Cherry Bomb (Original Recipe)

 

I wanted a rich Manhattan that would strike you as a winter-into-spring type of drink. My idea was to mash up a perfect Manhattan with a brandy cocktail similar to the KGB but with black cherry as the dominant flavor. 

It works really well with 99 Black Cherries and my homemade cherry blossom bitters (Yes. Made with steeped cherry blossoms.) There's no trick to this drink. Make it like a perfect Manhattan and add the additional ingredients.

• 3 oz. rye whiskey (Founding Spirits Rye used)
• 1/2 oz. sweet vermouth (Punt E Mes used)
• 1/2 oz. dry vermouth (Dolin used)
• 1/2 oz. 99 Blackcherries
• 3 dashes of cherry blossom bitters
• Luxardo cherry garnish
  

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Drop the cherry and a little of the syrup into the drink.

Eagle Eye Cherry (Death & Co. Recipe)

I loved the taste of this cocktail. I was worried it would be too sweet, like a cordial, or too fruity as its name suggests. I was wrong. The flavor was more bitter and Manhattan-like than rum and sherry cocktail. This is because of many small touches in the recipe that keep the drinker's interest with their bitter notes holding down the sweetness of rum and cherry liqueur. 

These bitter elements were my homemade cherry blossom bitters--still going strong--and Suze gentian spirit (in addition to a hearty sweet vermouth like Cocchi Dopo Teatro). 

One note about the chocolate flavors in this cocktail: I was unsure what substitute to use for Alchemia chocolate vodka (1/4 oz. in the original recipe). I don't have it and I wasn't sure that coco whiskey or chocolate mole bitters would be the right substitute. I almost used Godiva dark chocolate liqueur, but reasoned that it would make the cocktail cloudy. I opted for creme de cacao, which in such small proportions was unlikely to add too much sugar.

• 2 oz. Flor de Cana 7-year rum (George Bowman used)
• 1/2 oz. Cherry Heering
• 1/2 oz. Alvear Festival Pale Cream Sherry (Alexandro Amontillado used)
• 1/2 oz. Lustau East India Solera Sherry
• 1/4 oz. Alchemia chocolate vodka (creme de cacao used)
• 1/2 tsp. Suze
  
• 1 tsp. Antica Formula vermouth (Cocchi Dopo Teatro used)
• dash cherry blossom bitters
• orange twist
• brandied cherry (Luxardo used)

Combine liquid ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a port glass and twist the orange zest over it. Garnish with the cherry on a cocktail pick. 

 

Swedish Lullaby

This cocktail sounds like it is a dessert drink or a nightcap. It is a lot more than that, and I think of it as a perfect accompaniment to the cherry blossom season or spring in general.

The Lullaby packs a one-two punch of Swedish ingredients and it just might put you to sleep. Swedish punsch is a rum-based liqueur with clove, cardamon and lemon that is very balanced. Lemon juice adds tartness. The whole thing is rounded with the nutty and dark cherry tasting Herring liqueur.

• 1 1/2 oz. Swedish punsch (homemade recipe used)
• 1 oz. Cherry Heering
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. (I think a cherry blossom or other flower garnish is appropriate with this drink.)

Cherry Blossom

I've re-made the classic Cherry Blossom this year to commemorate the annual Cherry Blossom Festival in D.C. Bars all over the city are making their own cherry-themed drinks in order to appeal to the thousands of tourists that come to see the flowering trees. I made this cocktail at work, but I'm doing it at home as well with a bottle of Destillerie Kammer-Kirsch Black Forest Kirschwasser. Kirschwasser or kirsch is a cherry brandy that is clear and strong and only faintly taste of cherries. That is why it is very different when you use the amaretto tasting maraschino cherry liqueurs for this drink, which often tastes too sweet. Cognac is a better substitute for the brandy as well, as it is smoother and will soften out the harsh notes of the kirsch.

• 2 oz. brandy or cognac
• 1 oz. kirschwasser
• 1/2 oz. triple sec
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• tsp oz. simple syrup
• 1 tbsp. grenadine

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with cherries.

Mexicana

Meghan's first response to tasting this was, "Wow! That's different!" It is different from your usual Margarita. It's a lot like the Batida I ordered in Mexico. The difference is the pink color it gets from Grenadine. So this is perfect for spring drinking and may even qualify as a Cherry Blossom Festival drink ripe for the tourism season in D.C.

• 1 oz. lime juice
• 2 oz. silver tequila
• 2 oz. pineapple juice
• 1/4 tsp. grenadine

 Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and pour into a highball or large Old Fashioned glass.

Sakura Sakura

This is my invention for the cherry blossom season, but it's not like anything you will find at restaurants during the citywide festival in D.C. That is because I use real cherry blossoms and flavors. It is a bit complicated, so I recommend you only do this one with very specific instructions and ingredients. First get your blossom garnish from a tree that is not on protected federal land. (Mine was growing in a parking lot outside my building.) Just a blossom cluster will do.

Then use Teavana's Snow Geisha cherry blossom white scented tea to make an infusion of Bombay Sapphire East and the tea. I did this with 2 ounces of gin and one teaspoon of tea. You could make one cup of gin with a tablespoon of tea. Infuse gin for about an hour. The flavoring is on the tea leaves and transfers very quickly.

Finally coat a highball glass with Luxardo, add ice and infused gin, sugar syrup, grenadine, and top with club soda. Float Cherry Heering on top and add blossom garnish.

• 1 tsp. Luxardo
• 1 1/2 oz. cherry blossom infused gin
• 1/2 tsp. sugar syrup
• 1/2 tsp. grenadine
• 1/2 oz. Cherry Heering
• sparkling water
• cherry blossom garnish

Cherry Blossom

Spring is here, and Spring in D.C. is a cherry blossom event that brings people from all over the world. Bars are turning out cherry themed drinks, but this is an old one I got from the NY Bartender's Guide. The blossoms came from a tree outside, though.

• 2 oz. brandy
• 1 oz. kirschwasser (I used 1/2 oz. Luxardo)
• 1/2 oz. triple sec
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. simple syrup
• 1 tbsp. grenadine

Combine all ingredients with ice in a shaker. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.