Cherry Cola Syrup

Yields: About 1 cup | 15–20 minutes on the stove

Two cups of Cherry Coke, half a cup of brown sugar, twenty minutes on the stove. The reduction is thick enough to stir into whiskey.

Ingredients

• 2 cups Cherry Coca-Cola
• ½ cup Brown sugar

Instructions

1. Pour the Cherry Coke and brown sugar into a saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat until the sugar dissolves.
2. Keep it at a lazy simmer for 15–20 minutes. You want it reduced by about half, thick enough to coat a spoon. Do not walk away toward the end — it can jump from syrup to sticky candy in a hurry.
3. Kill the heat. Cool, then funnel into a clean bottle. Refrigerate.

Bottled syrups

A fountain syrup already has the cherry and spice worked out, and it travels better than a saucepan project.

• Nature’s Flavors Cherry Cola — cherry and spice without tasting like a chemistry set. They also bottle an Italian soda version; same idea, pours a little looser.
• Baar Cherry Cola — cane sugar and kola nut extract. Closest to an actual fountain soda.
• Sprecher Cherry Cola Extract — loud. Use less than the homemade reduction. Start with a bar spoon.
• Jordan’s Skinny Mixes Cherry Cola — zero sugar, zero calories. Fine if that is the constraint. It will not have the same body as a real reduction, so you may want an extra dash of bitters to keep the drink from tasting thin.