Ingredients · Fruit

Currant

Ribes spp. (see note) · Grossulariaceae (currant family)

Currant
The label says only currants, which is genuinely ambiguous, and this profile will not pretend otherwise. The word covers two unrelated things: Ribes berries — black, red and white currants, which are what a fruit tea usually means — and Zante currants, which are small dried grapes named for Corinth and have nothing to do with them. Three products here carry the unqualified word. In the blends they sit in, alongside other berries, the Ribes reading is far more likely, but the supplier is the only one who can settle it.

What it’s like, and how to use it

The partBerry
KindFruit
CaffeineCaffeine-free
TasteTart and deep if Ribes; sweet and raisin-like if dried grape — which is exactly why the label matters

How to use it

Depends entirely on which one it is. Ribes currants are tart and belong in a berry infusion; dried grapes are sweet and belong in a dessert blend. Taste before assuming.

With food

If Ribes: cream, lamb, almond, vanilla. If dried grape: cinnamon, oats, nuts, rum.

With spices

Vanilla and cinnamon suit either. Star anise and lemon peel for the tart reading; clove and nutmeg for the sweet.

With tea

Rooibos and black tea, which are the bases it appears on here.

Its story

Where it comes from

Unconfirmed, as is the species. See black-currant and red-currant for the two Ribes profiles; see raisin for the dried-grape sense of the word.

What happened

The confusion is old and comes from a resemblance. When Ribes berries were first cultivated in northern Europe, they were named for the small dried grapes already known in trade as raisins of Corinth — corinths, then currants. So a northern European berry took the name of a Greek grape it does not resemble in anything but size, and English has been mildly confused ever since. Most other European languages keep the two apart.

On the shelf with it

Every product it goes into.

Every ingredient in the shop

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Other ways in

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