cherry vodka recipe

July 27, 2005 4:29 PM

Looking for a good cherry vodka recipe.

I tried cherry vodka a few years ago. It was wonderful. The liquor was red, had a wonderful cherry aroma and melted on the tongue. Now that cherries are in season I would like to try to duplicate the recipe. The maker of the cherry vodka that I tasted refuses to devulge the recipe. I've done google searches and it appears that all I really need is cherries, sugar and vodka. But I wonder how much the actual brand of vodka plays in the the melt-in-your-mouth factor? I also don't know what kind of containers to make it in. Do I make it in seperate containers or one big one? I'd like to give this as Christmas gifts, so I think that I'll need at least a dozen containers. I'm also not clear on the amount of cherries that I need to buy to make let's say 12 mason jars full?

Anyone have experience making cherry vodka?

posted by Juicylicious to food & drink (8 comments total)

I've done this with apricots, cherries and brandy; I can't imagine it'd be that much different for vodka. I filled mason jars (tall ones) with cut up fruit, poured a cup of sugar over that, and then topped it off with the liquor, making sure no fruit was sticking out the top or it'd get moldy. put in a nice cool dark place, let sit for 6 months to a year, and voila, xmas gifts.
posted by luriete at 4:50 PM on July 27, 2005

If you're making a sweet liqueur, the quality of the vodka doesn't matter. You want something as neutral as possible. When I used to make herbal liqueurs I'd look for cheap plastic bottled vodka that emphasized "triple distilled" or filtered or the like.

If you're making a non-sweet flavoured vodka, you want good vodka. Good vodka has flavour, and you'll be augmenting that flavour with cherry.

BTW, brandy is the traditional base for fruit liqueurs, not vodka. Lots more body. Cheap American domestic brandy should work fine.
posted by Nelson at 4:56 PM on July 27, 2005

Here's a good search engine for mix drinks.
posted by alteredcarbon at 5:57 PM on July 27, 2005

I know of at least http://www.uvvodka.com">one premade cherry vodka. It's not bad, and offers instant gratification.
posted by Kellydamnit at 7:45 PM on July 27, 2005

aw crap.

That should be:
one premade cherry vodka
posted by Kellydamnit at 7:45 PM on July 27, 2005

The quality of liquor doesn't matter much, as the cherries and sugar tend to be overpowering. For more recipes, search "cherry bounce" - another name for the drink, which is usually made with bourbon. Delicious.
posted by conquistador at 8:24 PM on July 27, 2005

Brandy + big tightly sealed bottle + cherries + cover in brandy + 6 months. You can add the sugar if you want - I prefer on harvest. The problem is it's so nice drinking it too quickly is a big problem. Just cracked open the summer (S.hemi) crop here and it's nearly gone already.
posted by singingfish at 10:26 PM on July 27, 2005

My wife uses sour cherries, a ton of sugar, and a few bottles of vodka, all in a 15L ice cream bucket (must be, what, 3 gallons?) Stashes it in a cool dark place for gawdawful long, strains it into bottles. Good as gold.

Hint: don't do it with saskatoons. The stuff will be drinkable, but it isn't pleasant. Peaches are a delicate flavour; apricots far more round and earthy; raspberries tart and sharp. I want to try blueberries...
posted by five fresh fish at 11:46 PM on July 27, 2005