With the farming industry suffering so badly in New York State, as well as other areas, the timing couldn’t be better to regain the black currant’s popularity. This little berry may also give New York state the opportunity to market an agricultural crop as uniquely its own. Idaho potatoes, Iowa pork, Florida oranges and Washington State apples have become familiar, marketable agricultural entities, why not New York Currants?

Greg Quinn, founder and president of CropPharms, also points out that in addition to the tax advantages for landowners who grow crops, black currant farming may also provide even a greater financial incentive for those people moving to the area and buying large-acre summer/weekend homes that were once working farms. Greg says his goal is to get these Hudson Valley properties under cultivation again.

Among other avenues of pursuit in re-establishing the currant crop in New York, Greg has established a management company that will assist landowners who want to have their land cultivated and planted with currants, but not necessarily become full-time farmers. He points out that this is similar to what was done with grapes and wineries on the Eastern end of Long Island, New York, in the past decade – an area now considered a competitive wine region.

Greg not only has support from NY lawmakers, but also scientists from Cornell University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They all believe that black currants can be planted and cultivated successfully in New York State and elsewhere in the U.S.

With the farming industry suffering so badly in New York State, as well as other areas, the timing couldn’t be better to regain the black currant’s popularity. This little berry may also give New York state the opportunity to market an agricultural crop as uniquely its own. Idaho potatoes, Iowa pork, Florida oranges and Washington State apples have become familiar, marketable agricultural entities, why not New York Currants?

Greg Quinn, founder and president of CropPharms, also points out that in addition to the tax advantages for landowners who grow crops, black currant farming may also provide even a greater financial incentive for those people moving to the area and buying large-acre summer/weekend homes that were once working farms. Greg says his goal is to get these Hudson Valley properties under cultivation again.

Among other avenues of pursuit in re-establishing the currant crop in New York, Greg has established a management company that will assist landowners who want to have their land cultivated and planted with currants, but not necessarily become full-time farmers. He points out that this is similar to what was done with grapes and wineries on the Eastern end of Long Island, New York, in the past decade – an area now considered a competitive wine region.

Greg not only has support from NY lawmakers, but also scientists from Cornell University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They all believe that black currants can be planted and cultivated successfully in New York State and elsewhere in the U.S.

CurrantC Owner, Greg Quinn began dialogs with many in the New York State Legislature (the law had been relegated to States jurisdiction in the 60’s during some federal legislative house cleaning). He was able to convince several States’ Senators to sponsor a bill to overturn the ban. With the help of Senator Larkin’s office, new legislation was drafted during which time Quinn lobbied the Assembly and the Senate.

The first vote in the Senate on the new bill to legalize the commercial cultivation of currants was passed unanimously and the following week, the Assembly also voted unanimously to adopt the new law. Five months later, Gov. Pataki signed the new bill into law, thus overturning the 100 year-old ban. The story captured the imagination of farmer and consumer alike. His efforts have been written about on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, the Associated Press and about 400 newspapers in several languages around the country as well as websites such as CBS Market Watch, CNN.com (with almost 17 million hits in one day). Since then Quinn and the Currant story has been recounted in numerous media outlets including a feature article in Reader’s Digest.

This may turn out to be an important boost for a sagging New York farming economy – one that sees several hundred small farms close each year. Black currants are extremely popular in Europe. One would consider this a billion-dollar berry commonly found in their teas, yogurts, vodkas, juices and jams. This is the hope for it in the United States.

“Are your currents are raised using organic methods. Any information you could provide would be helpful. Thank you and looking forward to hearing from you.” Karen V.B

“We are not certified organic. It’s actually quite difficult to get certification for small family type farms. The good news is that Currants are pretty disease and insect resistant. We do have issues annually with weeds and to combat the unwanted growth we deploy our mechanical weeder. This giant arm attaches to the side of our tractor and it’s fingers spin continuously ripping out any unwanted growth. There is a fungus that’s been showing up in the spring on the plants and as of this writing, I’ve been successful in controlling it by pruning out the affected branches. Interestingly enough, this disease is not only not harmful to people, it actually stimulates the development of more antioxidants in the plant to help fight off the disease. These are the same antioxidants that we use to fight off diseases in our bodies so ironically, plants that have this disease have healthier berries!”

