Jostaberry

Ribes × nidigrolaria · Berry

40 pairings

The jostaberry is a thornless soft-fruit bush bred from a complex cross of blackcurrant and two gooseberry species. Its dark, glossy berries are larger than a blackcurrant and smaller than a gooseberry, tasting somewhere between the two — sweet and grape-like when ripe, with the tart, resinous edge of blackcurrant behind it.

Picking a good onedrag

UnderripeOverripe

Dark red-black, firmColoured through and still firm, tart with the sweetness arriving. The punnet to carry home, since these bruise easily, and it holds its shape in a pie.Sound, and travels

ColourDark red-black over most of the berry, one or two still red

The squeezeFirm and plump, gives a fraction and springs straight back

SmellSweet grape coming up, a tart blackcurrant edge under it

Reading a just ripe one. Move the slider and the rest of this page — nutrition, pairings — re-scores with it.

Preparing