Are Blackberries Sour?

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When ripe and sweet, blackberries are the perfect summer fruit — they are usually available in abundance and often grow wild. They are also an easy berry to grow at home and can be so much fun to pick off and eat!

However, blackberries are not always sweet — different conditions, as well as the ripeness of the blackberries, can cause them to taste slightly bitter.

Are blackberries sour? Blackberries can be sour and bitter sometimes instead of offering that sweet, berry flavor you probably were hoping for. This mostly has to do with how ripe the blackberry is — unripe blackberries are sour and bitter, while fully ripe blackberries are sweet.

To find out more about why blackberries might be sour, how to know when they are sweet, and what to do with blackberries, read on!

How Sour Are Blackberries?

Blackberries can taste very sour and very bitter when not ripe. Depending on how unripe they are, they will have very little sweetness to them, giving them a rather unpleasant taste.

You might find both sweet and sour blackberries on one plant, as the berries would be ripening at different times, and therefore not taste the same.

Unripe berries are sour and bitter to start — as they ripen, they take on more sweetness. Once fully ripe, blackberries should have no bitterness or sourness.

So, the question of how sour blackberries are depends on when you harvest them! Very unripe blackberries will be very sour and very bitter, but the longer they are left to ripen, the sweeter they will be!

What Do Ripe Blackberries Taste Like?

Ripe blackberries are beautiful. They have a deep, purple inky sheen on the outside, and have the perfect balance of flavors.

Once ripe, blackberries are soft, succulent, and wonderfully juicy. The flavor is sweet and with some earthy undertones — there is some tartness to it, but this is balanced out by the sweetness of the berry.

What Do Unripe Blackberries Taste Like?

Unripe blackberries are not as pleasant to eat as their ripe counterparts. Unripe blackberries can be sour, bitter, and can even taste soapy. They will also not be as juicy as ripe blackberries and will have a firmer texture as well.

How sour or bitter a blackberry tastes does depend on how long it was left to ripen for, but generally, unless fully ripe, a blackberry will have stronger sour and bitter notes with little to no sweetness.

What To Do With Sour Blackberries

If you have a batch of sour blackberries, there is no need to throw them all away!

Once you have picked the sweet blackberries out of the batch, there are some things you can do to save the blackberries and to even out the sourness and bitterness.

Here’s how you can make the most of sour blackberries!

Balance The Flavors

One of the best ways you can balance out the bitterness of the blackberries is to add some fat to them to make the bitterness milder.

One of the best options for this is to add the sour blackberries to ice cream, vanilla being the best option. The fat and sweetness from the vanilla ice cream balance out the bitterness of the blackberries beautifully.

Another option is to enjoy the blackberries with some whipped cream. This works just the same as the ice cream by canceling out the overwhelming bitterness.

If you are wanting something more savory, then look to serve the bitter blackberries with some cheese — whether paired together on crackers or served on a charcuterie board.

There are other ways to balance out the flavors, such as adding the blackberries to a salad dressing with some olive oil or adding them to a savory salad to bring some tartness to the dish.

Remove The Seeds

With unripe blackberries, most of the sourness is found in the seeds.

It would take you ages to remove the seeds from individual blackberries to eat fresh, but you can strain the blackberries through a sieve and use the mushed blackberries for a sauce or for ice cream.

Add Sweetness

One of the obvious ways you can enjoy sour and bitter blackberries is to add some sweetness to them. This can be done with some sugar and honey and is a great way to make jams, sauces, and pies with blackberries.

This is a great way to use unripe blackberries and not have them go to waste! You could also consider mixing some sweeter fruits with the blackberries if you don’t want to add a sweetener such as sugar or honey.

Cook The Blackberries

A good way to break down the bitterness and the sourness in blackberries is to put them on heat.

There are many things you can make with unripe blackberries, such as blackberry pie, blackberry crisp, blackberry jam, blackberry sauce, and so on. You can also add sugar during this process, which helps break down the bitterness even more.

Making a sauce with blackberries gives you many options as well — you can freeze it in smaller portions and use it for so many different things, such as sauces, smoothies, and ice creams!

Why Are My Blackberries Sour?

There are a few reasons why blackberries might be sour, with the main reason being that they are unripe.

Take a read through the below reasons as to why the blackberries you have picked might be sour!

They Are Not Ripe

As we mentioned above, unripe blackberries are sour and bitter, and there really is no way around this. The blackberries will not ripen once picked.

It can also be difficult to tell when blackberries are ripe because there is not too much of a difference between ripe and unripe blackberries.

The best way to tell if a blackberry is unripe is to look at the color and surface. An unripe blackberry would be lighter in color and will be slightly shiny. It will also be firmer to the touch than a ripe blackberry.

The Type Of Blackberry

There are many different strains of blackberries — some are sweeter, while others tend to be more bitter, even when ripen.

One easy way to tell this is to look at how many seeds are on the blackberry. If there are quite a lot of seeds present on the blackberry, then it is likely that it will be part of the more sour strain.

Climate

The climate also plays a role in the taste of the blackberries. They do well in a moist environment and need a certain amount of water in the harvesting season to help develop sweet blackberries.

Blackberries that are grown in drier climates can develop a sour taste even when ripe, so if you are growing blackberries, then it is important to water them often and check that the soil does not become too dry.

What Color Are Ripe Blackberries?

As the name suggests, blackberries are black in color when they are ripe.

When the berries first begin to grow, they are light green, as they begin to ripen, they turn red, and when they are fully ripe, they turn an inky black color.

Avoid picking blackberries that are green, red, or dark red, as these will likely be sour.

Can Blackberries Taste Soapy?

Aside from tasting bitter and sour, blackberries can also taste soapy. This is because blackberries can contain two aldehyde compounds, saponins and decenal, that are actually used to make soap foam.

This is the same soapy taste that people pick up in cilantro, as it has the two compounds as well.

Some blackberries will taste soapier than others — it depends on the strain and the number of compounds found in the blackberries.

Final Thoughts

Blackberries can have a very sour taste to them, but this is mostly when they are unripe and when they have been picked or harvested too early.

Ripe blackberries should have a sweet and slightly tart flavor, and be juicy and soft.

It can be hard to tell unripe blackberries apart from ripe blackberries, so if you find yourself with a bunch of unripe blackberries, you do not have to throw them away.

There are many ways you can balance out the bitter and sour flavor of unripe blackberries, such as cooking them down, adding them to ice cream or whipped cream, and adding sugar to make blackberry sauce or jam.