In Defense of Real Maraschino Cherries
11The author of the Tercero Verbiage Rouge write-up has obviously never experienced real maraschino cherries. Those neon red engineered food products we had in Shirley Temples as kids are to actual maraschino cherries as Franken Berry is to real strawberries.
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You know you’re having a well-made old-fashioned when there is a browny-purple Luxardo cherry in the bottom of the glass.
@sandbarhappy and then there is the joy of Luxardo Liqueur Maraschino.
@sandbarhappy Luxardo cherries are amazing! TJ’s has a pretty decent cherry for only $4 should you not want to drop the $20 on the Luxardos.
@NightGhost I love Maraschino liqueur. I’ve made a Last Word for years (3/4 oz. each of gin, lime juice, Green Chartreuse, and Maraschino). I just made a variation that’s rye, lemon juice, Green Chartreuse, and Maraschino. Also delicious.
@SSteve I’ll have to try that (I just happen to have the ingredients
). Have you ever had an Aviation?
@NightGhost No because I’ve never stocked crème de violette. At some point in the past I read that it was impossible to find in the U.S. but now I see that Total Wine has it. I may have to pick up a bottle. Or else I’ll see if they have it at my favorite bar in Ashland when we go there next weekend.
@SSteve That works, but there are also many recipes than omit the violette.
@NightGhost To my tastes, the creme de violette is an important ingredient in an Aviation. The floral aspects it adds to both the aroma and the taste shouldn’t be underestimated, and it also gives the drink a really lovely purple hue.
@jawlz Ah - gotcha. I personally despise those floral notes.
@NightGhost I made an Aviation a couple nights ago. There’s a lot of variation in recipes out there on the internet. I went with 2 oz gin, 3/4 oz lemon juice, 2 tsp Maraschino, and because I didn’t have Creme de Violette, 1 tsp Creme de Cassis. It was tasty. I’d like to pick up some Creme de Violette but my liquor cabinet is already overflowing.
@SSteve All cleared for takeoff.
@NightGhost
Gin, check
Creme de Violette, check ( I actually have some)
lemon juice, check (have a tree)
Maraschino, we have an issue here…
As a pilot, seems I need to try this…
However did I have the Vioette?!
@rjquillin A glorious quest!
@SSteve my wife and I played around with various proportions in the recipe, before settling on the following:
1 part Creme de Violette
2 parts Lemon Juice
3 Parts Maraschino Liqueur
6 parts Gin
It is true, I haven’t partaken in legit maraschino cherries. All I knew were the pale, plastic-looking imitations before diving into the history of them. I also learned about Dalmatia.
There’s a time and place for everything. In a Manhattan, I’ll take a Luxardo cherry. On the frosting of a cake, or in a fruitier drink, I’ll take one of those neon-red ‘maraschino’ cherries. In an Aviation, I’ll take a maraschino liqueur (yes, that’s redundant, but I’ve made my peace with it, just as I have made my peace with needing to specify ‘gin’ before ‘martini’ when ordering at a bar [though I am still annoyed when inexperienced bartenders tell me that vermouth doesn’t go into a martini, but I digress]).
Thanks for sharing! I just bought some, never knew what they were when I had them in drinks at nice places, but happy to know now!