The dry, sunny weather in Eastern Washington this spring and summer has resulted in a near record-breaking cherry crop for the state. Unlike the sodden crop of 2013, this year has redeemed itself with a harvest of just under 20 million boxes. Why am I talking about fruit harvests, you ask? Because what’s good in the field, is good in the glass. And in the case of cocktails, consider cherries an excellent addition to your bar.
One new kid in the cherry playing field is the Orondo Ruby. It has bright pink, yellow and firm skin, and juicy golden flesh, not unlike a Rainier cherry. With its combination of high sugar and acid levels, it has robust flavor, and a better shelf life than its cherry brethren. As a result, it’s likely you’ll see this variety in area supermarkets, and on local bar and restaurant menus, for several weeks weeks to come.
At Wild Ginger (with locations both in Seattle and Bellevue, Wash.), Executive Chef Jacky Lo loves utilizing fresh, in-season products in the food. “It’s even better when that philosophy can be reflected in the bar,” Lo says. Wild Ginger is currently offering a Cherry Pomade cocktail where Orondo Rubies are muddled together with a lemon wedge, then mixed with rum and pomegranate juice, shaken and strained into an ice-filled glass, and topped with soda. It’s the kind of drink that makes you think: “What other fruit should I mash in a glass with booze?!”
That’s a great question, and similar to the one I ask when I pull my copy of “901 Very Good Cocktails” off the shelf. This self-published book by Stew Ellington is a valuable resource for any home cocktail enthusiast. The cocktails (all 901 of them) are organized into nearly 70 different lists ranging from gentle, fizzy or sweet, to potent, fruity, and manly. In addition to an alphabetical listing of all recipes, the recipes are indexed by ingredient or spirit, a useful resource when you have some Yellow Chartreuse you want to experiment with, sloe gin you want to get more use of, or say, some cherries you want to muddle into a drink.
“901 Very Good Cocktails” has turned me onto other recipes that call for freshly muddled fruit such as blueberries, kiwi, pineapple, and, of course, cherries. I found cocktail book author Dale DeGroff’s recipe (reprinted below) for the Cherry Crush. It muddles fresh cherries with maraschino—a cherry liqueur—and lemon juice. Whatever variety of cherry you pick-up at your area supermarket, roadside stand or farmer’s market this summer, consider enjoying this season’s cherry crop—muddled together with a little bit of booze.
Cherry Pomade, courtesy of Wild Ginger
1 ¾ ounces Bacardi Limon Rum
3 Orondo Rubies
1 lemon wedge
1 ounce pomegranate juice
Splash of soda
Muddle Orondo Rubies with one lemon wedge and a decent amount of ice in a mixing glass. Add remaining ingredients and shake well. Strain into a Collins glass with ice. Top off with a splash of soda.
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Cherry Crush, by Dale DeGroff
1 ½ ounces gin
1 ounce maraschino liqueur
½ ounce lemon juice
5 pitted cherries
Muddle four of the cherries with the maraschino liqueur and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker. Add the gin and ice, and shake. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with the remaining cherry.
