White Currants© Denzil Green
White Currants an albino sport of red currants that occurred naturally .
The berries look translucent off-white or golden, and have a less tart flavour than red ones. Some cultivars are even fine for eating fresh out of hand.
The bushes grow 5 to 6 feet (1 1/2 to 1 3/4 metres) tall, and will produce about 10 to 12 pounds (4 1/2 to 5 1/2 kg) of berries per bush.
The berries grow on one year-old wood, and on new branches coming off older branches.
Cultivars include: Weisse aus Juterbog (1890s), White Imperial (1890 — Geneva, New York), White Versailles (1840), Primus, White Pearl.
Some cultivars, such as White Imperial, may have a pink blush to them.
Cooking Tips
Use a fork to pull them off their stalks.
Storage Hints
White Currants can be frozen whole, and used for jelly or juice.
Literature & Lore
“The wine made from white currants, if rich of fruit, so as to require little sugar, is, when kept to a proper age, of a flavor similar to the Grave and Rhenish wines; and I have known it preferred as a summer table wine.” — Henry Phillips. Pomarium Brittanicum. 1820.