This year, for the first time we were able to do something we have been wanting to do for quite a while. Yes, jam!
Here at Spencer Creek Nursery, we grow 21 different varieties of currants and we have been thinking quite a bit about all the wonderful things we can do with them. Last year red currant pie was the answer and it was stunning. However, while it is delicious and makes for a wonderful birthday treat for those with birthdays in July, it is, after all, a desert. It is also perishable, has a very limited shelf life and disappears before your eyes once people have tasted it!
And even though it is tasty and does show off the tartness of a good red currant well, it has its limitations. It works very well with JVT (Jonkheer van Tets), Minnesota 52 and Cherry Red red currants.
Currant jams, on the other hand, can be extremely versatile, with flavors ranging from musky to bright sweet to semi tart, and all the gradients in between. It can work well as jam on toast, with poultry and pork, and can even be a nice addition to fish, like halibut or cod.
Most commercially available currant jams are a mix of many different currant varieties. This is particularly true of black currant jam.
Our goal was to discover the unique flavor tones of the different cultivars.
We began with small batches of each of the black currants Willoughby, Titania, Consort, Minaj Smyriou, and Risager. Consort is definitely the muskiest with a deep rich flavor that would pair very well with pork or chicken but might not agree with the over-sugared palettes of young children! Interestingly, Willoughby came in a close second on the musky flavor which was quite unexpected because as a fresh berry the musky flavor does not come through nearly as strongly as it does when it is cooked. The standout all around winner for brightness and consistent taste was a tie between Minaj Smyriou and Risager. Minaj Smyriou has the advantage of being a large highly productive bush of medium to large berries, while Risager is a smaller but extremely productive bush with smaller and a bit harder to pick berries, but it has the brightest fresh eating taste.
Titania, also a lovely large berry easy to pick and extremely prolific in berry production had a milder musk to it but the musk was definitely present. All in all, Titania is our favorite single variety black currant jam. But for those seeking the ultimate musky flavor the Consort is still the hands-down winner.
The red currants are far less discernible as separate varieties and while they make a delicious jam, the red currant red raspberry combination jam is still the big winner around here.
Here is a chart of the flavor profiles of the black and red currants we’ve tested this year. Hopefully this will make it easier for you to select a currant that matches the flavor you want.
| Cultivar | Size of Berry | Easy to Pick | Muskiness | Brightness |
| Risager | medium | no | low | high |
| Minaj Smyriou | large | yes | low-medium | medium |
| Willoughby | large | yes | medium-high | medium |
| Titania | large | yes | medium | medium-high |
| Consort | medium | no | high | low |
| Cultivar | Size of Berry | Easy to Pick | Flavor * |
| Jonkheer van Tets (JVT) | large | very easy | sweet, only slightly tart |
| Minnesota 52 | large | easy | tart and sweet |
| Cherry Red | medium-large | easy | tart and sweet |
| Rovada | large | fairly easy | tart |
| Tatran | large | very easy | tart, milder if allowed to ripen |
*Please note that all red currants are generally “tart”, particularly when considering the American palate.
We made a blog post with all of the recipes for the currant jams we’ve made this year because one of the things we’ve discovered is that when you hit on a perfect recipe you definitely want to repeat it, so we took very careful notes and tracked everything we did! No more of these “Oh my gosh this might be the best jam I’ve ever made, oh dang it what exactly did I do?” moments!
There was another standout in the jam making extravaganza this year but that will require another entire post. Suffice to say that if you are looking for a jam to truly impress, you’ll definitely want to explore the Tillamook goumi berry strawberry connection. We developed our own recipe for this one and we hit it out of the park if we do say so ourselves!
Here’s what we’ll tell you about it: it’s like a strawberry rhubarb pie in a jam jar and it will blow you away!
The Tillamook goumi comes from Whitman farms where Lucille Whitman has been playing around with goumis. The berries are huge, deep red and cover the branches from base to tip. One bush of about three years age delivered over 16 cups of berries! That was enough juice to make over 12 pints of jam.
There are many reasons you may want to make your own jam these days. The ever rising cost of jams in grocery stores, wanting less sugar and more healthy fruit in your jam, wanting control over the ingredients, and wanting really excellent tasting jam are just a few. Perhaps best of all is the opportunity to get creative and play with flavor and fruit to discover what you love best!