How to Make Maraschino Cherries (Booze in the Kitchen) - DIY Homemade Maraschino Cherries
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- Опубліковано 5 лют 2025
- Maraschino Cherries are not what they once were. They used to be for adults, not kids, sticky fingers or sundaes. So, let's take it back and bring the booze back to the cherries. These are important garnishes in a lot of cocktails and essential to your bar.
This is officially the first episode of Booze in the Kitchen. Cooking is going to be a big part of your home bartending experience from now on.
Proper Maraschino Cherries are not always easy to come by. Luxardo makes a good batch (link below). But if you're so inclined, you should give it a try. Time to polish off your Home Ec skills and work some magic in the kitchen, all in the name of better booze.
Recipe:
2 lbs. Cherries (Marasca if possible, but a firm, sour cherry will do)
2 cups Maraschino Liqueur
.75 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Water
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
2 Cinnamon Sticks
Pinch of Freshly Grated Nutmeg
Wash and pit Cherries
Combine all ingredients except Maraschino Liqueur and Cherries in a pot. Bring to rolling boil.
Turn down to Medium Heat. Add Cherries. Simmer for about 5 mins.
Remove from heat and add Maraschino Liqueur.
Allow mixture to cool, then bottle and refrigerate.
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Items Featured in This Episode
Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
www.luxardo.it/...
/ luxardospa
Simply Organic Vanilla Extract
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Wholesome Sweeteners Organic Sugar
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Cinnamon Sticks
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Whole Nutmeg
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Bar Tools:
Cherry Pitter
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Colander
amzn.to/2r9BgMp
Citrus Juicer (Lemon)
amzn.to/2s5D1sY
OXO SteeL Double Jigger
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2 qt Pot
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4 Cup Angled Measuring Cup
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OXO Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons
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Citrus Zester & Spice Grater
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Luxardo Cherries (not exactly featured)
amzn.to/2sLIu6r
How long do these keep for?
I'm not a doctor or food scientist. I wouldn't want to tell you how long they'll last, but I've had some in the fridge for several months and they're fine. Definitely store them in the refrigerator.
With all that maraschino liqueur and sugar they will last forever.
2:03 is the % of alcohol? I read somewhere that it needs to be I think above 70% ti store safe long term. I know you keep yours in the fridge. I tried this once and put on shelf and they got dangerous unsafe. The bubbles after researching it said it needs to be a certain %. Do you know tge alcohol content of tge liquor you mentioned?
Was a fase years ago to make lots of fruit jars adding to over weeks XXX
Thank you for this... 9 years later and you're going to save Christmas because I can't get the maraschino cherries for cherry nut roll... but I can get the liquor and the fresh cherries!
Amazing work!! Really happy to find this channel..
Thanks for the recipe, gonna try rright now 👌👌👌👌
I feel that a shot of amaretto would work great as a replacement for the vanilla. That almond flavor would play well with the cherries
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There are so many flavors going on here it probably won't make much difference, but you lose most of the complexity of the vanilla by boiling it. Generally, vanilla is added off-heat when cooking or baking. It might be worth it to add the vanilla at the same time as the Maraschino Liqueur.
+Michael Booth That'd be interesting for a test batch. I wonder if the vanilla would be overpowering if added later.
+Distinguished Spirits I suspect not; in fact, the opposite might be true. Vanilla extract has a fairly complex flavor profile, but it's vanillin which we associate with the vanilla taste. I'm not sure why exactly, but high heat destroys the other, non-vanilla flavors.
Extract is also quite boozy, something like 35% alcohol. If you mix a measure of vanilla extract with several parts milk, you can taste all the different flavors, and there's a definite alcohol taste.
Of course, heat will evaporate some of that alcohol, further concentrating the vanilla taste. At least, that's what I suspect.
Sorry for being so long winded. I'm definitely going to give this recipe a shot just as soon as fresh cherries show up at the grocery store.
I love your voice! like smooth butter
Haha. Cheers!
I wonder how the jars of maraschino cherries are able to still have stem attached but no pits inside?
Are you talking about the cherries you'd see on top of a sundae? If so, I think they have How It's Made type videos to show you the details.
Jajaja love the finger licking at 1:55
Didn’t think we’d catch that huh? 😂 look absolutely delicious. Cannot accept the mutant red cherries in cocktails anymore
😂
I only came here to listen to how maraschino cherries is pronounced
Now you know
Very good, another great video.
Cheers! Glad you liked it.
Can I use Agave Nectar instead of sugar?
