All the Berries, Ranked
Photo by Shutterstock1/13#13: Strawberries
Caution: These berries will crush your spirit. Don't get me wrong. I love a ripe, ruby-red strawberry. But most supermarket strawberries ain't that. Instead, they taste more like wet cotton and sweet chemicals.
Photo by Shutterstock2/13#12: Cape Gooseberries
Sure, these husk-wrapped tomatillo cousins are technically berries. But they subvert every reasonable expectation a berry-eater has. You can enjoy their tart, mildly vegetal flavor. Just don't call it a berry.
3/13#11: Blackberries
Truth time: Has anyone ever really enjoyed eating a blackberry? Bite into one of these fleshy berry monsters, and you're usually clobbered by tartness. Blackberries are the bitter, crabby uncle no one really likes.
Photo by Shutterstock4/13#10: Cloudberries
Cloudberries are beloved across Scandinavia, Russia, and beyond, and never farmed, only foraged. The elusive berries are packed with nutrients and a delicate sweet-tart flavor. And they are, frankly, too cool for us. Why eat a berry with a pedigree that's fancier than we are?
Photo by Shutterstock5/13#9: Cranberries
All due respect to the cranberry, a single-use berry that certainly has its place on the Thanksgiving table. But honestly, is there any other time of year when you really crave it? And don't even get me started on dried cranberries (aka "craisins"), the insipid sugar-bombs that are thrown into food when people run out of better ideas.
Photo by Shutterstock6/13#8: Gooseberries
Pop one of these puppies in your mouth, and you will be punished by puckeriness. But all is not lost. Cook down those gooseberries, fold in some whipped cream and sugar, and you will be rewarded with a Gooseberry Fool, a heavenly mix of tart and creamy that just might rule your summer.
Photo by Shutterstock7/13#7: Blueberries
Blueberries will take you on a roller coaster of emotions. Sometimes they're mushy and bland. Sometimes they're hard and too tart. But when you hit them at the Goldilocks stage, few berries rival their sweet woodsy flavor.
Photo by Shutterstock8/13#6: Raspberries
It's hard to argue with a raspberry—they're the Tom Hanks of the berry family. They're delicious eaten straight, and play well with other fruit in muffins, crumbles, and pies. Just be sure to give the box of berries a sniff before purchasing—if they don't smell like anything, they won't taste like anything, either.
Photo by Shutterstock9/13#5: Black Raspberries
With a firmer texture and an earthier flavor than regular raspberries, black raspberries put the supermarket variety to shame. If you spot them at the farmers' market, grab two boxes: one to eat straight, and one to throw into pretty much any summer dessert you can think of.
Photo by Shutterstock10/13#4: Fraises de Bois
These tiny "berries of the forest", aka wild strawberries, are like the distilled essence of strawberry. In fact, they're so packed with strawberry flavor, they almost taste artificial (but in a really good way). The only downside? Their invariably mushy texture. But that's a small price to pay when eating a handful makes you feel like a fairy princess.
Photo by Shutterstock11/13#3: Huckleberries
Like blueberries, huckleberries are native to America. And thanks to their inclusion in slang, literature, and popular culture, huckleberries are even more patriotic than their supermarket cousins. Swap them in for blueberries in any recipe—especially pie.
Photo by Shutterstock12/13#2: Boysenberries
A magical cross between raspberries, loganberries, and blackberries, this variety was popularized by Walter Knott (of Knott's Berry Farm fame) in 1932, and has earned a cult following for its deeply perfumed sweetness. They're tricky to grow and so ripe they start turning to jam almost immediately after picking. If you get your hands on a handful, you've reached berry nirvana.
Photo by Shutterstock13/13#1: Farmers' Market Strawberries
Oh, the irony—that strawberries are both the best and worst berry on this highly unscientific list. But that's just how big a difference it makes where you buy them. Supermarket strawberries pale, literally and culinarily, before the ruby-red, ripe strawberries you find at the farmers' market. The deep perfume and scarlet color of heirloom varieties like the Tri-Star put every other berry to shame. The only challenge? Saving enough of them to make strawberry shortcake.
