4 Cocktail Cherries to Try Right Now

By Esther Tseng

When it comes to the ingredients in your cocktails, are you paying enough attention to the garnish?

Among the most popular and traditional are maraschino cherries, seen in everything from the Old Fashioned to the Manhattan and beyond. Here are four cocktail cherries that can add that special touch onto your drink.

Amarena Toschi Cherries

Amarena Toschi Cherries

Photo Courtesy of Toschi

Amarena Cherries by Toschi

Amarena cherries by Toschi are picked in July in the Vignola mountains of Italy. You’ll get mostly sour but refreshing notes from these babies. They’re ideal as a garnish on gelato and chocolate desserts – or on that sweet cocktail that could use some sourness to break it up.

Fabbri Amarena

Fabbri Amarena Cherries

Photo Courtesy of Fabbri Amarena

Fabbri Amarena Cherries

These cherries have been produced by the Fabbri family since 1905 with a guarded recipe, and fruit from the Emilia-Romagna province. The Fabbri cherries impart a mostly bitter flavor, which is why they’re so popular on desserts or dropped in a glass of Prosecco. They would also be a natural complement to Amaro cocktails.

Jack Rudy Co. Bourbon Cherries

Jack Rudy Co. Bourbon Cherries

Photo Courtesy of Jack Rudy

Jack Rudy Bourbon Cherries

You can call Jack Rudy Bourbon Cherries “America’s Sweethearts,” taking the best of Oregon cherries and soaking them in Kentucky bourbon. The result is a sweet, boozy undertaking that you’ll probably want to pick straight from the jar. Also: Perfect Old Fashioneds.

Ole Smoky Moonshine Cherries

Ole Smoky Moonshine Cherries

Photo Courtesy of Ole Smoky Moonshine

Ole Smoky

One can hardly argue with steeping maraschino cherries in Moonshine, so it makes sense that the Moonshine people themselves should be the ones to do it. The heat from the 100 proof distillate is the major note you’ll get from these. Of all the varieties on this list, this one serves as a “cherry bomb” of booze.

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