Which Cherries Are the Sweetest?

Cherries are more than the simple red variety that most people may be familiar with. If you were to go to a market during cherry season, you’d likely find a sea of colors.

There are all kinds of shades of cherries, from red mixed with yellow to ones so dark they’re nearly black. It’s enough to overwhelm a person, especially when you only have a single question: Which cherries are the sweetest?

There are far more varieties of sweet cherries than there are of the tart varieties. So when you’re asking which cherries are the sweetest, you have options. But if you want to know which cherries are the sweetest of the sweetest, that would be any of the black cherries.

Bing cherries are the leader of this pack, along with their siblings Lambert, Chelan, Sweetheart, and Tulare. You can recognize them by their dark color and heart shape. These are all incredibly juicy and very sweet — so much so that they’ve been compared to candy when eaten fresh. Chukar Cherries begins with cherries that have ripened on the tree a few extra weeks—optimizing their natural brix (sugar content). We then dry the cherries without preservatives or sulfites and turn them into a variety of wholesome snacks and chocolates.

Sweet Cherries vs. Tart Cherries

Between the sweet black cherries and something like the tart Montmorency, your best bet depends on your individual tastes. You can use black cherries in your recipes and drinks, but there’s a chance it may make the product taste sweeter than you might prefer.

What makes the sweet cherry shine is its ability to be eaten fresh from the bag or basket.

You can use it as a snack throughout the day, perhaps even pairing it with some goat cheese and thyme. Or you could let it sit in a bowl of ice and water and enjoy a crisp and perfectly chilled treat. In addition to drying sweet cherries, Chukar turns them into a variety of preserves and pie fillings, even making dark, sweet Dessert Cherries.

Regardless of what you do, there’s no denying the perfect experience of a ripe sweet cherry.


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