardy and prolific bush that tends to grow in a weeping fashion, with the tips of the branches touching the ground. It gives deep purple fruits that are best cooked with other, more flavorful berries. Crandall is considered the best-tasting buffalo currant.

Jonkheer Van Tets

• This R. rubrum is a vigorous red currant that tends to spread easily. It blooms in early spring and ripens before most other cultivars. It also resists mildew.

Red Lake

• This red currant bush (R. rubrum) is vigorous and is more resistant to the root disease armillaria than most other currants. It also doesn't mind drier roots than other currants and is resistant to mildew. The fruit is small and deep red.

Wilder

• R. Vulgare is a spreading bush. It produces large, pale red berries that ripen late in the season.

White Imperial

• White Imperial (R. rubrum) is a prolific and spreading currant bush. It offers small berries that are low in acid and ideal for desserts.

White Versailles

• Versailles (R. vulgare) is a tall bush that's not as productive and vigorous as many other cultivars. It produces seedy berries in mid-summer.

Gloire Des Sablons

• This R. vulgare is an ancient variety and the most common pink-berried currant. It grows upright and produces large fruit.

Blacksmith

• This vigorous R. nigrum bush produces black currants suitable for cooking. It quickly reaches fruit-bearing size.

Boskoop Giant

• This is an upright and vigorous black currant bush (R. nigrum) that needs a pollinator to produce fruit. Although the berries are tasty, they are not uniformly sized.

Noir de Bourgogne

• This ancient black currant bush (R. nigrum) tends to spread low to the ground. It is slower to begin producing fruit than most other cultivars, but produces berries of superior taste.