Anyone that knows me is aware that I like to have a cocktail in the evening. OK, maybe sometimes more than one.

My favorite cocktail is a bourbon Manhattan. I prefer mine “up” and garnished with a cherry. Most cocktail recipes call for a maraschino cherry as the garnish. It works but a booze-infused cherry is sooo much better.

You can buy bourbon cherries, however, they are a bit on the expensive side costing around $20 for a small jar of them. In this recipe, I’ll show you how to make them at a fraction of the cost.

This recipe isn’t original. We found it on WebMD of all places. Go figure. Time to make us some yummy cherries.

Ingredients

• 2 cups or so of fresh cherries – pitted
• 1 cup of bourbon
• 3/4 cup of packed brown sugar

Special Equipment – Cherry pitter

Directions

• Pit the cherries. Try to leave the stems on as they look better. However, I wasn’t very successful and only had about half of the stems stay on during pitting.
• Combine the bourbon and brown sugar into a saucepan.
• Warm over low heat and gently stir until sugar is dissolved into the bourbon. Be careful with the open flame and the bourbon. The stuff will ignite if you spill it.
• Pack the cherries into a 1-quart mason jar.
• Pour the warmed bourbon over the cherries.
• Push the cherries down as needed to ensure they are submerged.
• Let them sit for about a week before using them. Bonus: They do get better as time goes by.

Notes

• I used Evan Williams bourbon but use your favorite. You can also use a dark rum.
• Most folks don’t have a cherry pitter. Not to worry. You can pick one up via Amazon for less than $13. We bought one made by OXO and you can find it here.
• Instead of using your stove, you can put the bourbon and brown sugar in a microwave-safe bowl and heat it that way.