Cherry Bounce

Who knew I had something in common with Martha Washington?


Cherry Bounce dates back to George Washington, who regularly enjoyed sipping on one of his favorite tasty drinks. In fact, the earliest recipe I was able to track dates back to Martha Washington's diary. She did it a bit different, but it's good to see she was a brandy purist (my second favorite to the blend of 5 different boozes above). Apparently Martha's recipe was written on then-General George Washington's stationary and was titled "To Make Excellent Cherry Bounce."

Here's Martha Washington's Cherry Bounce Recipe:

“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.”

I'm not sure what loaf sugar is, but Martha has given me an idea. Good thing I only made half my cherry bounce and I have plenty left to make. I'm certainly going to have to try adding cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg to my recipe. I may even consider adding some fresh vanilla beans. 

Preemptive apology

For those of you who follow my blog, I need to take a moment to acknowledge I've violated one life's maxims a good pal once taught me: under promise, over perform. I got too excited about the cherry bounce. I never should have subjected it to now four blog entries. It may be my fave, but I shouldn't have hyped it up so much. So let me just say this. I think you'll like it. It's good. Sorta. Kinda. Okay, it's slightly tasty if you like the perfect mixture of tart cherries mixed with sweet sugar and five different kinds of booze. Yeah, it's (under promise) alright. I mean, if you like that sorta thing.

Cherry Bounce, 2012

This is where I stop rambling about the bestest of the bestest most tastiest drink you'll ever infuse yourself and just let 'er rip as they say in Wisconsin. I give you.... Cherry Bounce.

Preparation Time: About 20-60 minutes (depending on how much you make)

Infusion period: 3 months (Yup, you read that right, months. Don't worry, it's worth it!)

Materials you’ll need: (Makes 4 quart-sized canning jars worth of goodness)

• 8 cups of tart cherries (leave the pits in)
• 4 One quart-sized wide mouthed canning jars (if you don't have wide-mouthed, you'll probably need to add a funnel to this list of things you need)
• 4 cups of sugar
• 2 cups of Rum (I've used spiced and white rum. it's your call) 
• 1 cup Irish Whiskey
• 1 1/2 cup Vodka
• 1 1/2 cup Brandy
• 3/4 cup Lambrusco (It's a crappy red wine. You can find it in the crappy red wine section of your local liquor store)
• 1 strainer 
• 1 bowl large enough to hold 8 cups of cleaned cherries
• paper towels (just trust me on this one. you will likely spill.



Perfect blend of 5 different
types of booze.

• A large jug to mix the above booze in 

Recipe:

• Pour 1 cup of sugar into each canning jar (use strainer if you have small mouthed jars).
• Add 2 cups of rinsed cherries to each canning jar
• In a separate container mix all your booze together, then pour into canning jars evenly. This should fill each jar relatively close to the top.

Servings:

Yields approximately 12 ounces of cherry bounce and 2 cups of drunken cherries.

How to make this tasty drink:

1. Rinse your cherries in a strainer.

2. Pour cherries into a clean bowl.

3. Line up your canning jars and add one cup of sugar to each jar.

Step 3 woks best while enjoying
a Summer Berry Splash!

4. Then add two cups of cherries to each canning jar.

Sugar + cherries = almost done!

5. In a separate container, mix all the above booze together.

I made a double batch

6. Spread your booze evening into all four canning jars. This should fill each jar pretty close to the top. As the booze makes its way down into the sugar, your concoction will bubble. Don't panic, this is supposed to happen. It's just science. Enjoy it!

I think the bubbling is one of my favorite parts!

7. Put your lid on and make sure it's tight.

Step 11 is the hardest part!

8. Turn upside down and shake until your sugar is mixed up. The sugar will then settle back into the bottom of the jar pretty quickly.
9. Shake up your jars every day or two until you can no longer see sugar settling at the bottom of your jar.
10. Store in a cool dark place.
11. Wait several months. The general rule on this is if you make it during cherry season (July-ish), it's ready to taste at Thanksgiving and keeps getting better an makes for a delicious New Years Eve beverage!

How to drink your tasty drink:

Much like most infusions, you can serve this vodka infusion many ways. You can drink 3 or 4 ounces warm, chilled or over ice. You can also shake it up martini style. Feel free to mix this with any white soda/seltzer as well. I personally enjoy it in my favorite vanilla cola. Perhaps even lemonade?

Important alterations:
Wanna keep it simple? Sure thing! Just add your sugar and cherries to your jar and fill the rest of the jar up with your favorite booze. I've seen whiskey, vodka, rum and (my fave) brandy.

