One of the many joys of summer is the abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables. As a native of Michigan, which is rich in berries, I especially look forward to blackberry season. Every bite tastes like a burst of summer after a harsh Midwestern winter, and to this day, my mom still makes my great grandmother’s freezer jam recipe with fresh blackberries to remember the hot summer once the cold returns. A few years back when my family owned a bakery, though, my mom came back from the farmers market with a few cartons of black raspberries.

I’d never heard of these dark little berries before, but they were absolutely delicious out of hand. Similar in shape but slightly smaller, crunchier, and considerably sweeter than the more familiar blackberries, these new-to-me berries became fast favorites. We used them to make an icing to decorate lemon cupcakes, and within an hour, every last cupcake with black raspberry icing was gone. In the following days, our regular customers raved to us about the fruit—they were especially keen to know where we had gotten them, and when we would be getting more. To our dismay, they never reappeared.

These mysterious little berries left me with more questions than answers. After all this time, I decided it was time to get to the bottom of this mystery and learn more about black raspberries, where they grow, how they differ from blackberries, and why they’ve never again crossed my path.

How Blackberries and Black Raspberries Differ

Both blackberries and black raspberries belong to the plant family Rosaceae. More specifically, both belong to the genus Rubus, which also includes several other berries, including boysenberries, dewberries, and red raspberries. Most people are familiar with the more common red raspberry than the black raspberry, and while they are similar, they do have slight differences. For one, red raspberries are slightly tart. Black raspberries, on the other hand, are entirely sweet. Since both are raspberries, though, they do have similar flavors. 

Blackberries have been readily available on the national produce market since the mid 19th century. Their long history of availability, coupled with producers’ desires to increase yields—and therefore profits—has resulted in the development of new varieties of blackberries. Common blackberry cultivars that are often found at grocery stores and farmers markets include the award-winning Ouachita, which is prized for its flavor and large fruit, and the Triple Crown blackberry, which is regarded as one of the best varieties because of the integrity of the fruit’s post-harvest quality. Both were cultivated at the University of Alabama. Black raspberries, on the other hand, have remained a singular variety due to their lack of commercial availability.

Hybridizing blackberries refers to the cross-pollinating of one type of blackberry with another plant species to produce new characteristics in the resulting fruit. For more than a century, commercial producers have hybridized blackberries for a slew of new characteristics, including disease resistance, tolerance to both cold and warm weather, and more.

“You’ll find blackberries growing pretty far north, but also all the way down into the middle of Mexico, where it’s warm all the time,” says Marvin Pritts, Horticulture Professor and Chair in the School of Integrated Plant Science at Cornell University. “Most of these plants require a cold period to go dormant and make flower buds, and then the next year they flower and fruit. Some of the blackberries they develop now, they don’t really need to get that cold period. So you can grow them in warm climates and produce blackberries almost year round.”

Black raspberries, though, have remained in small-scale production due to their lack of familiarity. This is largely due to their smaller native growing area, which consists of the eastern United States from approximately Missouri to North Carolina and northward. Even if black raspberries appeared at a market outside their typical growing area, Pritts explains that berry producers believe it’s unlikely shoppers would recognize and take a chance on them. “If you’re a commercial operation and you’re supplying the whole country with fruit, you’ll want to produce things that everybody’s familiar with,” says Pritts. “The black raspberry market would be focused on just the Northeast.”

Aside from blackberries having a larger range of availability than black raspberries, here are some other ways the two berries differ, plus some similarities.

Season: Both berries differ in seasonal availability; black raspberries normally peak in June and July, while blackberry season typically occurs later in the summer than black raspberry season, with yields peaking in July and August and some going into September, depending on the year. As numerous new varieties of hybridized blackberries continue to enter the market, however, the blackberry’s natural growing season can begin earlier so commercial producers can have higher yields, sell more berries, and generate more profits. For example, the Arapaho, Kiowa, and Prime Ark Freedom blackberry varieties are known for their earlier ripening periods, which begin in June.

Appearance: Although slightly similar in appearance at first glance, blackberries and black raspberries have aesthetic differences upon closer inspection. Black raspberries have a hollow center once they’re picked, while blackberries remain solid. Additionally, blackberries are significantly larger than black raspberries, with some blackberry varieties bred and prized for their large size. 

Taste and texture: Both berries taste sweet, but the black raspberry is significantly sweeter. Blackberries are more tart, even throughout their hundreds of varieties, compared to black raspberries, but blackberries tend to be juicier than black raspberries. Finally black raspberries are crunchier than blackberries due to their numerous seeds .

Cost: Blackberries are almost always cheaper than black raspberries due to their large-scale cultivation, which spreads producers’ costs over a greater number of potential sales, especially in areas where black raspberries are imported as a specialty.

Does It Really Matter Which You Use?

Though similar, blackberries and black raspberries are each suited for different uses. Blackberries have a long and delicious history of being turned into jams and jellies, simmered into sticky-sweet compotes, and baked into cobblers. Black raspberries, on the other hand, boast a bold and sweet flavor without the need for sugar. People fortunate enough to live where black raspberries grow wild often pick them and enjoy them immediately out of hand, savoring their unadulterated flavor.

How to Substitute Blackberries for Black Raspberries and Vice Versa

Both berries can be swapped out for any purpose—Pritts says that while they differ, it ultimately comes down to personal preference. However, when substituting black raspberries for blackberries, cooks may need to make several adjustments to their recipes. Since black raspberries are smaller, they contain less juice than blackberries. This means a larger quantity of black raspberries may be required to create the same yield in a recipe even if measured by weight, since more of a black raspberry’s weight will be due to solid plant matter, like skin, stems, and seeds, than a juicier blackberry. A greater number of individual berries means a greater number of seeds in the final product, but this can be avoided if you strain the seeds from the berry juices. Additionally, since black raspberries are significantly sweeter, the amount of sugar may need to be reduced in order to remain palatable, but it’s important to note that changing the amount of sugar in jams, jellies, and fillings has the potential to alter the consistency of the final product.

“I work with all these fruits, but I’ll take black raspberries any day,” says Pritts. “Eating them fresh is no problem. But if I make a pie, I’ll oftentimes strain the seeds out just so it won’t be such a seedy pie.”

The Takeaway

Both blackberries and black raspberries are excellent for snacking on raw and using in the kitchen. Similar in appearance but different in size, growing area, availability, and flavor, both berries can be used in similar ways. Black raspberries, though, are wholly distinct and unlike any other berry out there, and worth trying at least once—if you’re lucky enough to find them.