The Cocktail Cherry: The Neon Nemesis

The plague of artificial flavors continues to contaminate modern cocktails and gain strength. While powdered juices, chemical syrups, and candy liqueurs are among the most ominous of cocktail enemies, few perpetrators infiltrate such a wide range of cocktails as the modern maraschino cherry. Resting inconspicuously as an iconic garnish in cocktails ranging from the trendy “apple martini” to classics such as the manhattan, the cocktail cherry infects sloppy and fine drinks alike with a mass of artificial flavors, dyes, and chemicals that are unsurpassed by other ingredients. The art of creating fine cocktails demands individual consideration of each element. Continuing to ignore the cocktail cherry impedes a perfection cocktail unity. Fortunately, creating homemade cocktail cherries is simple and extremely rewarding.

I recently decided to make my first batch of brandied cherries a few days ago, and I feel ridiculous for not doing it sooner. I had intended to make a batch forever, but I accepted the ideology that allows the neon cherry to dominate. The artificial maraschino cherry was accessible and easy to remove from the jar. Why spend the time making your own? I didn’t care about the cherry anyway; it’s there for looks and tradition, awaiting my consistent decision to discard it at the end of each drink. However, an improved homemade version adds a pleasant component to any drink, assuming you can resist eating them whenever you get a craving. Hey, they are right there in my fridge next to my silverware drawer. I can be in the jar in less than ten seconds enjoying the deep red orbs of wonderfulness. If the effort to create make your own cherries still seems like too much work, consider this – outside of time allotted for cooling, the batch I made took me only 10 minutes to create. Still unwilling to invest the time? Let’s consider both options, and you’ll see why making your own cherries is a far better choice.

The Neon Nemesis

Despite its radiating colors and chemical composition, the maraschino cherry was not always a disgrace to elegant drinks. Originally, maraschino cherries were made from marasca cherries which were married with maraschino liqueur. Despite using various cherries as garnishes for decades, the “maraschino cherry” became a popular choice for countless cocktails, eventually inspiring the artificial cocktail cherry. Initially, the imposter cherry was not well-received. The New York Times had this to say on August 26, 1911:

“It is a tasteless, indigestible thing, originally, to be sure, a fruit of the cherry tree, but toughened and reduced to the semblance of a formless, gummy lump by long imprisonment in a bottle filled with so-called maraschino. The liquor known as maraschino, when authentic, has its merits, and though we may shun it we are not disposed to condemn it, for it is derived from the most luscious cherries.

But the so-called maraschino of commerce has been found, on analysis, to contain besaldhyde, glucose, and other objectionable ingredients, and this is the liquid in which the cocktail cherry of commerce is preserved.

The information comes none too soon. The cocktail cherry should be suppressed…the cocktail cherry is an abomination of comparatively recent origin, and now that its utter unfitness has been manifested, we trust that it will disappear.”

Oops! Instead of disappearing, the artificial cocktail cherry surged under the temperance movement. Robert Hess details the timeline of the maraschino cherry’s growth to dominance extremely well in his post over at The Spirit World. Most notably, he identifies prohibition as the accelerator of the modern maraschino cherry’s popularity. Adhering to a ban on all alcoholic products, real maraschino cherries were no longer an option, and the artificial cherry became the solitary choice for consumers. Following prohibition, the hegemonic rule of the maraschino cherry thwarted any alternatives as it continued to find increasing real estate in the form of banana splits, cocktails (which were more willing than ever to accept artificial ingredients), and annoying sayings like “pretty please, with a cherry on top”. I love my cherry pleases with formaldehyde; how about you?

Wait a second! The most commonplace criticism of modern maraschino cherries is that they are preserved in formaldehyde. Yes, that is the same stuff used to prevent tissue decomposition and is found buoying body parts and small animals in weird science labs everywhere. Frogs justifiably should fear the chemical, but small children and sweet-toothed adults can indulge in artificial maraschino cherries if they wish without the concern of becoming some type of weird cherry mummy. There is no formaldehyde in these maraschino cherries. The “-hyde” and enduring life of the maraschino cherry may have led to a myth that confused benzaldehyde, which is found in the artificial cherries, for formaldehyde. Benzaldehyde is a flavor from cherry pits that is used in countless products, including Dr. Pepper (read more from Inara Verzemnieks in the Daily Oregonian).

Today, other alternatives continue to appear, coinciding with growing support for quality cocktail products. Brandy cherries and bourbon cherries can be found in small gourmet food stores everywhere. Makers Mark even began producing its own bourbon flavored cherries. Some of these brands have gained respect, especially Luxardo Marasche al frutto cherries. Unfortunately, some premium jarred cherries can reach prices as high as twenty dollars for an eight ounce jar. That’s just ridiculous – especially when you can make your own with whatever style cherry and spirit you desire.

The Homemade Cherry

 

 

Countless preferences exist concerning the creation of an ideal cocktail cherry (check the eGullet forum discussion on this issue for different views), but for my first batch I followed a brandied cherry recipe from Jeff Hollinger and Rob Schwartz’s The Art of the Bar:

“6 pounds dark, sweet cherries
¾ cup sugar
1 cup water
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
2 cinnamon sticks
1 ¼ cups brandy

…Combine the sugar, water, lemon juice, and cinnamon in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the cherries and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, remove the cinnamon sticks, and stir in the brandy.”

Jeff and Rob recommend pitting the cherries, but following some of the advice from eGullet members, I chose to keep the pits hoping to achieve a more complex flavor. I didn’t go all out with the cherry selection either. As a first experiment, I chose some basic cherries available in my local grocery store. I don’t even know what kind they are because it was kind of an impulse buy, and there was only one option. I used a bottle of cognac, Kelt Tour du Monde VSOP, that I really didn’t enjoy and have wanted to get rid of. Unless you just want an excuse to crack a new bottle and replace one you didn’t enjoy, a cheaper brandy will suffice. I also made sure that I allowed the cherries about two hours to cool before transferring them to two mason jars and placing them in the refrigerator, making sure to fill the jars to the brim with the new brandy-based cherry liqueur that was created in the process.

Despite and odd combination of cheap cherries and unnecessarily expensive cognac, the cherries were amazing! I tried them warm right after I took them off the stove, and they were wonderful. I would definitely advise having some vanilla ice cream nearby when making your own cherries and throwing some of these cherries on top. The warm cherry liqueur was also great and might really hit the spot on a cold winter day, but it would need more brandy to have any individual potential. It might, however, excel as a cocktail ingredient. After a few days in the fridge, the cherries continue to soak up the brandied mixture and get increasingly better. Eventually, the cherries will spoil (after 2 weeks), but I try some everyday to track their progress and enjoy their wonderful taste. I also managed to fill three mason jars for less than the price that I would have on average spent buying one jar from a store or online. If you want a cherry with more backbone, use bourbon instead; if you want to make an authentic maraschino cherry, utilize a maraschino liqueur.

Like any cocktail ingredient, taking the time to make your own and use fresh ingredients is always rewarding and worth the effort. Making your own cherries demonstrates this concept tremendously. Take the ten minutes to make your own cherries, and you will always keep a jar stocked. Just make sure that if you have any children like I was around, you hide or tell them not to eat the cherries; they can be potent. Yes, I admit it; I was a fake maraschino cherry eater and used to sneak some out of my grandmother fridge whenever she wasn’t looking. That was years ago, and after trying some of these chemical cherries at the bar the other day, I don’t know what I was thinking.