I always stripped them when picking,..why do you loose a third?

You might have drops from the fruit fly? I do have that problem, all got roundup this spring, ..growing now the more valuable black currants.

Konrad,

I think I lose them from just leaving then on the bush too long. I keep hoping they'll get sweeter. My estimate is based on looking at the string and seeing how many empty spots are on the string -- a harsh measure.

I find red currants last well on the bush for a week or two and you can wait until the whole truss is ripe before picking. I don't cut the trusses - they come off easily with an upward tug. Then I pick the whole strig and remove the currants with a fork in the comfort of the kitchen. Black currants are not so easy and I usually end up picking individual berries.

I do it the same way as flora. Red currants are always on a tart side, even when fully ripe. No reason to wait after all berries on a string turned red in my opinion. Black currants can be sweet when ripe (depends on the variety), but not red currants.

Olga

Ljpother, trusses are rich in jellying agents, so if you are making red currant jelly with no pectin it is better to keep the stems on. If you use pectin or don't make jelly at all, it doesn't make any difference.
I lose quite a bit of fruit to birds too - this year they didn't even wait for them to get red. They don't seem to bother white currants as much - must be the color.
Grow