Homemade Cherry Vodka & Whiskey Cherries
Cherries: A plump juicy red stone fruit that hail from a tree.
I love cherries all things cherry from the ripe fruit themselves to cherry coke and everything in between. My current favorite cocktail has cherry as a main flavor component. The cocktail garnish I love best is the cherry. When smoking meat I love the cherry trees wood flavor.
A Memory
I come by this love naturally, when I was a kid we had been in Flathead Lake Montana camping and my dad stopped at a road side stand on our way to our next adventure. We picked up a flat of cherries to take to friends who had been “roughing it” in the mountains for a few weeks.
The flat was a gift for our family we got a big brown paper bag filled with cherries. The plan was to drive a while and then have lunch. The anticipation for fresh cherries from a tree was overwhelming. My mom was kind enough to pass a few back to my sister and I but the rest were to be saved for lunch.
Upon arriving at our lunch spot somewhere on the way to Glacier Park the sandwiches and chips were laid out on a picnic table but the bag of cherries sure looked small compared to when we bought it. Those cherries were so delicious and plump and juicy my mom ate the whole bag!!!! She swears to this day they were the best cherries she has ever had and she is unapologetic about eating them all. So as you can see my love of cherries has been passed down from mother to daughter.
Booze: A liquid libation of alcohol often times made with grain.
I also love Booze all kinds of Booze I am not a fan of beer and my favorite way to consume wine is with food. Sit me down with a nice cocktail and I am a happy camper. A cold margarita after cutting the grass! A Manhattan after a long day at work! Liqueur and coffee on a cold winters day. Cocktails are one of my passions I love to create and share new and fun concoctions.
Which brings us to todays post. Homemade Cherry Vodka & Whiskey Cherries. I woke up this morning and realized I had some cherries that were not going to make it to my belly in their current state. What to do? why waste them instead let’s make something fun. Cherry Vodka and Whisky Cherries!! After a little research. I wanted to make sure I would not kill anyone with cyanide poisoning. Cherry pits when crushed have cyanide in them and can be deadly if enough are consumed. So note to everyone do not eat crushed cherry pits!! They are harmless if left whole.
I went to my Liquor cabinet and raided it my vodka choice today was Blaum Bros Vodka. It’s from a little distillery up in Galena, Illinois I have bottle #196 from the first batch ever made. There is no bite to this vodka I think it will blend well with some fresh fruit!! We will see how it tastes in 5 or 6 weeks.
Take a clean sanitized mason jar. I just ran mine thru the dishwasher. Pull the stems off your cherries and make sure they are clean and dry and no rotten ones in the bunch. Then layer the cherries with a tablespoon of granulated sugar over each layer . I had 3 layers in my mason jar. Fill the jar with Vodka shake it up a bit and then place in a cool dark area of your home. I am using under the basement stairs but the closet would be fine too.
As you see there is just enough sugar to coat the cherries.
Now once every few days turn the jar over. Mark your calendar and in 5-6 weeks time we will all see how our cherry vodka tastes. Be sure you strain it thru some cheese cloth before you drink it to get rid of all the cherry debris.
Next up Whisky Cherries. Now these are going to sit in the closet or under the stairs a bit longer. The Canadian Mist Whisky is an inexpensive whisky that you can pick up at most liquor stores. Blended with Corn Rye and Malt Barley and smoked in white oak barrels it has a smooth vanilla flavor which should make our cherry whisky and the ensuing whisky cherries perfect for drinks around the holidays. But only time will tell!
Follow the same Process as you did with the Vodka layer it with the granulated sugar shake it and put in a dark cool place. But with the Whisky we are really going to let it marinade and we will have a drink with it right around Thanksgiving.
A last bit of common sense. If the cap distend or it smells rotten when you open it you should not consume. I am not a canning expert but I do know if it is funky in a bad way don’t eat or drink it!!
Follow Up: A Recipe & A Shopping List
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The Cherry Vodka turned out wonderful see an inspired recipe here Clafouti Martini