Great recipe , I actually added the juice to another 2lbs of cherries and added a cup of fresh luxardo and it was still really good , also to cut the cost a bit I made a new batch yesterday with 1 cup luxardo and 1 cup bourbon . Let you know how they turn out 👍
Nice! The recycled juice worked. The guys at Trash Tiki (www.trashtikisucks.com/about-us/) would be proud.
Distinguished Spirits made a new batch from scratch , went with a 1/2 cup of orgeat to replace 1/2 cup of maraschino . Hope it works out lol keep up the channel !!! Best drink channel on the web 👍👍
Luxardo is the most expensive Maraschino. Maraska brand is cheaper and I’d say as good.
Suggestion: A canning funnel (can be had cheaply most anywhere that sells canning supplies) makes getting things into jars much easier.
Good call. That would be helpful for Tiki drinks too.
Thanks for the recipe, but for the love of God don't waste your vanilla extract by boiling it, especially if you buy cold extracted vanilla. Wait until the cherries cool before adding any liquor or extract.
Well if u don't want the overpowering taste of the vanilla extract, it's up to you to boil it or not.
Just made a batch of these using Sweet Red Cherries from Trader Joes (that's all we have out here; I assume they are Bing cherries). Amazing! The syrup is out of this world too. Cheers.
Great! Glad you liked it. Cheers!
how long can we store those bottles in a fridge before they get spoiled?
I'm not a doctor or food scientist. I wouldn't want to tell you how long they'll last, but I've had some in the fridge for several months and they're fine. Definitely store them in the refrigerator.
Can u do a video on what drinks u can make with those? Except whiskey sour, which I'm currently drinking lmao
I have made your recipe and they are delicious! Now that i used all of the cherries, i have a lot of the juice left over. Any suggestions on what it could be used for? I feel like it’s a waste to just throw out the juice.
Oh nice! Glad you enjoyed it. I'm not sure what to do with the leftover juice. Maybe reduce it on the stove and make it a syrup. If you come up with something let me know. Cheers!
Well, you could make a cocktail with it.
Use it when making a fruit cake!
Drizzle it on top of ice cream...
In a Singapore Sling?
Do these need to be refrigerated? I would assume no but would hate to see them spoil.
Pam Wishbow Yeah. For sure. I stick them in the fridge. I'm not a doctor or food scientist. I wouldn't want to tell you how long they'll last, but I've had some in the fridge for several months and they're fine. Or maybe I'm putting myself at risk of botulism. Haha.
Distinguished Spirits worth it.
Distinguished Spirits you're not at risk, botulism releasing bacteria are anaerobic; it will not happen with the presence of oxygen. That's why it can happen with canned goods got contaminated.
I finally made it through my first batch that I made but now I have all that tasty juice left over. Do you reuse the Luxardo juice for anything else once you have no cherries left?
You can. The Shark's Tooth calls for it. Although, I'd say, you might have to play around with the measurement in the cocktail.
ua-cam.com/video/U8Alo-H-Np4/v-deo.html
Sometimes if I forget to make simple syrup I'll add Marischino syrup to my rum and lime juice.
Multi cherry pitter!? I pitted 5kg one by one the other week :'(
Damn. Sounds painful. Haha.
At my parent's place they have a few cherry trees, I bought my dad a cherry pitter that does 12 at once a couple years ago.
Would putting a few dashes of maraschino liqueur into a jar of Luxardo cherries be a good shortcut, or not? I know it wouldn't be the same, but is there any reason it wouldn't work? If that would be an ok idea, would it be a good idea to also add a little lemon juice, vanilla extract, ground cinnamon, and ground nutmeg to the Luxardo cherries?
If you have the Luxardo cherries, you're going to be good to go. They are already tasty and quality cherries.
This recipe is a different flavor profile and makes for a different cherry all together. If you're going to go to the trouble to add all of the ingredients to Luxardo cherries, you might as well make your own batch from scratch. Whether you make this one or get a jar of quality cherries, you'll have a great garnish for your drinks. Cheers!
do they need time in the jar to get their flavor? what's the shelf life?
They will have all their flavor before getting in the jar. The flavor stays pretty consistent. In terms of shelf life they should last at least a month. I kept mine longer, but just use your best judgement.
They're already boiled. For LONG shelf life, why not just follow proper canning procedres? Boil your jars & lids, fill & seal. Done. Should be fine AT LEAST a year, & up to 2yrs unopened, as long as seals don't break.
I'm wanting to make sugar free maraschino cherries using monk fruit sweetener. Can I substitute a good cherry extract for the Luxardo liqueur (which is loaded with sugar)?
