Cherry Whiskey Fizz
Whiskey and cherries go well together and ditto for cherries and champagne—so, Brian and I wondered, does this mean whiskey, cherries, and champagne will harmonize into a winning drink? For this month's bubbly-themed Mixology Monday—hosted by Anita and Cameron at Married with Dinner—we decided to find out.
We had wanted to do something a little unusual, and Google searches turned up few cocktails marrying whiskey to sparkling wine. So we hit the liquor shop for bubbly and a bottle of rye, Trader Joe's for one of those big jars of Morello cherries I always shuffle past in the check-out line (which, at the Manhattan TJs, winds clear around the store), and came home for an evening of tinkering.
As it happened, we nailed it on the second try.
Our first attempt suffered from too much whiskey—two ounces. We cut that down to one, and ended up with a nicely balanced, quaffable cocktail. A teaspoon of simple syrup rounds out the tartness of the cherry juice, and orange bitters add a note of spice.
CHERRY WHISKEY FIZZ
1 ounce whiskey
1 ounce cherry juice*
1 teaspoon simple syrup
Dash of orange bitters
Dry champagne or other sparkline wine
Shake whiskey, juice, bitters, and simple syrup well with ice. Strain into an ice-filled wine glass. Top with champagne, stir gently, and garnish with a cherry (or three).
*We used the liquid from our jar of Trader Joe's morello cherries, which was juicy and tart rather than syrupy. If your "juice" is on the sweet side, omit the simple syrup.
Category: Drinks
Technorati Tags: mixology monday cocktails whiskey champagne morello cherries
Hmm, I've been looking for an excuse to buy some Morello cherries.
Reply to this
I love recipes with cherries - I've never made a cherry drink!
Reply to this
Ooh, sounds yummy, though I'm not a whiskey drinker whatsoever. Mmm, cherries.
Reply to this
Hi Anita--No excuse needed. Oh, and they're great over ice cream, too.
Hi Patricia--Then I think you'd better get some cherry juice and start mixing!
Hi Yvonne--With the juice and champagne, the whiskey taste isn't too assertive. I think this would also be great with rum.
Reply to this
Guys, where'n the heck did you find Rye? Brian, you mentioned the name of the stuff, but I'll be damned if I can recall....
Reply to this
Hey Jeremy--Most liquor stores should carry rye. Specifically, I know Astor Place has it.
Reply to this
Hi Sarah -- thanks again for participating. Yours was the first of FOUR drinks featuring cherries or berries. What a funny coincidence, eh?
The roundup's posted here: http://marriedwithdinner.com/archives/679
Reply to this
Hi Anita--that is funny. But you can never have too many berries, in my book.
Reply to this
That sounds like a very tasty drink!
Reply to this
Thanks Kristen--I appreciate you stopping by!
Reply to this
Awesome! I'm a real sucker for a bit of bubbly. Plus I made duck with cherries the other night and have a load to use up. Thanks for the idea!
Reply to this
Hi Ros--No problem! I hope you enjoy the recipe.
Reply to this