Cocktail Cherries -- Best?

[Maximumsmoke]

Cocktail cherries can be a surprisingly broad subject. What are your favorites, and why? Here are mine in order of preference:

1) Griottines -- A true brandied, small cherry. I think these are the defining example of a brandied cherry. Good in Manhattans, etc.
2) Luxardo -- For me, this is the defining example of the sweet, syrupy cherry, also good in Manhattans, etc.
3) Peninsula Premium -- From Michigan, USA. Almost perfect copy of a Luxardo, about half to two thirds the price.
4) Amarena -- or any other Italian "syrupy sweet" cherry similar to Luxardo
5) My own home-made Brandied cherry -- cinnamon and clove spice. Yummy. Compares favorably with Griottines.
6) Premium Cocktail Cherries -- Another Michigan product. Pales in comparison to Luxardo or Peninsula Premium. Price is its only virtue.
7) Grocery Store so-called "Maraschino" Cherries -- Decoration only (Colliins drinks, etc.) Great source of Red Dye #40 -- if that's what you like.
8) Bada Bing -- Nope.
9) Filthy -- Definitely no.

So please, let's hear from you on your favorites and why. The above is only my experience and my opinion, and yours can be totally different. I'm not looking for agreement, though it is flattering to think I'm right. What I really want is more knowledge on the subject, and I can't possibly have even the slightest of that without the experiences and opinions of others.

Cheers!
Tony

"What we don't need to know for achievement, we need to know for our pleasure. Knowing how things work is the basis for appreciation, and is thus a source of civilized delight." -- William Safire

 

[malocchio]

I also like the Amarena, one third the price of Luxardo , excellent flavor ....

 

[The Knize]

Costco has had these in 2.2 lb jars for under $20. The seem about as good as Luxardo or other amareno cherries to me, and good for virtually any drink that calls for maraschino cherries, although they are much sweeter and denser. Perfect for an Aviation, for instance.

For Manhattans, I use DIY dried Montmorency sour cherries from Trader Joes soaked in cognac and sugar, sometimes with a cinnamon stick in with the soaking cherries. I keep in them in the fridge in the liquid. I have never put cloves in. Maybe I will try that.

I kind of like grocery store Maraschino cherries in tiki drink, but I know that is de classe.

Bada Bing and various other more expensive cherries seem okay to me. But I do not really go out of my way for them.

 

[Whisky]

We use Luxardo or homemade cherries that are canned using Luxardo Liqueur and other spices. We would buy 30lbs of pitted sour cherries in Michigan and can cherries for a couple of days. Pie filling, BBQ sauce, cocktail cherries, and preserves.

 

[Maximumsmoke]

Costco has had these in 2.2 lb jars for under $20. The seem about as good as Luxardo or other amareno cherries to me, and good for virtually any drink that calls for maraschino cherries, although they are much sweeter and denser. Perfect for an Aviation, for instance.
View attachment 1605420
For Manhattans, I use DIY dried Montmorency sour cherries from Trader Joes soaked in cognac and sugar, sometimes with a cinnamon stick in with the soaking cherries. I keep in them in the fridge in the liquid. I have never put cloves in. Maybe I will try that.

I kind of like grocery store Maraschino cherries in tiki drink, but I know that is de classe.

Bada Bing and various other more expensive cherries seem okay to me. But I do not really go out of my way for them.

OK -- My education continues! I will try that Montmorency trick. Thanks!!

 

[The Knize]

I will try that Montmorency trick.

Not original to me, of course. And sour cherries do have a different flavor than sweet cherries. I think I prefer sour for most purposes. especially pies! One could reconstitute the dried cherries in bourbon or rye, I suppose. I think the cognac, or any brandy really, adds a nice complexity, but it is not like I add droppers of cognac to my Manhattans, so I have no explanation!

 

[The Knize]

We would buy 30lbs of pitted sour cherries in Michigan and can cherries for a couple of days. Pie filling, BBQ sauce, cocktail cherries, and preserves.

That sounds wonderful. Around here sour cherries seem to be available for about two days a year and they are dear! I pain to pit, too. Maybe I do not have the right tool! They freeze well though.

 

[Hms123]

Woodford Reserve Bourbon Cherries.
Excellent for Manhattans.

