Sweetest Strawberry Varieties in the UK: Best Tasting British Strawberries

If you’ve ever popped a ripe, sun-warmed strawberry in your mouth and thought, “Nothing beats this,” you’re not alone. British summer isn’t complete without that burst of sweetness—the kind that instantly calls to mind sticky fingers and red-stained smiles. But which UK strawberry variety truly wins the crown for sweetness? The answer isn’t as straightforward as you might think, and the story behind it is way juicier than your average punnet from the supermarket.

What Makes a Strawberry Sweet?

Sweetness in strawberries is a perfect storm of variety, weather, soil, and when you pick them. Most people just assume a strawberry is a strawberry, but ask any gardener—or my daughter Esme, self-declared chief berry-taster in our house—and you’ll find that different types taste seriously different. Scientists actually measure strawberry sweetness using something called "Brix", which gives a number to the sugar content. But trust me, you don’t need lab gear to spot a sweet one—you just need a good taste test on a sunny day.

Our UK climate is a real help here. With long, mild summer days and not too much blazing heat, berries ripen slowly, so the sugars just keep building up. That’s why British-grown strawberries taste head and shoulders above most imported ones. But even in a perfect British summer, some varieties are just naturally sweeter than others because of genetics. Gone are the days when all you could get was those big, bland supermarket varieties bred to survive long lorry journeys. Local growers and keen home gardeners are bringing back forgotten types and new sweet wonders.

Weather plays a bigger role than most folks realise. A whole week of grey rain right before harvest? You’ll get bigger berries, but the flavour will be watery. Consistent sun means concentrated sweetness. And here’s a tip: always let strawberries ripen fully on the plant. Once picked, they don’t get any sweeter, so resist the urge to nab them early just because you’re impatient—yes, I’m looking at you, Marlon! The difference is night and day. If you really want to judge true sweetness, walk into a pick-your-own field or grow your own, and taste right there in the patch.

So, what else influences sweetness? Soil type matters more than you’d think. Strawberries love slightly acidic, well-drained soil. Pound for pound, homegrown berries tend to leave shop-bought ones in the shade because home conditions often deliver smaller, but much sweeter fruit. Even the number of hours berries spend ripening in the sun changes the game—shade-grown berries struggle to develop proper flavour. If you want that mega-sweet hit, pick only red, fragrant berries sparkling in full sun, preferably in the afternoon, when sugar levels peak. Seriously, do your own taste experiment. It’s fun, free, and even my lazy cat Snowball got in on the action—lounging in the middle of the strawberry bed, obviously not helping.

The Undisputed Champion: Mara des Bois

Among the dozens of varieties you can grow or buy today, Mara des Bois is often whispered about as the sweetest strawberry you’ll find in the UK. Developed in France back in 1991, this berry has earned its reputation in British gardens for a reason. Just bite into one and you’ll understand—intense, sugary sweetness with an amazing old-school strawberry smell that actually fills the air. It’s not just hype either; taste panels, food writers, even high-end chefs call it the best-tasting strawberry you can grow at home here.

Mara des Bois doesn’t just score high on the sweetness front; the flavour is complex, almost a mix between wild strawberry and proper garden strawberry, which means you’re getting more than straight-up sugar. There’s even a hint of floral and vanilla, which makes every mouthful interesting. What’s special is that it’s everbearing—meaning you get new flushes of berries from June through September, not just a one-hit harvest like old-fashioned June-bearers. If you want a steady trickle of hyper-sweet berries for months, this is your winner.

If you’re always frustrated by those supermarket monsters that look great but taste like cardboard, Mara des Bois will blow your mind. The berries are smaller than the supermarket giants, but they pack a punch. In fact, good chefs go out of their way to buy from local growers because they know you can’t fake proper ripeness and sweetness in strawberries. “The flavour comes from picking at the right time and growing the right kind,” says Raymond Blanc, chef at Belmond Le Manoir. Surveys from British Growers have repeatedly rated Mara des Bois at the top for taste and sweetness, beating even classic UK favourites.

Still wondering whether it’s all talk? Here’s a comparison from several independent taste tests:

Sweetest strawberry UK is not a marketing slogan—it’s a tasting fact, with Mara des Bois leading on both Brix scores and taste panels.

If you’ve got room for only one variety at home, I’d plant this. It’s compact, does fine in the unpredictable UK climate, and the payoff is phenomenal—just keep an eye out for slugs, which love Mara des Bois as much as the rest of us. And if you’ve got young helpers like mine, be ready for berries to mysteriously disappear before you get to taste them yourself.

Other Super Sweet UK Strawberry Varieties

While Mara des Bois dominates, it’s not your only option. To keep things interesting, or if you want to stretch your harvest across the whole summer, try mixing in a few other star performers. Each brings something a little different, and rotating varieties means you’re less likely to end up with a sudden berry overload all at once.

Cambridge Favourite is a classic. British through and through, it’s the strawberry every grandparent seems to remember from their childhood garden. It’s reliable, juicy, and sweet, with that old-fashioned flavour, but a little less perfume than Mara des Bois. This is the one you’ll find in old allotments or thriving beside a ramshackle shed. I’d say it’s the easiest variety to grow for folks just starting out—super forgiving and generous with its harvest.

If you’re itching for super-early berries, Honeoye is your go-to. These plump, glossy red berries are among the first you’ll eat each year. The flavour is tart-to-sweet, depending on how long you leave them on the plant; late-picked Honeoye berries get seriously sweet, so resist temptation and give them a little longer if you want the best taste. For families, having something to snack on by late May is a huge win. Kids love the thrill of “first berries”, though ours often eat more than they put in their bowls. It’s good for extending the strawberry fun, though.

