I live on the East coast, and I believe the only cherries I’ve seen in the store are the standard solid red ones. Yet when I was in Seattle, I saw these lighter Rainier cherries at the Pike Place market. I was intrigued, but I didn’t buy any because I was still slowly working my way through a basket of the regular type.
Do these ever get out to the East coast? How are they different from the standard (Bing?) cherries?
Coloration, slightly different flavor.
Think the difference between a braeburn apple and a gala apple.
Same fruit, different varietal.
FWIW, you can get Rainier cherries in both Louisiana and Mississippi. Next time I go shopping, I am going to check if the available Rainier cherries are actually grown in Washington state – I can’t confirm that right now from memory.
You can get them in Maryland, but they’re about $6 a pound.
I love them, they don’t have quite as strong a cherry flavor as bing (red) cherries. They’re expensive out here too (6.99/lb regular), and only available for a few months in the summer. When I was living in NJ I never saw them in the stores… maybe a speciality grocery store would have them, if you really want to try them.
Here’s an article - bordering on an advertisment for a particular farm - that I found interesting. Apparently when properly farmed, they are big and sweet and orgasmic. But some greedy farmers have planted their trees too close together and use reflectors to make the cherries redder without sweetening the flavor.
They should be larger and sweeter than bings. But lately they’ve been smaller and a bit more bland. And now they’re growing them in California, whereas before I think they were all from Washington. This seems to explain that.
A few weeks ago I bought some Rainier cherries at a Wegmen’s store in New Jersey. You can get them on the east coast, but rarely.
I can drive for 10 minutes in the area I live and pass at least 3 folks selling Rainier cherries from small roadside stands. I bought a couple pounds yesterday and we already pigged out on all of them. My wife, who hates anything cherry even likes them.
I have a bowl full of them in the fridge and gave a bowl to my “almost daughter” to take to work. They are so sweet and fresh.
I’m here in Nashville, but I confess to never having found them before last Monday.
Can someone tell me the difference between Rainier Cherries and Royal Ann/Queen Ann Cherries? I’d never even heard of Rainier Cherries until last year during cherry season, when I called some white & red cherries “Queen Anns” at the exact moment that a friend from Kentucky called them “Rainiers”.
This was in Northern New Mexico, at the local farmers’ market, if that helps. I’d love to know what I was eating and enjoying so much.