No More Sour Faces: 9 Giant Blackcurrant Varieties That Taste Like Dessert

A new generation of sweet varieties children will eat by the handful, straight off the bush

You pick a beautiful dark blackcurrant berry off the bush, put it in your mouth and your face puckers. Older blackcurrant varieties have thicker skins, pronounced acidity and that typical astringent aftertaste, which is why many people — children most of all — refuse to eat them fresh. At best they end up buried in sugar in jam or cordial.

The new generation of varieties changes that. Breeders have produced blackcurrants with berries the size of a cherry, thin skins, juicy flesh and a sugar content the older assortment never reached. The best of them score a full 5 out of 5 on the tasting scale.

9
dessert varieties reviewed
11.7%
highest sugar content (Bagira)
7.5 g
weight of the largest berry
5 / 5
tasting score of the top varieties

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Nine varieties that taste like dessert

The varieties are ordered by how convincing they are eaten straight from the bush. A green header marks varieties with the maximum tasting score, an orange header those rated 4.9 points.

1. Selechenskaya-2 · 5 out of 5 · 7.3% sugars

Flavour: A full 5 out of 5 on the tasting scale. It is markedly sweet, but its real strength lies elsewhere — the sharp blackcurrant notes are simply absent. It tastes more like sweet woodland fruit.

Picking experience: Berries reach up to 5.5 g, have thin skins and do not split when pulled off the bush. This is the variety that converts family members who used to refuse blackcurrants altogether.

2. Bagira · 11.7% sugars — the record holder here

Flavour: With 11.7% sugars it is the sweetest variety in this review. It consistently places in the top ten rankings of the best-tasting Russian selections.

Picking experience: The berries are smaller (up to 2.3 g) but richly aromatic. For a garden it has one great advantage: the fruit ripens all at once and does not drop even when overripe, so you can leave it on the bush for a few more days to build up sugar. It is also an excellent variety for fragrant homemade jam.

3. Pigmey · 5 out of 5 · 9.4% sugars

Flavour: Specialists describe its taste outright as dessert quality — a full 5 out of 5 alongside a high sugar content of 9.4%.

Picking experience: Despite the name, this is a giant: berries reach up to 7.5 g. The skin is very thin and unnoticeable when you bite in, the flesh sweet and fragrant. Each strig carries 5 to 10 large berries, so a bowl for an afternoon cake takes minutes to fill.

4. Rusalka · 5 out of 5 · 7.8% sugars

Flavour: Another variety with the maximum score of 5 out of 5. A gentle, very pleasant acidity balances the high sugar content, so the taste is refreshing rather than bland.

Picking experience: Berries reach up to 7.5 g, the flesh is exceptionally juicy and the skin wafer-thin. The fruit detaches very easily, however, so pick it as soon as it ripens.

5. Litvinovskaya · 4.9 points · early variety

Flavour: Rated 4.9 points. It stands out for a very sweet taste and an exceptionally strong, pleasant blackcurrant aroma.

Picking experience: Berries of up to 4.5 g are remarkably even in size along the strig. It ripens early, so it is among the first genuinely sweet currants of the season.

6. Veloy · 5 out of 5 · 9.9% sugars

Flavour: A full 5 out of 5 and almost a tenth of sugars (9.9% precisely). The taste is sweet yet refreshing, with a lovely aroma.

Picking experience: Berries of up to 3.5 g have thin, glossy skins. It is exactly this absence of a tough skin that stays between the teeth that makes the variety a favourite with children.

7. Slastena · 4.9 points · very few seeds

Flavour: Rated 4.9 points. The flesh has an unusual greenish-brown colour and is very sweet, with only a trace of acidity. The variety name translates roughly as „sweet tooth“.

Picking experience: Berries of around 4 g have fine, thin skins and contain very few seeds — a major plus for children who dislike pips in their fruit.

8. Dobrynya · 4.9 points · berries up to 6.5 g

Flavour: Rated 4.9 points, it belongs among the best modern varieties. Excellent dessert flavour, sweet flesh and a pronounced aroma.

Picking experience: With berries of up to 6.5 g it ranks among the largest varieties here. A single strig yields a surprisingly generous handful.

9. Vologda · late variety · high fructose share

Flavour: It is distinguished by a high share of fructose, the fruit sugar, which comes through as a pleasant sweetness.

