Homebrew Underground

It’s been awhile since I posted the recipe for Black Currant Liqueur (crème de cassis). When I first made the liqueur, dried black currants were readily available. I just happened to get lucky when I put together the recipe for the first time and the liqueur turned out really well.

I originally obtained the dried black currants locally from Trader Joe’s (image to right). The dried fruit was of exceptional quality. I was disappointed to find out later that Trader Joe’s decided not to sell them anymore. They said it was due to low sales. I suppose that’s because black currants are not very well known in the USA and people were just not used to buying them.

That’s a shame because black currants have some of the highest levels of anti-oxidants of any fruit and they are very healthy and delicious. Hopefully, this will change over time and they will become more popular and more readily available. Maybe Trader Joe’s will start stocking them again.

According to Wikipedia, black currants used to be popular in the USA. In the early 1900s they were banned in the United States because of a fungus. In 1966 jurisdiction for the nationwide ban was referred to individual states. Since then, some states have allowed them to be grown and they are starting to make a comeback. So things are looking up.

New Supplier For Dried Black Currants

Lately, I have found a new supplier for dried black currants in the USA. They are available under the brand name “Good Sense” from Waymouth Farms Inc. out of  New Hope, MN (image to right). You can order them online from Amazon.com. I don’t know if they will be available year-round, but I was able to get some in late August, 2010.

I started a batch of black currant liqueur from this brand of dried fruit and so far, it looks like it’s going to work. The day after starting the batch I could see that it was starting to thicken up plus I could see a nice reddish-blue coating inside the jar when it was agitated. This is a good sign.

Both brands of dried black currants (from Trader Joe’s and Good Sense) were imported from the Netherlands, so maybe there is a connection. It’s been a couple of years since I was able to make the liqueur because I couldn’t find a suppler for the dried fruit. So this is a heads up to anyone out there who had the same problem. You can get dried black currants from Good Sense.