I don't know if you've tried it or smelled it, but it does not have much of a cherry taste. There's a fruitiness to it, but it has more of a nutty, herbal taste. That's going to be a tough one to sub. Maybe your sweetener with some almond extract and orange bitters. You'd have to play around with it to get it in the neighborhood. Maybe hit up the Low Carb Cocktail Guy (ua-cam.com/channels/8Erym8Q24ITNCZvGkxZEhA.html). He might have some better advice for ya. Good luck! Let me know what you come up with.
Must be before puberty
0:36 nice bitters collection! why not make a video about bitters?
Thanks. I can. It would be a short one. There are, broadly speaking, roughly four categories for bitters:
1) Aromatic (most commonly Angostura)
2) Peychaud's
3) Orange
4) New Wave/Craft/Other
The first three are common in a lot of cocktails. Those three will be able to cover 99% of the cocktails that call for bitters. However, there's that odd duck cocktail and some modern drinks (a couple I've made up, for instance) that call for esoteric bitters. Which I now try to steer away from as they are harder to recreate at home. Anyway, hope that helps. Let me know if there was something specific you were wanting me to explore on the topic of bitters. Cheers!
Thanks for the answer! There's nothing specific I want, just would like to see your take on the subject. Well... actually now that you ask...I'd like to know more about that odd duck cocktail :) but if it doesn't fit in these series because you want to keep the ingredients easy to find, I understand.
I gotcha. Yeah, I still do an odd duck video every once in a while.
oh I see.. it's a figure of speech... like a "rara avis"... ok... I thought it was an actual cocktail :D
Haha. Yeah, sorry. I guess that expression didn't work in the comment section. Cheers!
All I need is that jar of cherries and a spork and more than likely a big fat shot of insulin by the time I get done and nothing else........Maybe a nap.
😂
@@DistinguishedSpirits thanks.
WARNING! Do NOT substitute cinnamon sticks with ground cinnamon. They taste fine the first day but after 4 days, the taste is less a gentle cinnamon and more akin to a Yankee candle. Great if you want redhot candies, bad if you want maraschino cherries
Good recipe... did you find that the cherries were a little soft from leaving on the heat for 5 minutes?
Thanks. I didn't invent it. I should link out to the creator of this recipe. (Doh!) The cherries end up definitely softer than the Luxardo Maraschino Cherries and they will be bigger, more plump. Also, of course, they will taste different. Haha.
I made some a few weeks back but used a sweet style cherry rather than sour.
Similar method to yours but a little drawn out... only heated the cherries to 60 odd deg Celsius briefly to kill any nasties in a 30% simple syrup (apparently that matches the sugar content of the cherry and therefore doesn’t cause changes such as wrinkles/shrinkage to the cherry).. then over the course of a week I added 2:1 to bring the sugar content up and finally added the booze.
They still have a good firmness but are nothing like Luxardos - they taste fresher rather than syrupy.. pretty happy with the result. Do you make them often?
How long will a jar last opened both refrigerated and non-refrigerated?
You'll definitely want to keep it refrigerated, but in the fridge it should last at least a month. I've kept mine longer, but just use your best judgement. No need to risk getting sick over this. ;-)
Thanks sir.
Can I use the same process with Brandy? This is pretty awesome.
GnartleBaby A lot of times they are made with Brandy. I really like this recipe, but feel free to make them with Brandy. The book The 12 Bottle Bar by David Solmonson & Lesley Jacob Solmonson make the cherries with Brandy. They have an awesome recipe to make it that way. Check them out at 12bottlebar.com. Cheers!
Do these cherries have alcohol in them? Are they the like the ones at the store?
These ones in particular do have alcohol in theme. The alcohol comes from Maraschino liqueur.
Do you think it is possible to make the cherries without the use of maraschino liqueur? Got some friends that are teetotlares. By the way thx for running such a great channel!
Thanks! I'm not sure if it will work, but try replacing it with water and a healthy dose of almond extract. See if that gets you in the ballpark.
Could star anise be added with the rest of the spices?
Sure. Knock yourself out. Let me know how it turns out!
These are amazing!! Bravo! Thank you so much for posting the recipe....never again will i buy the jarred stuff! I ended up adding two star anise in the mix.
Oh good! Yeah, I love this recipe. Glad to hear the anise worked out. Cheers!
What is the music?
It's "Around the Clock" by Zebra Symphonic. jinglepunks.com
how long would this last in the fridge?
Yours is my favorite drink related channel. Any plans for doing a "how to make the ultimate cocktail onions for a Gibson" type video?
