Ribes rubrum Currant ‘Blanca’

Blanca is a very productive white Currant and a preferred variety for winemaking. Like me, Blanca has a Swedish origin. The sparkling translucent fruit clusters are large, sweet, very ornamental and are delicious fresh or made into juice. The fruit is loaded with antioxidants, vit C and magnesium. Blanca is late blooming and usually isn’t damaged by spring frost. Sun-part shade. 4-5ft tall and wide.

Taste: There’s a tanginess reminiscent of gooseberries, but they are significantly sweeter than their black and red counterparts. There’s a floral aroma and complex flavors with hints of kiwi, sour cherry and muscat grape. This complexity of sweet flavors in white currants lends itself well to winemaking.

Other ways to use your currant bushes: The essence of the currant can be found in the edible leaves. You can use black currant, red currant and white currant leaves steeped as an infusion to make a Very tasty tea with a distinct currant-like flavor. Using currant leaves in tea is widespread in Eastern Europe and Sweden. Not only are the steeped leaves tasty, they contain large amounts of polyphenols, anthocyanins and antioxidants. Young leaves are used in the Finnish summer drink known as ‘Louhisaari’ For food preservation; currant leaves contain tannins which help keep pickles or other fermented foods crisp. When enjoying a freash cup of currant leaf tea, feel free to grab an organic cotton- ball. It makes a nice face toner!