Want some fun mixed drinks?

Try your concoction in an old-fashioned. You can even use your cherries in the old fashioned! Oh, I almost forgot the cherries. Top them in an ice cream desert, bake them in a pie (pitted) or smuggle them into a sporting event that doesn't sell booze, etc. Be adventurous. And don't forget to come back and post a comment to tell me how it went!

This & that

The thing I love about Cherry Bounce is that there's so many ways to make it. Please, leave a comment here and tell me what you've tried! 

Too lazy to make your own but live in the Madison, Wisconsin area? Sign up for the email list of a local restaurant named after one of my favorite drinks The Old Fashioned and be amongst the first to be notified when they crack their Cherry Bounce (usually early December).

Well, this is it. The kinda sorta almost best drink you'll ever taste. Enjoy your cherry bounce, or stop on over for some of mine.

Cheers,

Craig

Summer Berry Vodka Infusion

With the exception of the marshmallow infused vodka, I’ve had a very berry time infusing things for you. But I had “berry” high hopes for this one. What, too cheesy? Never! Not this lactose intolerant guy! Hey-Oh!

Like all good concoctours (i just made that word up), I took a sip before publishing this blog. Holy cats man, this infusion takes the cake. Perhaps one of the best fruit infusions I've done yet. I'm not even joking. You'll have to try it to see what I mean. So, where did I find this delicious recipe, you ask?

A drink so nice, I tried it twice!

A couple years ago, I went big. I wanted my own infusion jar for big projects. So, I went online and nabbed a great jar from the good people at www.infused-vodka.com. And wouldn’t you know it, the thing came with a recipe book. Now, I don’t just infuse out of this book, but it’s been very handy on occasion. If waiting for my blog posts to come out is wearing on your patience and you’re not much for Googling creative recipes, get your own copy of their infusion recipe book here.

Oh, and when making this infusion, be careful. Berries will stain!

Preparation Time: About 15 minutes

Infusion period: 5 days

Materials you’ll need:

·      1 pint of fresh raspberries

·      1 pint of fresh blackberries

·      One quart-sized canning jar

·      375ML of vodka (or more if you like)

·      wire strainer or a coffee filter (not pictured)

·      funnel (not pictured)

Recipe:

·      1 pint fresh raspberries

·      1 pint fresh blackberries

·      375 ML vodka (or just fill your jar all the way up, like me)

Servings:

Approximately 17 ounces.

How to make this tasty drink:

1.     Wash your fresh berries, removing any bad berries.

Strawberry cutting board
not included.

2.     Pour in 375 ML of vodka. If your canning jar has a measurement on the side like mine, use it to measure your vodka. (Quick note: Someone once asked me if you had to add the vodka first and my answer is simple; nope! You can do this in whatever order you want. After you are done, you are going to shake the dickens out of it anyways. I supposed, however, adding the vodka at the end would speed up the process a tad. I’m just lazy and don’t like to dirty multiple measuring cups.)

3.     Add your berries to your canning jar.

4.     Seal your jar (duh)

5.     Don’t forget to add your “ready” date.

6.     Shake it up.

7.     Store in a cool dry place.

8.     Shake well every day, or even a couple times a day if you’d like. The key to this tasty drink is the juices.

9.     Optional: strain from your canning jar into another container with a coffee filter or cheesecloth if your guests are squeamish about the berry bits.

How to drink your tasty drink:

Much like most infusions, you can serve this vodka infusion many ways.

My taste test included drinking this warm, like the manly man I am. But, for you pansies out there (aka, me for all future tastings), you may want to consider chilling before serving or serving over ice.

This vodka was so flavorful that it may be nice to drink chilled in a martini glass straight up, but I'd imagine it would taste great with soda water, tonic water or a white soda.

What I learned after doing this for the very first time:

The finished product!

I tried something new this time. I sipped a partial shot of this drink with someone else so I could get their reaction from it. And what better a person than your intern? Talk about intern hazing. "Hey, come over here and drink this" isn't exactly something you can say to an intern who you don't know very well. That's why I was lucky this particular intern has been interning for me in various capacities for the past two years; a total partner in crime. Don't worry, she's over 21 and I only gave her a half a shot (friends don't let interns drive drunk).

Her reaction was the same as mine. First and foremost, this was the best smelling infusion yet. The color is a bit dark due to the blackberries, but the smell could draw an entire room full of people in. And  this infusion tastes just as flavorful as it smells! Wow. While she shot her portion, I sipped it and savored it. You know, swishing it around in my mouth a little bit like you see those wine tasters on TV do. I had no idea what I was doing, but I do know for sure that I had just made something magical. Trust me, don't shoot this, savor it. 