Picking experience: Berries of around 3 g ripen late, not until August. That is precisely why it is worth the wait — it extends the currant season to the end of summer.

All nine varieties at a glance

Variety Berry weight Sugar content Tasting score Key trait
Selechenskaya-2 up to 5.5 g 7.3% 5 / 5 no sharp currant notes, berries do not split
Bagira up to 2.3 g 11.7% — ripens all at once, fruit does not drop
Pigmey up to 7.5 g 9.4% 5 / 5 dessert flavour, very thin skin
Rusalka up to 7.5 g 7.8% 5 / 5 extremely juicy, fruit detaches easily
Litvinovskaya up to 4.5 g not stated 4.9 early, strong aroma, even strigs
Veloy up to 3.5 g 9.9% 5 / 5 thin glossy skin, refreshing taste
Slastena around 4 g not stated 4.9 very few seeds, greenish-brown flesh
Dobrynya up to 6.5 g not stated 4.9 dessert flavour, pronounced aroma
Vologda around 3 g high fructose share — late, ripens in August

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„Not stated“ means no precise sugar figure is available for that variety; its flavour, however, is documented by the tasting score.

Sugar content compared: which variety is the sweetest?

For dessert varieties, sugar content is the decisive figure. The scales below compare only the varieties for which an exact value is known. They are set against a range of 0 – 12% sugars, which represents a realistic maximum for blackcurrants.

Bagira 11.7%
Veloy 9.9%
Pigmey 9.4%
Rusalka 7.8%
Selechenskaya-2 7.3%

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High sugar content is not the same thing as good flavour. Rusalka contains less sugar than Bagira, yet its gentle acidity makes it refreshing and earned it the maximum tasting score. It is the balance of sugar and acid that decides whether you reach for a second handful.

Sugar in a berry is not made in the sugar bowl but in sunlight and water. Even the sweetest variety will stay sour if you plant it in deep shade and let it dry out.

When to pick which variety

Can be left to ripen on the bush

Bagira — the fruit ripens all at once and does not drop even when overripe, so the sun can push the sugar content to its maximum.

Pick progressively as they ripen

Selechenskaya-2, Pigmey, Veloy, Slastena, Dobrynya, Litvinovskaya (early) and Vologda (late, August) — the strigs ripen gradually, so spread picking over several days.

Eat immediately once ripe

Rusalka — the fruit detaches very easily, so waiting longer simply means losses on the ground under the bush.

Three rules for the sweetest berries on the bush

Even the sweetest variety can disappoint if you do not give it what it needs.

1. Sunlight is the best confectioner

Sugars in fruit are produced by photosynthesis. A bush planted in deep shade under a tree will always bear more acidic fruit. The ideal site gets morning sun, which supplies plenty of light while sparing the plant the fiercest afternoon heat.

2. Water dilutes the acids

If conditions are dry while the fruit is ripening, the berries stay small and acids become concentrated in them. Regular watering during fruit set and fruit growth is therefore the most reliable way to get large, juicy, sweet berries.

3. Do not rush the harvest

Blackcurrants turn black well before they are truly ripe. If the variety holds its fruit, leave the berries on the bush for a few more days — acidity falls and sugar content rises. This single step makes the biggest difference to flavour.

Good to know: Blackcurrants are among the richest fruit sources of vitamin C grown in temperate gardens — a single handful of berries covers an adult's daily requirement. Choosing a sweet dessert variety therefore costs you nothing in nutritional value; it only makes the fruit far easier to enjoy.

Watch out: A dark berry is not necessarily a ripe berry. Picking too early is the most common reason a „sweet“ variety tastes disappointing. With varieties whose fruit drops easily, such as Rusalka, waiting is risky — check those bushes every other day.

Conclusion

Blackcurrants are a genuine treasure in the garden. There is no reason to force down sour fruit, though, when varieties exist that taste like dessert. Choosing the right one turns a dutiful dose of vitamins into a summer pleasure.

Plant them in a sunny spot, water them regularly while the fruit ripens and do not rush the harvest. Instead of reaching for shop-bought sweets, your children will spend the summer at the bush, enjoying huge, sweet, juicy berries by the handful.

Sweet blackcurrants for your garden

Our shop stocks dessert blackcurrant varieties with huge berries and thin skins — exactly the ones children will eat straight off the bush. Pick your favourite and harvest your own sweet berries next summer.

Browse the varieties →

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