The Sea Buckthorn Bush

The sea buckthorn bush is a wild-growing fruit bush that comes in a few different species. Kastbergs naturally uses the type that grows in the Nordic countries. The berries are pale yellow to orange drupes, roughly the size of redcurrants and blackcurrants. They are also full of vitamins and antioxidants. The berries are typically used in desserts in autumn and winter, as they ripen late in the year, from August to October. For most of the year the berries are practically inedible, and ideally they should have experienced the first frost before you eat them, not because they are dangerous to eat, but because they are simply far too tart. The alternative to waiting for the first frost is to cut off the small branches of the sea buckthorn bush that the berries grow on and freeze them yourself. The frost takes the edge off the extremely intense tartness, and also makes the berries easier to harvest, as you can now shake them off more easily and avoid them turning mushy when you pick them. The berries are widely used by chefs who experiment with New Nordic gastronomy, and they have a very tart, fresh flavour that offers a good counterpoint to a sweet dessert.

The sea buckthorn bush, as we know it in the Nordic region, typically grows along the coasts and prefers areas without shade. It is a very hardy plant that can grow in most soils, though preferably in soil with a high lime content. It can withstand strong wind, salt spray and whatever else the wild coastal weather may throw at it. The harsh conditions it lives under help bring out its intense, tart flavour.

So how is the quirky, tart sea buckthorn transformed into sorbet? Well, you are about to find out.

The first step in the process, once the berries have been picked from the sea buckthorn bush and received frozen, is that the sea buckthorn berries are mixed with sugar and blended. The blended berries then pass through a sieving machine so that we avoid seeds in the sea buckthorn sorbet. We now have the completely pure and very tart sea buckthorn juice, which forms the foundation of the flavour of this sea buckthorn sorbet. The blended and sieved sea buckthorn juice goes into our tanks, where it is mixed with water and dry matter such as sugars, so that we get exactly the right flavour and consistency in the ice cream. We always want to use ingredients that are as fresh as possible, and that is why the sea buckthorn berries, for example, are made into sorbet as quickly as possible after being blended, sieved and made into juice, and always within 24 hours. This is to keep the juice as fresh as possible, as it can lose some of its sharpness and tartness if it is left to stand for too long. With the way we handle the raw material, you and your customers get the best and freshest flavour.

Finally, the finished mixture is poured onto our ice-cream machines. In the machines, the sea buckthorn mixture hits the drum, which is cooled to -35°C. The mixture gradually freezes onto the ice-cold drum while a set of blades rotates, scraping the frozen sorbet off the drum and working it into a creamy sorbet. When the mass reaches a temperature of -8°C, it is drawn out of the machines and quickly placed in a blast freezer. The freezer blows out air at -35°C so that the ice freezes as quickly as possible and we avoid ice crystals.

The sorbet is great in ice-cream shops and in cones on warm summer days and, as mentioned, is typically used by chefs in autumn and winter, when the berries ripen and are harvested. It is perfect as a counterpoint in a delicious dessert. Kastbergs sorbets are also made from fruit, water and sugars, so consumers with vegetarian and vegan preferences can enjoy them too.

This was a little about how we make sea buckthorn sorbet – the whole story from sea buckthorn bush to finished sea buckthorn sorbet.