Summer fruits such as cherries come in a variety of sweet, sour, and tart varieties. Sweet cherries may be eaten straight from the tree or utilized in desserts, and they have a crimson, blackish crimson, or yellow tint. Tart cherry varieties are typically too acidic to consume fresh, so they’re ideal for cherry pie.
Dark red Bing cherries, black Chelan cherries, and Lapins sweet dark cherries are some of the most popular varieties of sweet cherries. Montmorency and Morello cherries are the two most common types of sour cherries. Other types of sweet cherries have yellow skin with a light red blush and yellow flesh, in addition to red or dark red kinds of cherries.
Cherries come in a variety of colors and sizes. The sweetness or tartness of cherries is the most common way to classify them. The various types of cherries are discussed in this article. Their characteristics, flavor, sweetness/tartness, and ripening times will all be discussed.
Tart Cherry vs. Sweet Cherry
Pitted fruits of both sweet and tart cherries (Prunus avium and Prunus cerasus) are nutrient-rich. The acidity and sugar levels are the most different between tart and sweet cherries. When cooking with cherries, tart or sour cherries are the best option. Their sweet, acidic flavor is suitable for a wide variety of cooking applications, which is why. Therefore, you may make jams, fruit pies, preserves, or juice with tart cherries instead of sweet cherries because they are the sort of cherries to consume fresh.
Sweet cherries and sour cherries, on the other hand, have more differences than just their flavor. While all cherry types are antioxidant-rich, research has shown that cherry types contain more antioxidants than other types. Many individuals utilize tart cherries to treat a variety of health concerns because of their various medicinal properties.
Types of Sweet Cherries (With Pictures and Names)
Let’s explore the many different types of sweet cherries available for fresh consumption in further depth.
Bing Cherries
The Bing cherry (Prunus avium ‘Bing’) is a sweet cherry with a deep crimson skin and a wonderfully delicious flavor. It’s clear why fresh sweet Bing cherries are so popular among consumers. They’re a big, black cherry with a heart-shaped core. Their firm flesh is surrounded by shiny dark red skin. This kind of cherry gets sweeter and darkens as it matures.
In hot, bright, arid environments, Bing cherry trees thrive best. This sweet cherry variety is often seen early in the season due to its moderate maturity. Bing cherries, like other types of tart cherries, are packed with health-boosting antioxidants and are therefore very good for you. Sweet Bing cherries, for example, have been linked to lower inflammation in men and women via some research.
Rainier Cherries
Rainier cherries are one of the finest options if you’re looking for a delightfully sweet yellow cherry. Many people consider this yellow-red colored cherry to be a premium cherry variety because of its high quality. Sweet creamy flesh that is likewise yellow is covered by a thin yellowish skin. The skin takes on reddish tints as the cherries approach the halfway point in their development during summer.
Rainier cherries take on a two-toned appearance with red and yellow hues when they are completely mature. This kind of cherry is considered to be among the best in the Washington cherry crop. Mount Rainier in Washington State is the name of this cherry cultivar, which is a cross between Bing and Van cherries. This cherry variety is classified as a sweet cherry, yet it has a somewhat sour flavor that many people prefer.
Tulare Cherries
The Tulare cherry, which has a dark red color comparable to Bing cherries, is another kind of sweet cherry. The juicey red cherries of tulare cherry trees have a firm flesh that is somewhat softer than that of the Bing types. Tulare cherries have a tangy aftertaste, which is one of the differences between them and Bing cherries.
Tulare cherries, on the other hand, are a versatile cherry since they taste just as good in sweet and savory recipes. Just after Bing cherries arrive, you may expect to find fresh ripe Tulare cherries in stores.
Lambert Cherries
Another kind of crimson sweet cherry is Lambert cherries, which are one of the bigger cherry species. The red to crimson skin and flesh of this popular large cherry variety is of similar hue. Several sort of these cherries may acquire extremely dark, almost black skin depending on their maturity.
They’re full of flavor and are great to eat while sipping on a beer. Lambert cherries have a spherical heart similar to Bing cherries. Sweet Lambert cherries are excellent for cooking with because of their firm flesh when baked. To add flavor to cherry pies, you can mix them with tart cherries.
Coral Cherries
Coral cherry trees produce a lot of fruit in the summer, and they are a favorite sort of pink cherry. The skin of this kind of big firm cherry fruit is bright pink-red, and the flesh inside is vivid pink. Biting into these sweet cherries provides a lot of sweetness with virtually no acidity. Coral cherries might be among the first types of cherries you’ll discover if you’re trying to purchase one of the most delicious. When compared to big Bing cherries, ‘Corals’ ripen 10 days before.
They have a comparable sweetness to the Bing cultivars, despite looking different from Bing cherries. This kind of cherry prefers warm climates and requires yearly watering throughout the growing season. From mid-June till the beginning of August, Lambert cherries are usually accessible.
Lapins Cherries
Lapins cherries are a huge, sweet red kind of fleshy stone fruit that ripens to a dark crimson color. When Lapins cherries are still bright red, they are quite sweet. Because they ripen and their sweetness increases as the skin darkens, most varieties of sweet cherries may still be somewhat bitter. Their skin is practically a dark purple color when they are completely ripe in July (roughly two weeks after Bing cherries).
