Cherry Liquer...

[primate77]

I'm not sure how closely related or how far apart these two things are...
Luxardo Maraschino Liquer, and a cheery liquer like Heering or Kirschwasser?

I know Luxardo is mentioned in the making of a Hemingway Daiquiri I believe?

The wife called me from the store, asked if I wanted anything. I mentioned the Luxardo Maraschino... but it's $28 a bottle. I told her I "thought" it was a type of cherry liquer or brandy, but not 100% positive.

There is also Heering and Kirschwasser in the same aisle, and the Kirsch was $19, so I said what the hey, and had her grab me a bottle of Kirschwasser Cherry Liquer.

Is this anywhere "close" to Luxardo? Any good ideas of tasty rum drinks that will benefit from my new bottle of Kirschwasser?

[ejellest]

Well, the kirschwasser is probably nominally closer.

Cherry Heering is a liqueur made by macerating ripe cherries in spirits, filtering them out, aging, and then sweetening. It is a bright red liqueur, not dissimilar to cherry candies.

Kirschwasser is an Eau-de-Vie (dry fruit brandy) made by fermenting cherry juice and/or pulp, distilling the result, diluting, and bottling. This is basically cherry fire water. (Though there are some pretty bad examples of Kirschwasser-like substances on the market in the US. Many of these are nothing more than flavored grain alcohol.)

Maraschino liqueur is made by fermenting cherries, seeds, and pulp, distilling the resulting mash, aging, sweetening and bottling. It's more nutty-ish than cherry-ish, with an odd funky flavor resulting from the pits being involved in the mash.

So, what to do? Well, try the Kirschwasser straight. If it isn't too horrible, and it should be immediately apparent if it is horrible. Think cherry cough drops dissolved in paint thinner. You might try making a liqueur out of it. Not really recommended, but you've got a bottle of kirschwasser you don't know what to do with. Dissolve 1 cup of sugar in 1 cup of water. Add an equal part of kirschwasser and a drop of almond flavoring or amaretto. Shake up well.

The short answer is, there really isn't a substitution for Maraschino liqueur. It is usually used in such small quantities, that the 750ml bottle isn't really a hardship. It will probably last you a year or two, unless you become addicted to Hemingway Daiquiris or Aviations.

~Erik

[primate77]

Thanks Erik! I'm kind of bumming right now... do I simply save the receipt and return the Kirsch???:(

[bunnyhugs]

Yeah, why not try and return it. . .

Kirsh is handy to have for mixing, but I can't think of any rum drink that uses it, it'll sit around even longer than the maraschino would, and cheap kirsch probably isn't good anyway.

What brand was the maraschino though? Luxardo and Maraska are good. I never heard anything too good about Stock - though I never tried it either. Oh, and Bols do one that is also pretty average, albeit usable.

[ejellest]

Thanks Erik! I'm kind of bumming right now... do I simply save the receipt and return the Kirsch???:(

If it is a 750 from one of the big brands like Phillips, Arrow, LeRoux, Hiram Walker etc. absolutely return it. It is probably awful stuff.

If it is from a quality brand like Trimbach (iffy), Clear Creek, St. George, Etter, Obstler, Schladerer, Massenez, etc. you might keep it around if you're curious or interested in esoteric classic cocktails.

But, like bunnyhugs sez, I can't think of any rum and Kirsch/Kirschwasser cocktails.

~Erik

[Michael]

The cocktaildb.com lists four:

Breeze

Cherry Daiquiri

Maragato Cocktail

Strawberry Kiss

of which the Maragato Cocktail looks most interesting, followed closely by the Cherry Daiquiri. The other two appear undrinkable on the face, but I've learned not to keep rigid assumptions about the apparent effectiveness or palatability of untried cocktail combinations.

[seabass]

Funny this thread came up as I was recently looking for marachisno liquer to make a hemingway daquiri. I've asked at around 10 liquor stores and nobody has it. What labels should i ask for?

[bunnyhugs]

Funny this thread came up as I was recently looking for marachisno liquer to make a hemingway daquiri. I've asked at around 10 liquor stores and nobody has it. What labels should i ask for?

Try to get Luxardo (more intense and fragrant) or Maraska (sweeter and milder).

There are both good, though personally I think Luxardo works much better in a Hemingway Daiquiri.

[Michael]

Careful with the Luxardo; it is wonderful, but a little goes a long way.

[primate77]

If it is from a quality brand like Trimbach (iffy), Clear Creek, St. George, Etter, Obstler, Schladerer, Massenez, etc. you might keep it around if you're curious or interested in esoteric classic cocktails.


What was brought home was... Georg Weis - Schwarzwalder Kiersche Cherry Liquer

[ejellest]

What was brought home was... Georg Weis - Schwarzwalder Kiersche Cherry Liquer

Not familiar with the brand and they don't have much information in English on their website.

Elz Valley Distillery (http://www.elztalbrennerei.com/html/index.htm)

Is it clear or reddish?

If it is pink or red, my guess would be it is likely a cherry liqueur along the lines of Cherry Heering or Cherry Brandy and not an Eau-de-Vie or something that could be substituted for Maraschino Liqueur.

For what it is worth, it looks to be a decent brand.

Now, if you wanted to make a Singapore Sling, you'd be in business!

~Erik

[primate77]

Well done! Your web link is on the money. Yes, this product is in this product line up on this web site. The liquid itself is red.

So, you think it may be a fairly decent product?

Singapore Sling it is... I think I will try that, as well as dabble with a couple other things - more suggestions as to what to do with it are very welcome!

