Whole cherries and sugar are left to ferment in a jar for several weeks to months to form the base for a traditional Cherry Bounce.

“Cherry Bounce” is one of this country’s oldest libations. Martha Washington even included her own special recipe in her writings:

“Extract the Juice of 20 pounds of well ripend Morrella Cherrys Add to this 10 quarts of Old French brandy and sweeten it with White Sugar to your taste—To 5 Gallons of this mixture add one ounce of Spice Such as Cinnamon, Cloves and Nutmegs of each an Equal quantity Slightly bruis’d and a pint and half of Cherry kernels that have been gently broken in a mortar—After the liquor has fermented let it Stand Close-Stoped for a month or Six weeks—then bottle it remembering to put a lump of Loaf Sugar into each bottle.”

Cherry Bounce is also a longtime staple in the environs of New Orleans. There are nearly as many different recipes for the drink as their have been drinkers. But the four things (nearly) all of them have in common are cherries, whiskey, sugar, and time.

The cherries are generally left standing in sugar and spices until a thick syrup forms. Then a whiskey – often bourbon – is added. Then a little more wait time. And finally, the sticky sweet mess is strained into bottles. Sometimes the wait is weeks, and in some local customs the cherry mixture is left to ferment until Christmas time.

We’d like to share two recipes for Cherry Bounce – one more traditional one, and one “Qwik” one for the impatient among us.

We’d also like to share our discovery of an amazing distillery here in upstate New York – Tuthilltown Spirits. In fact, Tuthilltown is the first and only (legal) grain spirit distillery in the state since Prohibition. For our Cherry Bounce, we’re using their signature “Hudson Baby Bourbon” made from 100% New York State corn. (You know we love “local’…and, well, locally sourced liquor makes our lives almost perfectly complete.)

Tuthilltown Spirit's Hudson Baby Bourbon Whiskey.

TRADITIONAL CHERRY BOUNCE

2 qts Cherries, unpitted (sweet, sour, or the traditional wild.)

1 qt Bourbon

3 C sugar (less if using sweet cherries.)

2 sticks cinnamon

Combine the cherries, sugar and cinnamon in a glass container or earthen crock. cover with cheesecloth or screen and sit in warm place for two weeks to two months. There’s no rule here. Just look for a sticky brown syrup to develop.

Then pour boubon into mixture and let set for at least a week, and up to another month. Then strain all ingredients into bottles, and either drink immediately, or seal and wait until Christmas.

A "Qwik" cherry bounce.

“QWIK” CHERRY BOUNCE with Star Anise

You know there’s nothing we hate more than waste. So after pitting gallons of cherries from the old Beekman cherry tree, we eyed the quarts juice that had collected underneath our cherry pitter and lamented the thought of pouring it down the drain. So, instead, we decided to find a use for it, and concocted this easy, no-wait version of Cherry Bounce.

First make a simple grenadine syrup using equal parts cherry juice and sugar. Place both ingredients, plus 1-3 whole Star Anise into saucepan, and bring to simmer slowly, stirring until sugar is completely dissolved. Strain mixture through coffee filter into canning jar. (Coffee filter made need to be replaced a couple of times when straining slows.) Place Star Anise back in with strained syrup, cover jar and refrigerate.

Leftover cherry juice from pitting is perfect for making a homemade grenadine.

To make cocktail, measure equal parts bourbon and spiced cherry syrup into shaker. (Or adjust proportions to taste.) Add ice, shake, strain into cocktail glass, garnish with cherries and/or whole star anise.

We cannot tell a lie…Martha Washington knew how to make a mean drink.

(Learn how Mary Beekman helped make Cherry Bounce here.)