Thanks for pointing out the distinction. In my home country of Romania we also tend to think of bilberries when we're talking about this kind of berry. Traditionally they grow wild, mostly in mountainous areas - they are very flavorful and not so sweet.
Until just now I actually assumed "supermarket" blueberries were just a crappier version of the real thing :)) Good to know they're two distinct plants altogether.
That's exactly what I think about American blueberries as well. Got used to "bilberries" in Poland.
Lovely with a little lime and ice, but I agree - making your own is something else!
Yes, I have some in the liquor globe right now, alongside some cloudberry!
And you are correct - I find making liqueur quite fun. Right now, I have plum leftover from last year and want to make some spruce tip liqueur if I can catch the trees at the right time.
[0] - https://extension.umaine.edu/blueberries/home/public-2/
[1] - example blueberry barren: https://downeast.com/images/blueberry-barrens-5/
For those who only now blueberries, bilberries are more tasteful, smaller and are hard to grow in cultivation yet easily cover the forest floor when humidity and dabbled shade conditions are favorable.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilberry
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccinium_myrtillus
fr. and it. are also split this way.
Over here in northern Europe (Sweden), what we would call a blueberry is what you would call a bilberry [1], and what you would call a blueberry is referred to as an American blueberry (or maybe a cultivated blueberry).
They're all awesome of course, and not having to bend the fsck down to pick the things is a nice feature of the American ones.
Edit: weirdly enough the Wikipedia page for the bilberry doesn't even link to the Swedish page for the same berry [2].
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilberry
[2]: https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bl%C3%A5b%C3%A4r