The fruit of Lapins cherry trees is excellent. It’s possible to grow a huge crimson fruit as large as an inch! Lapins cherries are particularly hardy, which is one of the reasons they are such a popular kind of cherry to cultivate. Lapins are resistant to cracking and disease, unlike Bing cultivars. A cultivar of Lapins cherries was created by crossing Stella and Van cherries.
Royal Ann Cherry
Royal Ann is a yellow cherry variety with a sweet-sour flavor and is a excellent and flavorful cherry to eat fresh. It has a similar appearance and flavor to Rainier cherries. Royal Ann cherries look and taste a lot like Rainier cherries in many ways. Their skin is yellow, but when it turns red, it blushes. These cherry fruits may also become light pink in color as they mature.
Because of its firm flesh and slightly acidic flavor, this sort of cherry is quite versatile. This is a suitable cherry variety to consume fresh or prepare preserves or canning with since it has a sweet-tart flavor. Royal Ann cherry trees prefer a temperate environment and should only be planted in your garden if you’re thinking about it. The soil should drain properly and they should be given enough sunlight.
Chelan Cherry
The classification of “black sweet cherries” includes cherries from the Chelan cherry tree, which ripen early. One of the varieties of “Washington” cherries that has grown in popularity across the globe is this cherry variety. While the fruit is still immature, its skin is a pale red color; however, once it is fully mature, it becomes a dark red color. Almost two weeks before Bing cherries are ready to harvest, this sweet cherry fruit ripens.
Chelans aren’t as sweet as Bing cherries when compared to them. Chelan cherries have a particularly powerful flavor, which is one of their appealing qualities. The huge fruit contains firm, juicy flesh protected by a crimson-purple skin. They have a longer shelf life than some other cherry varieties because this is a hardy type of cherry.
Skeena Cherries
Skeena cherry trees, which originated in Canada and give huge vivid crimson or mahogany-colored fruit, are a kind of cherry cultivar. Skeena cherries come late in the season when compared to other varieties of cherries like Bing and Chelans. Around 2 weeks after Bing cherries, the black red cherry fruits are typically ready to pick. In comparison to other types of cherries, however, they are extremely sweet and huge. When you bite into Skeena cherry flesh, it is firm and dark red. It is very juicy.
Sweetheart Cherries
The Sweetheart cherry is another of Canada’s brightest red cherry varieties. The Sweetheart cherry ripens late in the season, as do other Canadian cherry cultivars. In reality, the Bing harvest takes roughly three weeks. Since it is classified as a sweet cherry and resembles a heart, Sweetheart is an appropriate moniker. The pitted fruits have a shelf life and have a solid feel. As a result, even after other cherries have sold out, you may frequently find Sweetheart cherries in stores.
Van Cherries
The Van cherry tree, which comes from Canada and produces a lot of medium-sized cherries, is a hardy fruit tree. As they mature in the mid-summer, cherries that develop on Van cherry trees acquire a dark, virtually black skin. While not as sweet as some of the other sweet cherries on this list, their flesh is slightly sweet.
Utah Giant Cherries
The Utah Giant cherry variety is a great option if you’re looking for a big, sweet, flavorful kind of cherry. Utah Giant cherries have a wonderfully sweet flavor when you bite into the firm fruit, although they are not as popular as Bing cherries. Utah Giants are, in fact, both bigger and sweeter than Bing cherries. The sweet, succulent dark red flesh is covered in bright crimsons.
Stella Cherries
Stella cherries are a delicious, heart-shaped red sweet cherry. Other sweet cherry cultivars, most notably Chelan cherries, have been developed from this hardy variety of cherry. Because they produce so much high-quality fruit, Stella cherry trees are popular among gardeners. Around the same time as Bing cherries, Stella cherries ripen.
Types of Sour (Tart) Cherries
Because of their smaller size and acidic taste, sour cherries (Prunus cerasus) are also known as dwarf or tart cherries. These types of cherries, on the other hand, have a acidic flavor that makes them ideal for cooking. Typically, only a few people consume sour cherries as fresh cherries because of the sharp flavor.
Montmorency Cherry
The Montmorency cherry is the most popular sour cherry variety, and it’s also the most popular. This tiny cherry is a variety of tart cherry known as Amarelle and has a very bitter flavor. A lot of bright red sour cherries are produced by Montmorency cherry trees. The fruit of certain cherry cultivars is also red-colored, although it is somewhat darker in hue.
These cherries are often the principal ingredient in pies because they are the most common type of sour cherry. For preserving and jams, Montmorency cherries are also a common ingredient. You may also purchase dried cherries and tart cherry juice because of the numerous health advantages of sour cherries, such as Montmorency. In reality, according to research, this kind of sour cherry has strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Melatonin and anthocyanins are two chemicals found in sour cherries.
Morello Cherry
The Morello cherry is a dark-red sour cherry with dark crimson to near-black skin that is ideal for producing baked goods. Northern Kriek or Schattenmorello are two names for Morello cherries. Souring Morello cherries and their sweeter counterparts may be difficult to distinguish visually. Nonetheless, due to its bitterness, biting into this bitter cherry is likely to make your cheeks flush.
Morellos, like all types of cherries, become more sweet as they mature. Fresh Morello cherries, on the other hand, are normally only available when they have fully ripened due to their bitterness. Cherry juice, cherry pies, and other baked goods can all be made with tart cherries like Morellos. A fruit salad may be given a unique tanginess by sprinkling a few sour cherries among the other sweet fruits.