[ejellest]

Here's my favorite Sling. It, and the quotes, are from Charles Baker's "Gentleman's Companion". Notes in parenthesis are mine.

Actually this sling was something of an improvement over the sweetish Raffles job, to your Pastor's present-day taste. It was a trifle dryer, had a bit more lime juice than average here in the United States; and, finally the inclusion of the crushed--seeded--lime hulls in the finished drink lent added aroma and flavor as they do in Gin Rickeys.

The Paramaribo Park Club Gin Sling from the Dutch Guiana Capital City of Suriname

2 oz Best Dry Gin (Tanqueray or similar)
1 Pony Cherry Brandy (1 oz)
Juice & Hulls 2 small limes (or 1 rather large American lime)
1 tsp each Cognac (or Brandy) & Benedictine

Shake with fine ice till quite cold, strain into short highball glass, letting some of the ice go in also. Cap with chilled club soda; garnish with ripe pineapple stick &/or cherry. Personally we float-on the Benedictine-Cognac after finished drink's poured.

[Tiare]

Looks like i need to get some Cherry Brandy...:)

[Rum Runner]

Here's my favorite Sling. It, and the quotes, are from Charles Baker's "Gentleman's Companion". Notes in parenthesis are mine.

Baker's two volume set of "The Gentleman's Companion" included "The Book of Exotic Drinks" and "The Book of Exotic Cookery".

A virtual tour de monde of food and drink. Written in a style that has long vanished. Well worth the read.

[primate77]

Well, it was too easy... the paper bag was still in the kitchen and the receipt was in the bag. After considering some cocktail options presented here, and looking for more on line, I decided to take it back tonight, and I got the Luxardo Maraschino Liquer.

At least now I can make the Hemingway Daiquiri, which is what intrigued me in the first place, and I can make an Aviation.

Plus, I found that there are a bunch of "old" cocktails generally dating from the 1930's and 1940's that use Maraschino Liquer, a good handful involve rum too!

So, I'm glad I returned the Weiss Cherry Liquer... maybe some other time.

[Matusalem]

I've sort of watched this thread with some curiosity. A ways back I took some Bulgarian sour cherries that were originally jarred in light syrup and threw them in a mason jar toppled by white rum.

I thought it would be a neat addition to the other lab experiments on the shelves. I haven't given it much play but didn't find the results very exciting when I tried it. From what little I tasted, I've only concluded it might make a decent Shirley Temple type affair, but seemed distracting the times I tried placing it in other concoctions.

Just before I took the jar of cherries and made my own rum infusion I had picked up a .500 bottle of D'Arbo Sour Cherry syrup (still haven't used any of this yet though).

Anyway all the above was to say, I don't really recall hearing much about rum with anything cherry involved. I'm inclined to say that the infusion I attempted to make might explain why - and I've grown curious if the combination itself is pretty much a decided no-no?

[tym2relax]

Yesterday I was getting caught up on newspaper reading when I came across an article on the Hemingway Daiquiri. If anyone is interested it is the Food & Drink section of Wall Street Journal, 5/24,25.

The Papa Doble

2 oz white rum
1 oz fresh lime juice
1/2 oz fresh grapefruit juice
1/4 oz maraschino liqueur
1 1/2 to 2 C shaved ice

Combine in blender and serve.

[ejellest]

There are so many recipes for "Papa Doubles" and "Hemingway Daiquiri's" that I get confused.

I think Wayne Curtis does some disambiguation in "...And a Bottle of Rum".

My remembering of the story is that Hemingway tried Daiquris (2 oz Cuban Style Rum, Juice 1/2 lime, 1 tsp. Caster Sugar) at El Floridita and said something like, "That's good, but I'd like the same with twice as much rum and no sugar." Making the recipe for the original "Papa Double": 4 oz rum, juice of 1/2 lime.

I'm unclear about whether this original Papa Double was blended or if that came later.

I do know that the version with Grapefruit and Maraschino liqueur definitely came later.

[Michael]

We've enjoyed the shaken version listed as follows on cocktaildb.com:

Floridita (La Floridita Daiquiri)

Shake in iced cocktail shaker & strain

1 oz fresh lime juice (3 cl, 1/4 gills)
2 oz light rum (6 cl, 1/2 gills)
1/4 oz grapefruit juice (6 dashes, 1/16 gills)
1/4 oz maraschino liqueur (6 dashes, 1/16 gills)
1/2 tsp sugar (2 dashes)

Serve in a cocktail glass (4.5 oz)

It seems substantially the same recipe as the Hemingway Daiquiri, with half the grapefruit and some added sugar.

[Matusalem]

Not to completely thread jack but SF Bay Area for "Michael" and Bernal Heights for "ejellest"....

If accurate, I'm thinking I could probably lob an empty rum bottle across "280", over the Alemany dwellings and into... at least one of your neighbor's living room windows, Erik. LOL:p

[Michael]

Sounds like it might be time for a MOR Bay Area Cocktail Confab at a local rum-aware watering hole.

[bunnyhugs]

I'm unclear about whether this original Papa Double was blended or if that came later.

I do know that the version with Grapefruit and Maraschino liqueur definitely came later.

Photos of Hemingway drinking Daiquiris seem to show a blended drink (or at least a frappe-style drink). You can find a couple of pretty clear pictures towards the bottom of this page.

http://bunnyhugs.org/2008/01/07/the-daiquiri/#more-658

When does the grapefruit and maraschino liqueur version date from?