Cocktail Cherries Go Beyond Garnishing

Thankfully for cocktail enthusiasts, we’ve come a long way from the neon red cherries often seen floating in a Shirley Temple. Today there are numerous craft cocktail cherries worth considering.

Luxardo maraschinos are the gold standard, and then there are newer names like Filthy Black, Dirty Sue, and Tempus Fugit Spirits’ 19th Century Style, and even some from whiskey producers, including Woodford Reserve and Traverse City Whiskey Co., both of which offer cherries soaked in their bourbon. In addition to whisky, cocktail cherries can be preserved in brandy or Bordeaux wine or even rum—although not every brand is produced with booze, and in fact, Luxardo’s aren’t.

Cocktail cherries are most commonly used as a garnish, but for even more of a sweet-tart cherry blast, try muddling them or using their syrup in your next whisky cocktail. “Cocktail cherries can stand up to many different flavors and pair well with vanilla, nuts, and spices, all of which are notes found in various whiskies,” says Ron Dillon, assistant general manager at Adalina in Chicago. “Using a complex ingredient like a cocktail cherry, you really can’t go wrong pairing it with any whisky, from a bold bourbon to a smoky scotch.”

Sin On Wheels

Ron Dillon, assistant general manager at Adalina in Chicago

• 2 oz. 100-proof bourbon
• 5 cocktail cherries
• 1 oz. cocktail cherry syrup
• 1/2 oz. sweet vermouth
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 3 dashes orange bitters

Muddle cherries in the bottom of a 100-proof cherries cocktail shaker with bourbon, syrup, vermouth, bourbon cherry juice, and bitters. Add ice and shake. syrup Strain into a coupe and garnish with a cocktail cherry and an orange peel.

Out With The Old Fashioned

Sara Bradley, chef and proprietor of Freight House in Paducah, Kentucky

• 2 1/2 oz. Bulliet rye (or other rye)
• 1 Bordeaux or other cocktail cherry
• 1 Meyer lemon slice
• 1/2 oz. demerara simple syrup
• 4 dashes The Bitter Truth Orange bitters

In a rocks glass, add syrup, lemon slice, and bitters. Gently muddle the lemon slice, focusing on the flesh of the lemon, not the rind. Add the cherry and smash once. Place a large ice cube in the glass and add whiskey. Stir 25-30 times.

The Bullfighter

Mark Gallagher, bartender at Talbott Cucina in Chicago

• 1 1/2 oz. unpeated scotch
• 8 cocktail cherries
• 3/4 oz. blood orange liqueur
• 1 tsp. orange marmalade
• 3 oz. hot water

In a glass heatproof mug, muddle five cocktail cherries and marmalade. Add hot water and stir to melt the marmalade. Add scotch and liqueur and stir again. Garnish with remaining cherries on a cocktail pick.