last night i came in to find the pound of rainier cherries i asked for had arrived.  i thought about using them for a soju infusion, but we’ve already got sweet cherry soju, and the stuff isn’t really moving super fast these days, so i decided to try something different.

here’s what i did:

2 bottles rye whiskey

1 pound rainier cherries, pitted

zest of 2 oranges

2 cinnamon sticks

5-6 cloves

about 1 1/2 oz (thinly sliced) ginger

i’ll check it tonight when i get in, but i imagine it’s going to take a week or so for the flavor to really infuse.  the notion, as is obvious from the title of the post, is to make something similar to an old-fashioned, with the cherries adding sweet and sour notes, some bitterness emerging from the orange zest, and a touch of spice (a la angostura) from the cinnamon, cloves, and ginger.

i’m hoping to be able to use the whiskey-soaked cherries for garnish, maybe in combination with the brandied cherries we already stock.  and, to be honest, even if the whole thing is a failure, it’s so pretty to look at i almost won’t care.  almost.