Plant description

 Aronia, which carries the common name of chokeberry, is a deciduous shrub native to North America where it can be found growing wild in regions ranging from Nova Scotia to Florida and throughout the Midwest. It has dark green foliage that turns red in the fall. White flowers appear in the spring, giving way to deep purple, almost black, berries. Its beauty has led to its use as an ornamental shrub in North America, and it is particularly useful in absorbing swampy areas. The berries are very tart from the high content of tannins, but just before harvest they sweeten.

The plant was introduced to Russia in the late 1800s and subsequently cultivated throughout Central and Eastern European countries. The plant has been widely studied in these countries in state-directed research programs seeking to improve health through the use of natural products for food and medicinal use. It has gained popularity as a healthy food source with its fruits and juice used commercially and for home cooking in beverages, jams, fillings, wines etc. The aronia juice has a unique taste, with a pleasant tartness somewhat similar to cranberry but with sweeter low notes as in blackberry. Its juice and extracts from the berries have also been used medicinally.

What do Aronia berries taste like?
Taste is difficult to describe and not all things taste the same to all people. Aronia berries have a distinctive, pleasant flavour. Astringency is the sensation that most people notice first. The berries will make your mouth pucker. This dry mouth felling is caused by chemicals known as tannins. Tannins make wines dry. Many people like that dry, mouth puckering quality of dry wines and aronia berries. Frezing reduces the astringency and makes it easier to extract the juice. When fully ripe, aronia berries have a sugar content as high as grapes or sweet cherries. They have a high acid content (low pH) but are not sour when ripe.