A 1970s German hybrid combining blackcurrant and gooseberry — thornless, vigorous, productive, and almost unknown commercially despite decades of championing by horticulture writers.
A laboratory hybrid
Jostaberry was created by German horticulturist Rudolf Bauer in 1977, after decades of crossing experiments at the Max Planck Institute. The breeding goal was a fruit combining:
- Blackcurrant’s rich complex flavor and high vitamin C
- Gooseberry’s larger fruit size and vigor
- A thornless plant for easy harvest
The name “Josta” comes from combining the German Johannisbeere (blackcurrant) and Stachelbeere (gooseberry).
Why it never took off commercially
Despite favorable reviews from gardening writers, jostaberry never broke into commercial production. The reasons are a mix:
- The fruit doesn’t quite match either parent in flavor — neither as intense as blackcurrant nor as fresh as gooseberry
- Existing commercial supply chains are organized around blackcurrant or gooseberry, not a hybrid
- Consumer recognition of “jostaberry” is essentially zero outside hobby gardening
The plant is mainly grown by home gardeners and small-orchard enthusiasts. A handful of UK and Scandinavian fruit-juice companies use jostaberry in mixed-berry blends.
A gardener’s dream plant
For backyard gardeners, jostaberry is almost ideal:
- Self-fertile, doesn’t need a partner plant
- Thornless (unlike gooseberry)
- Resistant to white-pine blister rust (unlike blackcurrant)
- Highly productive — a mature bush yields kilos of fruit
- Cold-hardy and disease-resistant
Garden writers consistently rank jostaberry as one of the most underrated home-fruit plants — productive, easy, and rewarding.
A flavor between two parents
Eating a fresh jostaberry is a slightly disorienting experience — the texture and skin remind of blackcurrant, but the flavor is milder and more akin to gooseberry. It’s not as instantly recognizable as either parent, which is part of why it remains a curiosity rather than a market hit.
Cooked into jam or pie, however, jostaberry produces a deeply colored, complex preserve that many home cooks prize.