Originally, English speaking countries such as England, Ireland, Scotland and New Zealand grew black and red currants. There are also sub-cultivars which are white, pink and even green. The black currant variety became the most popular variety because of its uniquely intense tart flavor and incredible health benefits. It wasn’t long that the black currant became so popular it was thought of a distinct from its colorful cousins and the name “Blackcurrant” emerged as a single type of berry. In the U.S. we still use the separated name “Black Currant” as well as Red Currant or White Currant and often, just Currant which causes some confusion with the misnamed raisins.

Zante currants have become part of the English vernacular and have come to be accepted to identify the Greek raisins. Calling raisins just “currants,” however, is improper and misleading. The most egregious mistake made by some food producers and writers alike is to call a raisin of any type, a black currant.

Raisins (dried grapes) and Black Currants are entirely different fruits from very different botanical families. Grapes belong to the genus Vitus and Currants belong to the genus Ribes. Raisins have some phytonutrients, most notably boron but raisins contain fewer phenols than grapes since many of grape’s phenols are largely lost in the conversion of grapes to raisins through the grape drying process.

“Is the concentrate made of both red and black currants?” Roger P.“

Our CurrantC Grade A Black Currant Concentrate is 100% Black Currants with no preservatives.”

“What is the difference between the concentrate and the nectar?” Rhonda B.

“CurrantC™ All Natural Black Currant Nectar is a ready to drink nectar with the highest black currant content of any ready to drink beverage in the world. Because it is so rich, some people like to add sparkling water for a refreshing drink but most people drink it as is for the full health benefits. Black Currants are very tart so the nectar is sweetened with sugar. It contains black currant juice, water, sugar and vitamin C. The concentrate is simply the juice that’s been squeezed from the berries and has had the water removed at a rate of 5/1. There are no preservatives, additives or sweeteners. To reconstitute it to a ready to drink beverage you would replace the water and sweeten it with the sweetener of your choice. Both can be used in many other recipes such as syrups for ice cream, desserts and pancakes, sauces and fillings.”

“Would the dried currants be as beneficial as the juice?” Margaret.

“As with any fruit or vegetable, the more that happens to it after it leaves the bush the more goodies it looses. The good news with Black Currants is that they are so high in so many nutrients and nutraceuticals to begin with that even when you loose some you’re still ahead of the game. Although we’ve never had a face off between the juice and the dried currants, I suspect the juice is a little bit higher in some of the benefits since the juice is retained. Having said that they’re both very healthy and delicious!”

“Are the frozen berries easy to chew and pleasant to swallow (not an overabundance of fiber and not bitter)?” Elaine.

“Fresh and frozen Black Currants are quite tart (not bitter). I love eating them right off the bush and fresh or thawed on my oatmeal and yogurt. Many folks, however, find them too tart (think raw cranberries) and prefer to sweeten them up a bit. It’s a personal preference.”

“Are the frozen berries already washed, stemmed, and ready to eat?” Elaine.

“The frozen berries are not washed or processed in any way. This is the best way to freeze them. It’s just as if you picked them yourself. They do run through a vacuum on the harvesting machine which removes most of the leaves and such but you will find stems and some strigs as well as the odd leaf bit which is easily removed. We don’t spray so everything is edible and many Eastern Europeans seek out the stems, strigs, branches and leaves to be made into teas for healthy skin.”

Currants, Black Currants, Blackcurrants, Zante currants, there’s much confusion about what to call our favorite little berry here in the U.S. and around the world. So many questions. Are Currants and Black currants the same? Are Black Currants and Blackcurrants the same? Do Blackcurrants or Black Currants have anything to do with Zante currants? There’s also a lot of different stories about how this all came about, so as the official Currant website for all things “Currant” we’d like to set the record straight.

One story, with many variations, which is simply copied from article to article without any research, claims that those little raisins were originally called currants by the Greeks for many years because they came from Corinth and the names sounded alike.

The Greeks never actually called their raisins “currants.” Blackcurrants or currants are not Greek words. The Greek work for raisin is Σταφίδες or stafides in the Latin alphabet.