Want some fun mixed drinks?

Summer Berry Vodka Splash:
Add 1 oz. of Cointreau, 5 oz. cranberry juice and 1 oz. of your Summer Berry infusion in a tall glass of ice. Garnish with a lime.

Recipe Alterations:

As I’ve already admitted, this recipe calls for 375ML of vodka but I almost never stick to that. I filled my infusion jar all the way up. Hey, I'm of modest means and want to stretch my booze a bit further.

If you enjoy this blog (and if you like creative booze), please consider signing up on the right side of this blog to follow by email. 

Raspberry Vodka Infusion

As my Man (blog) Overboard post alluded to, I went a little bonkers at my local Farmer’s Market near the end of June. The result was lots and lots of berries. If you are lucky enough to live in a part of the world that didn’t have a diminished berry crop this year, go hog wild. Otherwise, I’m afraid you might be stuck buying from your local grocery store.

If you are skipping your workout to make this infusion, don’t feel too bad about yourself. Why? Did you know raspberries are really good for you? It’s among the plant foods with the healthiest contents (I think). They are a rich source of vitamin C, manganese and are rich in antioxidants. Take that, oxidants!

So there you have it, skip your workout for the betterment of all your friends’ inebriation, um… er…. I mean health.

So, without further ado, I give you… raspberry vodka.

Easy to make, easy to drink!

Preparation Time: About 10 minutes   

Infusion period: 4-7 days

Materials you’ll need:

·      1 pint of fresh raspberries

·      One quart-sized canning jar

·      375ML of vodka (or more if you like)

·      wire strainer or a coffee filter (not pictured)

·      funnel (not pictured)

Recipe:

·      1 pint fresh raspberries

·      375 ML vodka (or more)

Servings:

Approximately 14 drinkable ounces if you fill your entire 1 quart Mason Jar after adding your 1 pint of fresh raspberries.

How to make this tasty drink:

1.     Wash your fresh raspberries, removing any bad berries.

2.     If your canning jar has a measurement on the side like mine, use it to measure your vodka.

3.     Add your berries to your canning jar.

4.     Seal your jar (duh)

Voila!

5.     Don’t forget to add your “ready” date. 

6.     Shake it up.

7.     Store in a cool dry place.

8.     Shake well every day, or even a couple times a day if you’d like. The key to this tasty drink is the juice.

9.     Optional: strain from your canning jar into another container with a coffee filter or cheesecloth if your guests are squeamish about the berry bits.

How to drink your tasty drink:

Much like most infusions, you can serve raspberry vodka many ways. At room temp, cooled in your freezer, over ice or in a martini.

What I learned after doing this for the very first time:

A good scientist always tests their experiments. I’m pretty excited about how the raspberry turned out. Straight up, this drink is pretty dynamic. At first, you taste vodka, with the strong flavor of raspberries chasing quickly behind it. I think the beverage would make for a very interesting mixed drink with soda water, tonic water or a white soda like sprite or 7-Up.

Almost ready to enjoy.

Also, someone asked me if the beverage would get more flavor if you muddle your berries. Muddling the berries will give your drink an unappetizing look, so you’ll have to strain the dickens out of it before serving to guests.

Finally, in the interest of science, I tasted the raspberries. Much like most of my infusions thus far, they tasted very boozalicious and lacked all the flavor of a fresh raspberry. This doesn't surprise me, as much of the berry flavor has been pulled into the vodka. Still, not bad!   

Want some fun mixed drinks?

Raspberry Lemon Drop:

Mix 1 oz. lemon juice, 1 oz. of your raspberry vodka infusion and 1 tsp. sugar in a martini shaker with ice. Shake your little heart out and pour it into a shot glass. I’m told it tastes great when you rim the shot glass with sugar.

Finished product. Yum!

Here’s another to try:

Raspberry Martini

3 oz. Raspberry Vodka, 1 oz. Triple Sec, 1/2 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice & 1/2 oz. Simple Syrup

Mix the above with ice in a martini shaker cup, pour and enjoy!

Recipe Alterations:

I’m interested to hear your feedback. Please, let me know what you think!

