MaxK

Interesting idea with the bitters rinse. How do you accomplish that? With an atomizer?

I heat the liqueur because it somehow doesn't seem correct to me to preserve fruit without at least heating the surface. I wish I had a good scientific reason for it, but I don't! As I only poach the cherries I have not found that they loose their crispness.I too have tried the Trader Joes Morello cherries, but they are indeed mushy when compared to the real thing.

I used to use Plymouth in Pegu Clubs (one of my absolute favorite cocktails, I like the 4:1:1 ratio), but after finding Juniper Green I realized that the drink needed a more forward gin. Alas I can't find Juniper Green near me anymore, so I've switched to Beefeater. Plymouth is great in Martinis and a Clover Clubs, but I find it a little too subtle for the Pegu Club myself. My orange bitter of choice here is Regan's.

This is the second year that I've made maraschino cherries. Last year I heated some Luxardo Maraschino just to boiling, turned off the heat, and added the cherries (sour cherries). I gently stirred the cherries and then bottled the results, keeping them in the fridge. The cherries were delicious. After about a month the liqueur had taken on a beautiful red tinge. After 9 months or so the cherries had shrunk and darkened considerably, but were still tasty. At the one year mark the cherries were rather hard, but still decent with a slightly muted but still present cherry flavor. This year I took the liqueur from last year, heated to boiling again, and poached a new batch. They won't be ready for at least another week or so, but I snuck one and it was pretty good!

PLK, which brand of Maraschino are you using? Perhaps the "funk" of Luxardo keeps the violette from overpowering. I haven't had a chance to try mixing with Maraska yet, so I can't really compare. My usual preparation is: 2 oz Gin 3/4 oz lemon juice 2 tsp Maraschino (Luxardo) 1 scant tsp Creme de Violette While the Creme de Violette is definitely present, it's not overwhelming. Perhaps the extra lemon juice cuts through?