The real story is that when the Greeks began to export the small dried grapes (raisins), from the Ionian Islands of Ζάκυνθος (Zakýnthos) and Κόρινθος (Kórinthos or Corinth), the Greek writing on the sides of the boxes of the first shipment was mistranslated from Zankynthos – Korinthos to Zante Currants.

Since the growing of the real currants had been banned for many years in the U.S. and few Americans knew what real Currants were any more, the name stuck and we now have 80+ years of cookbooks telling us to put a half cup of Zante currants, or more commonly the abbreviated “currants,” in our scones and soda bread when what they really mean is the special seedless, mini-raisin made from black Corinthian grapes.

Unfortunately, as much as we, at CurrantC™ would like to offer an all-natural dried currant with a great chewy texture and no sweetener, it’s not technologically possible. You see, while sugar of any kind is used to make things sweet, it also acts as a preservative. Dried Black Currants have no problems with bacteria because of their natural low pH but as with all fruits and berries, they are susceptible to mold so they need a preservative when dried to a chewy texture.

The four main choices of preservatives are salt, which doesn’t work flavor wise, smoke, same answer, artificial preservative, which we would never use or some type of sugar. Most fruits are naturally sweet and high enough in fructose to do the job which is why you can have raisins (dried grapes), dried figs, dried apricots, dried mangos, etc. without any “added” sugar. Currants on the other hand are very tart because they are extremely low in fructose and in the absence of one of the “added” sugars, one would have to dry all the moisture out of them to the consistency of a hard, un-chewable peppercorn to prevent mold. Cranberries, which are also very tart and low in fructose, have the same issue hence, you never see dried cranberries (Craisins) without added sweeteners.

So you see, “dried, as-harvested, currants” in the delicious chewy form that everyone loves, is just not possible. We have chosen to use grape juice to keep the product 100% fruit and it’s less objectionable than processed white sugar.

Be aware of “real dried currants” without added sweetener. For the reasons explained above, if the product is called “currant” or “Zante currant” or “Real currant”, Zante black currant or some variation thereof, and states no added sugar or no added sweetener, it has to be using it’s own natural fructose which means it’s not a currant but most likely a dried grape (raisin).  Since CurrantC™ introduced genuine currants to the U.S. with all their health benefits, many companies have begun to ride the wave and are intentionally mislabeling their small raisins as currants.

“I have a question regarding currant plant pests.  Last September I purchased 50 lbs. of your frozen currants, and there were some box-elder type bugs and larvae that I picked out of the berries.  Do you know what type of bug that was and is it toxic in any way?” Nancy F.

“Thanks for your question. I know this is unpleasant but they’re not toxic. No worries on that point.  I wish it didn’t happen but sometimes an insect slips through our inspection. There are always insects on our thousands of bushes all the time because we don’t spray insecticides. They’re part of a healthy eco-system. This is true with all produce that is produced on Organic farms or those that don’t use pesticides. The large population and variety of healthy birds (also a sign of a healthy eco-system) here on the currant farm do a really good job of dining on most of the bugs but they don’t get everyone. I’m sorry you found one of them. If you put the frozen currants in cold water for a bit, the occasional insect usually floats to the top.”

“Do deer Like Black/Red currants and do they eat the leaves?” Meredith C.

“Deer have been known to nibble the buds and leaves a little but it’s usually not a big problem.”

Important-Please note:

All frozen products will ship on Mondays to avoid getting stuck in transit and defrosting.  Orders received on Monday will ship the following Monday. If, however, you need an order to be delivered by a certain date, please contact us at 1-800-CurrantC and we’ll do our best to get it to you on time. 

*DUE TO THE POSSIBILITY OF SPOILAGE, FROZEN ITEMS CANNOT BE SHIPPED GROUND TO FOLLOWING STATES - AR, AZ, CA, CO, ID, KS, LA, MS, MT, ND, NE, NM, NV, OK, OR, SD, TX, UT, WA, WY 

“How do you ship the 32 oz concentrate without it thawing?” Elaine.

“The 32 oz concentrate sometimes gets soft in shipment but it’s never a problem. The pH of black currants prohibits any bacterial formation. Just keep it in the freezer when received. Even when frozen it is easily spoonable.”

Office Hours: Monday - Friday @ 9-4 pm

Phone: 1-800-CURRANTC

Email: info@currantc.com