Fresh, sweet cherries muddled into a classic Whiskey Sour.

Make this with your favorite bourbon or rye whiskey for a summer twist on a classic cocktail.

Just the Recipe | 1 Cocktail

Ingredients

3-4 Fresh, Pitted Sweet Cherries⠀
1/2 oz Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
1 oz Lemon Cardamom Honey Simple Syrup (recipe below) -or- 1 oz Honey Simple Syrup ⠀
2 oz Bourbon or Rye Whiskey ⠀
Splash of Club Soda⠀
Ice ⠀

Steps

Muddle the cherries in a highball glass. ⠀
Add the lemon juice, simple syrup and whiskey to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain into the glass.
Add a large ice cube and a generous splash of club soda. Stir. ⠀
Add a garnish of cherries and lemon slice. Enjoy!

N/A Version

Skip the whiskey and use 2 oz of ginger ale.

Avoid the white, pithy part of the lemon when you peel the zest. It is very bitter and will spoil the simple syrup.

Lemon Cardamom Honey Simple Syrup

Simple syrup is named such because it is very straightforward: 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water. You bring them to boil in a sauce pan so the sugar fully dissolves into the water, then chill and store in the refrigerator. Honey simple syrup is a delicious alternative to refined, granulated sugars. And adding flavors to simple syrups is, well, pretty simple. Here’s how to make a lemon and cardamom flavored simple syrup:

Ingredients

4 Strips of Lemon Zest, peeled from a fresh lemon

3 Green Cardamom Pods

1/2 cup Water

1/2 cup Honey

Steps

Bring the honey and water to a boil in a small sauce pan
After the honey dissolves into the water, turn off the heat.
Immediately add the lemon zest and cardamom pods, stir. Gently press the cardamom pods after a few minutes so they release more flavor.
Allow to steep for 20 minutes
Use a sieve to strain the simple syrup into an airtight container. Toss the infusing ingredients.
Label the container with the date and contents. Store for 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator.

If you don’t have a muddler, they are easy to find on Amazon or your favorite kitchen shop.

Kitchen Acumen Tips:

The recipe above is for one drink. Double, triple, quadruple as necessary :)
Pitting cherries. I’ve tried several techniques over the years and my favorite is to use a chopstick to push the pit apart from the fresh fruit. Growing up we had a cherry pitting machine that worked quite well but I’m more of a minimalist in my kitchen so a chopstick does the trick! Here’s a quick video on how to pit cherries with a chopstick!
For more on Simple Syrup, see the Kitchen Acumen Tips posted with Mint Mojitos.
- This Lemon and Cardamom flavor works well in iced tea, hot tea, sparkling water and- for Fall and Winter - in a Hot Toddy.
- If you don’t have green cardamom, try lemon honey simple syrup, or, just regular honey simple syrup! Any of these will be delicious in the cocktail. I don’t recommend Black Cardamom for this.
Use a whiskey or bourbon that you enjoy drinking. The flavor of the booze shines through in this recipe so choosing a good quality bottle (like Bullet, Templeton Rye, Buffalo Trace, or Four Roses) is important.
Using a large ice cube keeps the drink chilled but doesn’t water it down quickly which is ideal for slow summer sipping. There are many square or sphere-shaped silicone ice cube trays available to make this style of ice cube. They even have funny shapes like the Death Star for Star Wars fans. Check any kitchen store or on Amazon.