Collection: Tingly Cranberries: Your Vitamins on the Red Carpet

You take a closer look at the red expanse and discover that the lake actually starts right here! You didn’t notice because the water is filled with tiny red spheres dancing on the surface. Are you in bubble tea heaven? No, you’re witnessing a spectacular scene that is both brilliantly simple and incredibly labor-intensive.

Cranberry fields are always located near large water reservoirs. The harvest often begins with the simple opening of a gate, allowing the stored water to rush onto the adjacent fields. From this point on, physics becomes the best helper: once the shrubs are submerged, the ripe cranberries float to the surface, forming an impressive red carpet. The berries float because they contain four air-filled chambers inside, giving them buoyancy and making them easy prey for the farmers, who are ready and waiting for the big suction.

When the buds open in spring, the shape of the flowers resembles a crane’s beak. This similarity was noticed by the first German and Dutch settlers in North America, who quickly dubbed the fruit “Kranichbeeren” (crane berries). The English language adapted this into the trendier “cranberries,” paving the way for their global success. Less well-known is their “second name.” At least in Germany, they’re sometimes called “Moosbeere” (moss berry), due to their preferred habitat in forests, moors, and heaths. Even in North America, cranberry fields are traditionally called “bogs,” the English word for swamps and marshes.

At the processing plant, the berries are first sorted by size and ripeness. Those that pass this check move on to flavor processing. Pure cranberries are so tart that they would give most people quite a harsh sour kick – an acquired taste, to say the least. To make these fruity nutrient bombs more palatable, a juicy solution has been devised. It all starts with some pressure.