Honeyberry

Get to know it

Honeyberry, also called haskap, is a little blue fruit usually described as a cross between blueberry and raspberry, with a tart zing. Its thin skin dissolves quickly as you eat, and its seeds are tiny, much like a kiwi's.

What it is

Honeyberry is the fruit of a honeysuckle, Lonicera caerulea. The berries are dark blue and elongated, roughly 1.3–2.5 cm (½–1 in) long. Their skin is thin and dissolves quickly, and the seeds are tiny.

Varieties matter. Borealis and Tundra were bred for much larger, better-tasting fruit than the Russian varieties sold in North America at the time. The later-ripening Boreal Beauty, Boreal Beast and Boreal Blizzard extend the picking season.

Where it comes from

The plant comes from cold regions across Europe, Asia and North America. Haskap has long grown wild in Hokkaido, Japan’s northern island. About 40 years ago, farmers there began growing plants moved from wild stands near Chitose and Tomakomai, and today berries from Kurisawa, Atsuma, Furano and Chitose go into local sweets.

In Canada, Borealis and Tundra were released in 2007 from crosses between Russian and Kuril Island plants.

How it's eaten where it grows

In Chitose, Hokkaido, haskap fills Haskapp Jewelry, a sweet first made in 1978. Sweet-tart haskap jam and buttercream sit between thin cookies, with a border of chocolate. The point is the berry’s sourness.

At Deb’s Berry Farm near Newhall, Iowa, honeyberries are sold fresh and also made into juice and jam.

How it's grown

Honeyberries grow on small shrubs about 1.2–1.8 m (4–6 ft) tall that work well in town yards. A good crop needs two different varieties to provide pollen for each other. Bushes often bear a few berries the year after planting, but it usually takes three or four years before each gives a few kilos.

Early and late varieties spread the harvest, so the choice of plants decides when picking starts and how long it lasts.

When and where you'll find it

On the Canadian Prairies, the usual harvest is late June to early July. In the US, pick-your-own farms, farm sales and farmers’ markets are the main routes to fresh berries. Once picked, they keep for three to five days in the refrigerator.

Beyond the fresh season, there are frozen berries and fruit products from growers, including in New Brunswick. Honeyberry also travels as powder: Arctic Farms makes a freeze-dried version with organic honeyberry as its only ingredient.

Sources · 8

Get it near Detroit

What it tastes like

Softer than a pear, as tart as a kiwifruit≈

Not sweetlemonbananaSweet

MildbananalemonSour

SoftbananaappleCrisp

More about the taste

Honeyberry has been compared to blueberry and strawberry, with an added sharp note.

Choose, ripen, store, eat

1ChooseBlue skin alone
Ignore
Blue skin alone
Color change alone
Ask whether ripeness was checked beyond blue skin. Taste a few: a green, grassy interior means it isn't ripe yet. Some varieties ripen all at once; others need repeated picking.
2RipenHoneyberries color up before they're ready and keep sweetening on the shrub
Honeyberries color up before they're ready and keep sweetening on the shrub.
3StoreFridge, picked5 days
1. FridgePickedBag or containerUp to 5 days
Refrigerate honeyberries promptly after picking; they keep about 3–5 days in a bag or container.
4EatBerries
Eat
Berries
Honeyberries have thin skin and tiny seeds; they're eaten fresh and used in pastries, jam, juice and sauces. Don't identify an unknown honeysuckle berry by its resemblance to a blueberry.

More tips

Worth knowing

On known edible haskap plants, berries turn blue before they're ripe inside; open and taste a few before harvesting a whole batch.
Well-managed chilling can keep a honeyberry lot appealing for two weeks, though that varies with variety and container.
For delicate honeyberries, ask how a lot was harvested and handled. A variety described as firm or large isn't automatically resistant to bruising.

Detroit, Michigan

When it’s good here

Grown here

Ships from other states

3 growing areas, 1 country

British Columbia
Ontario
You

Grows hereOther monthsYou

0 of 3 areas · October

At Minnesota's July 2025 Honeyberry Academy, host George Terwey (Haskap Minnesota) and grower Bernis Ingvaldson (Honeyberries USA) led participants comparing varieties with breeder Bob Bors.
Stillwater and Bagley, Minnesota

22 varieties

See all 22 varieties

23 names in 10 languages

haskaproot

Cook it

Recipes 2

Strange but true

If you like Honeyberry

Tastes alike

Used the same way

Sources

Honeyberry · Fruitopia · checked Sep 22, 2026