Strawberry Vodka

It’s strawberry season, it’s strawberry season!!! I’m so excited about strawberry season, that I’ll admit, I’m getting cocky here. For my second infusion for this blog, I’m making something I’ve never made before. It’s simple enough, so I hope I don’t screw this up! My only fear is the depleted strawberry crop this year. You may think that global climate change is a myth, but I’m all bought in. The proof is in the fruits I like to infuse. Mother Nature seems to be messing with our crops. Early thaws and then re-freezes make me glad I’m doing this project now, while I can still get all this great fresh food from my local farmer’s market http://dcfm.org/ right here in Madison! I don’t know what it is about the size of fresh strawberries, but the tiny crop this year is really challenging my manhood! Plus, the smaller they are, the more you have to cut. Oh well. At least when this project is done, I get to drown in my sorrows!

Preparation Time: About 20 minutes

Infusion period: 3-4 days

Materials you’ll need:

Not pictured are a strainer and funnel.

·      2 pints of fresh strawberries

·      One knife

·      One cutting board

·      One quart-sized canning jar

·      375ML of vodka

·      wire strainer or a coffee filter (not pictured)

·      funnel (not pictured)

Recipe:

·      2 pints fresh strawberries, cut in half

·      375 ML vodka

Servings:

Approximately 13-16 ounces, depending on how juicy your strawberries are. And, if you are like me and just kept adding extra vodka to your canning jar, you’ll get more to drink. (I ended up with about 17 ounces after I filled my 1 qt. jar all the way up with vodka.)

How to make this tasty drink:

1.     Slice the top green leafy part off your strawberries.

2.     Cut your strawberries in half.

If these berries don't make your mouth water,
you are working on the wrong project!

3.     If your canning jar has a measurement on the side like mine, us it to add in your vodka.

4.     Add your berries to your canning jar.

5.     Here’s where I have to admit, I’m a man on a budget and so, rather than just using 375ML of vodka, I filled that canning jar pretty much to the top. Hey, sue me for trying to make my strawberry vodka go a little bit further.

6.     Don’t forget to add your “ready” date.

7.     Store in a cool dry place.

8.     Shake well every day, or even a couple times a day if you’d like. The key to this tasty drink is the juices.

9.     Optional: strain from your canning jar into another container with a coffee filter or cheesecloth if your guests are squeamish about the strawberry seeds.

If this doesn't make you thirsty, I don't know what will!

How to drink your tasty drink:

Much like most infusions, you can serve strawberry vodka many ways. While alpha men might drink their vodka at room temperature, I’m more of a beta male myself. There’s nothing on a warm summer day like ice-cold strawberry vodka. I like to store my booze in the freezer for a day before serving it to guests (aka, my belly). Much like the pineapple vodka you can also serve strawberry vodka on ice. And last, and certainly not least for those of you who own at least one martini glass, you can also serve it shaken, not stirred.

Got a pal who likes strawberries but can’t handle their booze straight up? No problem, you can add this to pretty much anything, including white soda or a martini (see below).

At first blush, this is the finished product.
But if you look closer...
It's a self portrait I like to call...
"Craig with tiny head."

What I learned after doing this for the very first time:

A good scientist always tests their experiment, right? So, I don’t mind admitting I had a little taste. The first thought that popped into my mind was, “Damn, that’s good!” I’m glad to report this experiment was a resounding success! The vodka really pulls the juices right out of the strawberry. As a result, the berries do hold a lot of booze, so I’m committed to figuring out how to have a feast on the berries. However, considering most of the good flavor has been sucked out of those berries and now resides right in my tasty booze, I’m still trying to figure out what to do with my leftover strawberries.

Also, I'm a big fan of my 16 ounce glass flasks I ordered online. But if you've got extra room, I'd suggest adding some of the berries for appearance. Yum!

Want some fun mixed drinks?

Peachy Martini:

Add 3 oz. of strawberry vodka and 1 oz. of peach brandy in a martini shaker full of ice. Shake, shake shake and pour your little heart out. Serve in a martini glass and garnish with a lemon wedge. I've never tried this, but if you do, please, leave a comment. I'd love to hear about it!

Recipe Alterations:

As I’ve already admitted, this recipe calls for 375ML of vodka and two pints of strawberries. However, I broke the rules by adding more vodka. It’s a risk/reward situation. I’m sacrificing some of the strawberry flavoring for more booze. What can I say? I’m a bit of a boozehound!

My dad always said “Waste not, want not.” When I was a kid, I didn’t really grasp the meaning of this. But now that I’m a man on a budget, I’m hearing him loud and clear. The leftover berries are very boozy, yet there’s not much sugar left, so they don’t taste too good. I’m considering blending them in my magic bullet as part of a boozalicious smoothie. What do you think?

If you've tried this or just like what you read or simply have a suggestion for a future infusion, please leave a comment. 

Cheers!