#cherryheering

Classic Cocktail

You read the name right: this is the original classic cocktail. Well, at least it purports to be classic. If you think about it, this drinks is somewhat modern. It brings together liqueurs and brandy in ways that taste familiar to brandy cocktail drinkers of the 19th century. Lemon and lemon zest keep it tart while a sugar rim means you can choose how sweet each sip will be. The look and feel of the drink are certainly classic; the crust of sugar and three parts of lemon (the juice, the wedge and the peel) reminds me of last century architecture that possesses such ornate beauty for no other reason than appearing beautiful or prestigious. That's this drinks to a tee. So I did a few unusual things with my liquor choices here. First, cognac please. You don't use ordinary brandy when you are making a classic drink. Use cognac. Next, I thought a half ounce of maraschino liqueur (which tastes like bitter marzipan) would be too intense, so I cut the proportion of it in the drink down and replaced that portion with Cherry Heering, which darkened the drink and made it sweeter with a more rich dark cherry flavor. Finally I chose Vitae orange liqueur because of its rum base. It is much closer to real Curacao, which is rum based, than cheap triple sec.

Huntress Cocktail

This is the creamy female version of the Hunter's Cocktail with rye and cherry brandy. Bourbon gives this cocktail a vanilla-forward flavor with cream and cherry from the Heering as sort of a flourish. Another flourish--that dash of Cointreau that keeps even this heavy dessert drink tasting nice and bright.

2 oz. bourbon

1 oz. cherry liqueur (Heering used)

1 oz. half-and-half

dash Cointreau

Salander’s Ruby Red Smile

This is my original cocktail recipe for the Steig Larson character Lisbeth Salander. It is a cherry and vodka drink served up with only Swedish ingredients. Absolut vodka was always an important ingredients, as was Swedish Cherry Herring liqueur. Now I'm making it with Absolut Ruby Red vodka, which makes the drink far brighter and more complex--more like a gin cocktail.

Cherry Daiquiri

There's not much more to this cocktail than the original Daiquiri, but what a difference it makes. The recipe calls for cherry liqueur, and black cherry Heering fits the bill. There's also a dash .25 tsp. of kirschwasser, which seems unnecessary but adds that dry fug of a clear and strong (and rum-like) brandy to elevate flavors above the expected sweetness.

Vanderbilt Cocktail

The name Vanderbilt suggests stately bearing and richness of character, if not pocketbook. This drink delivers with brandy (cognac please) a good helping of cherry liqueur and Angostura bitters. Cherry Heering is the right choice here because it has an old-world black cherry flavor. It's not as candy-like as wild cherry brandies. Cognac is also the right choice, though a smooth American cherry brandy would be appropriate. This drink is sweet enough you could omit the sugar, but I wouldn't. You miss the rich experience without it.

Cherry Rum

Not a bad dessert rum drink when you look at it. Something about white rum and cream seems counter intuitive but cherry brandy or Cherry Heering make up for all of that. Try this drink. You don't have to repeat it, but you'll probably like what you have here.

2 oz light rum

1 oz. cherry brandy (Cherry Heering used)

1/2 oz. half-and-half