Oh yeah. That's a good idea. I should definitely add that to the list. Cheers!
looks delicious and way less cancer than the calcium chloride and sulfur dioxide
I can vouch for the deliciousness.
I don't like added sugar sweetness, Could you just marinate the ripe cherries in a decent rye or bourbon? Say in a mason jar?
Luv Manhattans and a decent not too sweet cherry, would be just the the extra touch.
Sweet vermouth is all the sweetness I need. Cheers!
Funky Fiona I don't like sweet flavors either. I'm pretty sensitive to it. That being said, I really like this recipe. You'll have to try it with a smaller batch. If it's too sweet for you, dial it back in the next batch. But keep in mind when you're using a cherry for garnish, you're going to be getting very little of the syrup in your drink. So, it may not be as sweet as you think. The other thing is that if you're used to sundae cherries, the syrup used in those is on overdrive. It's way too sweet. This recipe is different. On top of which the vanilla, lemon, nutmeg and cinnamon-not to mention the Maraschino Liqueur-give it a much more complex flavor than the high-fructose corn syrup with a splash of Red Dye #4 that's probably in your average sundae cherries. Anyway, give it a try. I'd love to hear what you think.
Funky Fiona hell yeah! You can get a jar of maraschino cherries put it in a jar fill it with whiskey and leave it for a year we do that at Christmas time so every Christmas we have-year-old soaked cherries
cynthia caldwell is that sarcasm or do you actually do that
Yum!
I can't find tart or sour cherries to save my life. I have looked everywhere here in southern Cali. Will the dark red sweet ones be ok with this recipe? I can only find sweet ones.
Bummer, yeah, sweeter cherries will work. That's what I used in the video. I got mine from a farmer's market in LA, so you'll probably wind up with the exact same cherries as the ones in the video. Good luck. Let me know how they turn out. Cheers!
People always seem to know better.. Maraschino is an italian liquor, so he's pronouncing it perfectly! Great video, I subscribed!
Awesome! Thank you!
Think the title should be....How to canning cherries.
+Konely King Haha. Fair enough. How to canning cherries with sugar, spices and booze. How about that?
+Distinguished Spirits
Sounds good to me!
Made so much of these last 3 month and my mother is gobbling it down before I can use the juices.. Is it any way reuse these juices for future batches? 10 ml per oldfashioned is not gonna empty 3 jars hahah
Btw I am super satisfied with this recipe!
Great! Glad you like it. It's a solid recipe. I don't know how wise it would be to reuse the juice, you'd probably boil off all of the alcohol when making the second batch. Maybe you could make a punch with the leftover juice or something. If you come up with something cool, let me know.
Sorry I didn't notice you answered me until now. (almost a year) My mother drank them all with club soda while I was gone for study... xD Cherries are coming out again time to make new batch!
@@reinheart14121412 how long do your cherries last and how do your store 'em? I guess put the jars in a dark room and when opened put 'em into the fridge?
@@Javic167 I put them in fridge when its done until I finish eating them! the ones I make usually gets eaten within a month or two... my friends mother made this using exact same recipe and she kept it sealed for a whole year before trying it and it tasted kinda weird.. me personally wouldnt let em sit longer than 6 month. I make around same amount as shown on this video and I can easily use them up within 2 month!
You're one of my favorite channels. But it drives me nuts how you (and others) mispronounce the word Maraschino
Well, it's to differentiate it from the bleached sundae cherries "mara-shee-no". These cherries and the luxardo ones are supposed to be Marasca ("mar-ah-skuh") cherries. So it becomes "mar-a-skee-no".
Distinguished Spirits ahhh. Thank you!
In canada we also say mara(she)no cherries, but, that doesn't make it right. The PROPER pronunciation is to say it the way it sounds in the country OF ORIGIN. In this case, maras(K)ino.
Sounds weird to me too, but, before 'correcting' someone, one should be certain they're actually correct.
S. B.Dreams I already said thank you for the original explanation/correction and that was 3 YEARS AGO. Thanks for restating the obvious. I bet you’re a blast at parties. Get a life.
You might want to learn how to say maraschino before making a video on how to make them.
It's to differentiate it from the bleached sundae cherries "mara-shee-no". These cherries and the luxardo ones are supposed to be Marasca ("mar-ah-skuh") cherries. So it becomes "mar-a-skee-no".
You might want to learn how to pronounce Italian before commenting.
Pronounce it: Mare a she no cherries!!!! That’s how we say it in MD anyway!
The idea is to differentiate between this and a sundae cherry.
Or just let him pronounce it correctly, in Italian ch before -e and -i represents the [k] sound