 

[The Knize]

Thanks. I believe you. I am a Woodford fan in general anyway!

 

[Tirvine]

I have not tried most of them. I was happy with Luxardo and stopped looking. We hide them in an empty San Marzano tomatoes can. My son will eat a whole jar of them.

 

[DrStrange]

That sounds wonderful. Around here sour cherries seem to be available for about two days a year and they are dear! I pain to pit, too. Maybe I do not have the right tool! They freeze well though.

About having the right tool for sour cherries ...

I deliberately sought out product reviews
in which people complained about the cherry pitter being too small,
because being someone who likes to eat sour cherries exclusively,
I am aware that most people like to eat the sweet ones.

I got a Westmark, by Kernex.
I needed it for making cherry jam.
It's good.

 

[Whisky]

That sounds wonderful. Around here sour cherries seem to be available for about two days a year and they are dear! I pain to pit, too. Maybe I do not have the right tool! They freeze well though.

That’s why we’d buy the bulk pre-pitted. We pitted our own the first year and said never again. We buy them from the orchard they’re grown in so they’re very fresh when we get them. We’d pick the sweet ones by hand and eat those without pitting.

 

[02flhtci]

I’ve been using these and they are a winner!

 

[BudgetShaverGuy]

Luxardo has always made my Old Fashion and Manhattan drinks go to 11. The Trader Joe’s knockoffs are seasonal but pretty damn good for a fraction of the price!

 

[Maximumsmoke]

That sounds wonderful. Around here sour cherries seem to be available for about two days a year and they are dear! I pain to pit, too. Maybe I do not have the right tool! They freeze well though.

And sour cherries do have a different flavor than sweet cherries.

Varieties of small, sour cherries are used for all the good cocktail cherries, whether that cherry has been prepared in a sweet syrup, as by Luxardo, et al, or the brandied ones like Griottines -- and in pies, as you and others have said. Big fat cherries do not make such good cocktail cherries -- they actually lack concentrated flavor, and by the time they are "brandied" or otherwise treated, they are too pulpy. The big luscious cherries are for eating, just as they are.

Cheers!
Tony

 

[The Knize]

That’s why we’d buy the bulk pre-pitted. We pitted our own the first year and said never again. We buy them from the orchard they’re grown in so they’re very fresh when we get them. We’d pick the sweet ones by hand and eat those without pitting.

Sounds like a great option to me! I wish they had more cherries around here. When I was growing up we had an enormous sour cherry tree in the back yard that was very productive. A volunteer as far as I know. I remember my Mother making the best cherry pies with its output. Certain French pastries have that same distinct sour cherry flavor. I guess Morello cherries pretty much have that flavor. The birds seemed to leave the tree alone for years, until one year it became a Hitchcock movie and the tree production was wiped out every year thereafter.

I do like a regular sweet cherry pie, too, so sweet cherries have some uses!

 

[The Knize]

Hmm. I had no idea cocktail cherries and Amarena cherries were a sour strain. Cool!

 

[TexLaw]

Griottines are mighty nice and a lovely change of pace. I love Luxardo cherries, but they seem to be everywhere these days and in all sorts of cocktails.

Luxardo is what I drop in my Manhattan at home, but I had one a little while back with a Griottine cherry. It was lighter and brighter. Really very nice!

 

[The Knize]

but I had one a little while back with a Griottine cherry. It was lighter and brighter.

These sound like they are worth a look. I generally like the Luxardo and amarena cherries, at least in the right drink, but it sometimes feels a bit like I have dropping a cherry gummy bear in drink they are so firm and so sweet. Lighter and brighter sound like a nice direction!

 

[TexLaw]

it sometimes feels a bit like I have dropping a cherry gummy bear in drink they are so firm and so sweet

That's not a bad way to put it, but it's more the flavor and sweetness than texture. That very heavy syrup has a lot of influence on the flavor of the drink, particularly at the end, and perhaps more than a proper garnish should have. While I've enjoyed many a Manhattan with a Luxardo cherry, I've sometimes been disappointed with how strong that cherry was with the last sip.

I've thought about rinsing the syrup off a Luxardo cherry and seeing how that sits, but I never remember to try that until after I've dropped the thing into glass. Hey, it's still good!