Symphony, from Scotland, is a fantastic late-season variety. It hangs on till July, offering big, deep-red berries, and it matches the sweetness of Cambridge Favourite—maybe even outperforms it some years. It’s a good backup for when your other varieties start winding down. Symphony is tough, handling damp weather like a champ, so it’s a solid choice if you get unpredictable summers like we do here.

Then there’s Florence, which stands out for resisting pests and diseases. The sweetness is consistently very good, and because its berries hold up well after picking, you won’t end up with mushy leftovers if you miss a day or two of harvesting. Florence keeps its sweet spot even in cool, wet spells—one for busy gardeners or people who hate fussy plants.

Sometimes it pays to go a bit wild. Alpine strawberries like Alexandria can be eye-opening, especially for small kids or anyone who hasn’t tasted them before. These are tiny—think fingernail-sized—but their sugar and flavour rails anything you’ll buy in the shops. A handful of alpines scattered around the garden is a great hack for unexpected, super-sweet snacking. Esme likes to call them “berry treasure.”

How to Grow the Sweetest Strawberries at Home

You don’t need a massive garden to get cracking flavour. In fact, with a few pots or a small raised bed, you can outdo anything you’ll find in a supermarket tray for taste. There are a few tricks that really ramp up the sweetness level, and some are so simple you’ll wonder why everyone doesn’t do them.

• Pick the right spot: Strawberries need sun—at least six hours a day. South-facing beds or patios are perfect. If you’ve got shadier ground, look for sites that get the most afternoon sun.
• Get the soil right: Slightly acidic, well-draining soil is the strawberry’s best friend. I use compost and well-rotted manure to bulk up our raised beds. Avoid heavy, clay-packed spots or fix them with grit or extra organic matter.
• Space them out: Don’t cram your plants together. Give each one at least 35cm all around for airflow. This cuts down on diseases and lets berries get every bit of sunlight possible.
• Water wisely: Consistent watering, especially when fruit is swelling, is essential. But soggy roots are a surefire way to dilute sweetness, so let the bed dry a bit between waterings.
• Feed during fruiting: I use a high-potash tomato feed every two weeks as soon as flowers appear. It boosts both the quantity and quality of fruit. Potassium helps sugars form in the berries—science backs this up, and you’ll taste the difference.
• Mulch for sweetness: Straw or black plastic mulch keeps berries dry and warm. Dry berries are less likely to rot, and warmer soil means sweeter, smaller fruit. Straw also keeps mud off, making them easier to pick—especially for little hands.
• Resist early picking: Don’t be tempted by half-red berries. Only pick when fully ripe, deep red, and fragrant.
• Rotate plants: Replace old plants after three years for best flavour and yield. Old plants get tired and produce weaker, less sweet fruit.
• Cover with netting: Birds love sweet berries as much as kids do. Netting is your only hope against marauding blackbirds.

And don’t write off strawberries in pots, hanging baskets, or grow bags if you’re tight on space. These methods often warm up quicker in spring, bringing earlier and sweeter berries. We do a mix at home, with a vertical planter on the patio and some raised beds where the sun is strongest. Nothing beats stepping outside and grabbing a handful for breakfast on a warm August morning.

Fun Facts, Tips, and the Best Ways to Eat Sweet UK Strawberries

Here’s something cool: according to DEFRA (the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), Britain grew more than 137,000 tonnes of strawberries in 2024, with consumption per capita higher than ever before. We love our berries. And most of these are sold within a day or two of being picked, so yes, British strawberries in season are fresher and sweeter than they’ve ever been.

Store-bought berries rarely match homegrown for one reason—they’re picked slightly early so they’ll survive the journey to your local shop. Homegrown or pick-your-own lets you go for perfect ripeness, and that means real sweetness. If you want shop-bought strawberries to taste sweeter, take them out of the fridge and let them sit at room temperature for an hour. Chilling dulls the fruit’s sweetness—crazy but true.

If you’re lucky enough to have a glut (it happens!), put your strawberries in jars with a little sugar and a splash of lemon, then freeze them. Frozen Mara des Bois keep their flavour and make July mornings taste like summer all over again when you drop them in smoothies. Or try macerating strawberries: just sprinkle with a little sugar and let them sit for 10 minutes. The sugar draws out juices, boosting sweetness and flavour. This trick works wonders with kids—Marlon thinks strawberries taste 10 times better that way on pancakes.

Eating your strawberries straight after picking is unbeatable, but if you fancy shaking things up, there’s nothing wrong with a proper British dessert. Eton Mess, strawberry shortcake, or simply pile them on top of good vanilla ice cream. Tiny alpine strawberries make mind-blowing toppings for meringues. Don’t forget you can eat the leaves too if you’re feeling adventurous—herbal teas made from strawberry leaves are pretty tasty and packed with vitamin C.

“To get the sweetest strawberries, pick them at their ripest and eat them straight away. Warm from the sun, nothing else comes close.” – Monty Don, Gardener’s World

If you want the full festival experience, check out your local pick-your-own farm during peak summer. Some growers run competitions for the sweetest homegrown berry—go and try a taste test. You’ll see why local, in-season beats imported every single time.

Every summer, Esme organises her own “berry blindfold test” at home. She grabs a few different types, even sneaks in the odd raspberry, and lines the whole family up to guess which is which just by flavour. Mara des Bois always wins. It’s not even close. So if you’re on a quest for the very sweetest strawberry in the UK, and want to impress the kids, your friends, or even your pet (Snowball just sniffs, to be honest), plant Mara des Bois as your go-to, and mix in a few classics for a season-long strawberry party.