Sweet cherry

Get to know it

The sweet cherry is a small, glossy stone fruit, firm and juicy, in shades from bright red to almost black or yellow with a red blush. It is the cherry you eat by the handful, spitting out the stone. California's whole season lasts about six weeks.

What it is

A sweet cherry measures about 2 to 4 cm (3/4 to 1 1/2 in) across and hangs from a slender stem. Inside the thin, taut skin is one hard stone, 8 to 12 mm long. A good one is firm, plump and glossy, and how dark it gets depends on the variety.

Rainier, bred at Washington State University in 1952 from a cross of Bing and Van, has thick, creamy-yellow flesh. Bing has made up more than half of Washington's crop. Sour cherries are a separate species, smaller and mainly used for cooking.

Where it comes from

The sweet cherry tree is wild across Europe, Anatolia, North Africa and western Asia, from the British Isles to northern Iran. People were growing cherries in Asia Minor by 800 BCE, and soon after in Greece. English colonists brought them to America in 1629; in the 1800s pioneers carried them west to Washington, Oregon and California.

The world's cherry crop, sweet and sour together, is forecast at a record 5.4 million tonnes for 2026/27. China, Turkey, the European Union and Chile grow the most, and Turkey's crop is forecast at a record 1.0 million tonnes. The United States is forecast to grow about 277,000 tonnes of sweet cherries, most in Washington, then California. Chile is forecast to ship 650,000 tonnes abroad, and China's imports are rising on its shipments.

How it's eaten where it grows

In the Limousin, in central France, cherries go into clafoutis: black cherries baked under a thick, pourable batter. The traditional Limousin clafoutis keeps the stones in, and the kernels give it a light almond taste.

France's first cherries of the season come from Céret, in the Pyrenees, in April or May, and since 1932 the growers have sent the first crate to the President of the Republic. South of the equator, cherries peak in late December and belong to Christmas. In New South Wales, the town of Young, the Cherry Capital of Australia, holds a National Cherry Festival.

How it's grown

Sweet cherries grow on a tree 15 to 30 feet (4.5 to 9 m) tall that wants full sun and well-drained soil. Most varieties need at least 800 hours a winter below 7 °C (45 °F) before they bloom. Orchard trees are grafted onto a rootstock, and because most can't pollinate themselves, growers plant two varieties, nine trees to one, and bring in honey bees. An orchard takes about 6 years to give its first big crop.

In California, cherries for the fresh market are picked by hand with the stem on, then cooled in chilled water straight away. Rain near harvest damages ripe fruit, so the size of each year's crop rises and falls with the spring weather.

When and where you'll find it

In the Northern Hemisphere, fresh sweet cherries are a summer fruit. California's usually come first, from mid-May through June; Washington ships from June through August. In northern Michigan, U-pick sweet cherries usually start around July 4 and last about three weeks. In the northern winter they come from the Southern Hemisphere, including Chile, where cherries peak around late December.

Apart from a slight change in colour, a cherry doesn't improve after it's picked. Out of season, you'll find them frozen and dried.

Sources · 11

Get it near Detroit

What it tastes like

As sweet as a banana, as mild as a peach≈

Not sweetlemonSweet

MildbananaapplelemonSour

SoftbananaappleCrisp

More about the taste

Fresh sweet cherries should be firm, plump and sweet. Color ranges from dark red or mahogany to blush-yellow types; a pale Rainier is a different variety, not an underripe dark cherry.

Harvest is a balance: extra time on the tree can improve size and flavor, but too much delay makes the fruit soft and easily damaged. Shipping distance and handling also mean two good-looking batches can eat quite differently.

A tasting invitation

Compare two named sweet-cherry varieties at the same temperature. Notice skin snap, flesh firmness, juiciness and the finish around the stone. Keep tart cherries separate in this exercise: they are a different culinary proposition, not failed sweet cherries.

Choose, ripen, store, eat

1ChooseFirm, plump, glossy
Look for
Firm, plump, glossy
Ignore
Darkest color
Choose firm, glossy, plump fruit and avoid shrivelled, leaking or dull, soft cherries. Ripe color depends on the variety, since not every sweet cherry turns dark purple. The box or seller's origin shows the season: California's earlier crop usually gives way to Washington fruit, though weather can make the windows overlap, as it did in 2023. Buy firm cherries ready to eat and cool them promptly.
2RipenDoesn’t ripen after picking
Doesn’t ripen after picking
Sweet-cherry quality doesn't improve after harvest. Choose eating-ready fruit and keep it cool.
3StoreFridge, cherries
1. FridgeCherriesShallow, loosely filled container
Refrigerate promptly in a shallow, loosely filled container so the cherries at the bottom are not crushed. Leave washing until just before use.
4EatFlesh · not stem, pit
Eat
Flesh
Not eaten
StemPit
Eat the flesh after removing the stem and pit. Both selected recipes call for pitted cherries.

More tips

A useful detail A cherry's stem and skin give useful clues, though they don't replace tasting. A green, fleshy stem signals freshness; skin free of cracks, shriveling and decay is another sign of quality.

Worth knowing

These named cherries are a good starting point for a side-by-side tasting of sweetness and tartness.
Folfer, Areko and Kordia are similarly good cherries for appearance, aroma and texture.
When a grower identifies Regina, ask about picking maturity as well as color. A dark cherry can still need more time on the tree, and waiting after purchase won't make up for it.

Detroit, Michigan

When it’s good here

Grown hereJul–Aug

Ships from other statesJun–Aug

49 growing areas, 16 countries

Aomori
Aydın
Baden-Württemberg
Bari
British Columbia
Bursa
Cáceres
California
Chile
Florida
Georgia
Granada
Hawaii
Herefordshire
Mendoza
New South Wales
O'Higgins
Otago
Shandong
Yamagata
You

Grows hereIn season nowOther monthsYou

1 of 16 areas · October

1

Growing areas by country

United States13
Spain8
Argentina4
Chile3
Italy3
Türkiye3
Australia2
Germany2

and 11 more countriesand 8 more countries

Newer Pacific Northwest sweet-cherry varieties largely trace back to two breeding programs, at Prosser, Washington and Summerland, British Columbia, working on harvest timing, firmness, self-fertility and resistance to rain cracking. That variety is more than a supermarket's generic cherry label suggests.
Pacific Northwest, United States and Canada

238 varieties

See all 238 varieties

52 names in 12 languages

anh đào dạiVietnamese

Cook it

How to serve it first

Serve sweet cherries plain, removing the stones as you eat, or pit them before adding them to yogurt. For a savory experiment, try a small portion alongside a mild cheese before committing the whole bowl to a recipe.

Recipes 3

3 sweet cherry festivals

Kyustendil Cherry FestivalJunKyustendil, Kyustendil Province, BulgariaJun

Sagae Cherry FestivalJunSagae, Yamagata, Japan · Organiser ↗Jun

Tekirdağ Cherry FestivalJunTekirdağ (Süleymanpaşa), Tekirdağ, Türkiye · Organiser ↗Jun

Festivals this month →

Strange but true

If you like Sweet cherry

Tastes alike

Close relatives

Nutrition, sources

Nutrition

Cherries, sweet, dark red, raw · per 100 g

Energy63kcal

Carbohydrate: 16 g
Sugars: 14 g
Protein: 1 g
Fat: 0.2 g
Vitamin C: 10 mg
Potassium: 230 mg

Sources

Sweet cherry · Fruitopia · checked Sep 23, 2026

What we don't know yet

A supermarket “dark sweet” label doesn't tell you the variety.