Bourbon Cocktail Cherries

Yields: About 1 pint | Garnish + snack for the bar

Ingredients

12 oz Frozen Dark Sweet Cherries (pitted; thawed slightly so they are workable)
¾ cup Bourbon
½ cup White Sugar
¼ cup Filtered Water
1 Vanilla Bean, split or 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
¼ tsp Almond Extract (optional — echoes amaretto/maraschino character)
1 Wide Strip Orange Zest (pith removed)
Pinch Salt

Instructions

Syrup: In a small saucepan, combine sugar, water, bourbon, orange zest, vanilla bean (if using), and salt. Warm over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Do not boil off the bourbon hard — a gentle simmer is enough.
Cherries: Add the cherries. Simmer gently 3–5 minutes until they look glossy and the liquid is ruby. Kill the heat. Stir in vanilla extract and almond extract if you are using those instead of (or in addition to) the bean.
Jar: Fish out the zest (and bean, or leave the bean in for a stronger vanilla note). Pack cherries into a clean pint jar and cover completely with the hot liquid. Cool, then refrigerate.
Rest: Best after 3–7 days. They keep several weeks cold. Always keep cherries submerged.

Use it: Old Fashioned, Manhattan, whiskey sour, or spooned over ice cream with a splash of the cherry bourbon syrup. A step up from neon grocery cherries without Luxardo money — and you control the bourbon.