Maraschino Liqueur

[KatieLoeb]

It's been sort of spring-ish this week so something similar to a Hemingway Daiquiri (Floridita) didn't seem too out of place this evening.

Mashed up a quartered key lime in 1/2 tsp. of simple syrup in the bottom of a cocktail shaker.  Added 2 oz. Flor de Cana Extra Dry, 1/4 oz Maraschino, squeeze of about a 1/6th of a grapefruit, and ice.  Shook until it was cold and strained into a cocktail glass.

Yeah, I could drink a double.  No problemo.

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Nice. This sounds delicious Erik. With the hint of sweetness and almondy-ness of the Maraschino in the background this drink sounds like a real winner.

Would probably be good with a bit of blood orange instead of the grapefruit too. For no rational reason, I've somehow always wanted to combine Key lime and Blood orange. I don't know why - I just think they'd be delicious together.

[mrbigjas]

tonight i made katie's red feather boa. kinda sweet for my tastes, but not disproportionate or something, just sweeter than i'm used to. grenadine really does turn everything red, doesn't it? i mean, it's crazy--.25 oz in that drink and there you go...

[lancastermike]

tonight i made katie's red feather boa.  kinda sweet for my tastes, but not disproportionate or something, just sweeter than i'm used to.  grenadine really does turn everything red, doesn't it?  i mean, it's crazy--.25 oz in that drink and there you go...

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when i made this I used a touch more lemon jucie than Katie called for and found it to be just fine. Perhaps this drink, like its inventor, really is sweet

[lancastermike]

Tried this tonight from the CocktailDB

Frosty Dawn

Shake in iced cocktail shaker & strain/blend

1 1/2 oz light rum (4.5 cl, 3/8 gills)

1 oz orange juice (3 cl, 1/4 gills)

1/2 oz falernum (1.5 cl, 1/8 gills)

1/4 oz maraschino liqueur (6 dashes, 1/16 gills)

Serve in a cocktail glass (4.5 oz)

This was a little sweet, but I believe it is intended to be. I did squezze an orange for the juice and I think that makes it better

I liked this. Very refreshing. I could see having this as a brunch or morning drink. Used the Fee Bros. Falernum.

[johnder]

Tonight -- A Pat Bra cocktail

1 1/2 oz gin

1/2 oz sweet vermouth

1/4 oz maraschino liqueur

1/4 oz fresh lime juice

Pretty good overall -- I added a dash of orange bitters after a few sips and it really made it pop.

Tried to find some history on this cocktail but couldn't find the origin of the name, anyone have any info?

[KatieLoeb]

tonight i made katie's red feather boa.  kinda sweet for my tastes, but not disproportionate or something, just sweeter than i'm used to.  grenadine really does turn everything red, doesn't it?  i mean, it's crazy--.25 oz in that drink and there you go...

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when i made this I used a touch more lemon juice than Katie called for and found it to be just fine. Perhaps this drink, like its inventor, really is sweet

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Thanks Mike!

[mrbigjas]

tonight: a last word, as mentioned upthread and linked on drinkboy's site today.

it's a damn good drink, but a little out of balance for my tastes. however, i suspect it's my fault, and i await your diagnosis.

• gin was broker's
  
• maraschino was luxardo (btw, have you ever looked at their website? they make TONS of fun stuff)
  
• lime was lime, of course
  
• potential problem: i only had yellow chartreuse, which i know is lower in both alcohol and flavor than green, but it was on super special for a little airplane bottle for only a couple bucks a little while ago
  

the problem: i can taste the herbs, but the maraschino kind of overwhelms a lot of the rest of it. would this drink be a little more in balance if i'd used the green chartreuse? maraschino really kicks a lot of things' asses, flavor and aroma and texturally speaking.

sometimes i find cocktails like this a little too too, if you know what i mean. like, i like it, but i feel like i might like it a little more if it was 1.5 oz gin, and 1/2 oz everything else. is this just a product of growing up in a non-cocktail culture, and i should just re-learn my tastes? thoughts?

Edited June 29, 2006 by mrbigjas (log)

[plattetude]

It's gotta be the green. Makes a huge difference. Higher proof, more assertive flavor profile (as you noted) and oh the funky pale neon green color you wind up with! You'll still taste the maraschino, but you'll also taste the Chartreuse, and the lime, and the gin is kind of a subtle backdrop tying them together. It should certainly be balanced at equal parts.

I can understand you thinking it may be a little "too too" too -- I sometimes feel the same, preferring emphasis on drier or more bitter elements in cocktails -- but really, try it in the standard formulation. It's one of my faves, personally. (And I recently had a take on it called "The Final Ward" at Pegu Club -- equal parts rye, maraschino, green Chartreuse, and lemon -- equally sublime.)

Christopher

[mrbigjas]

thanks for the confirmation, christopher. i had a sense that the next level of herbal/bitterness from the real chartreuse would have kicked this over the edge into the sublime...

i think that people who grew up when and how i did just aren't used to such an intense flavor profile. and it's just a matter of getting used to it on my part. as my wife said, 'it tastes good, but i feel like the drink should be mixed with a glass of seltzer.'

[The Hersch]

After reading this discussion, I heard a bottle of green Chartreuse whistle at me from a shelf at my spirits-monger the other day, so I bought it. I don't believe I had ever tasted the stuff before, and I certainly wasn't aware that it's 110 proof and a serious butt-kicker. And beautiful. Anyway, over the course of the last four days, I've had about six Last Word cocktails, mixed as prescribed: 1-1-1-1. The maraschino was Luxardo, and the gin varied between Gordon's and Junipero. I think fancy gin in this cocktail is probably a waste of money. Anyway: This Cocktail Is Superb. I fell in love instantly. This may be the greatest cocktail ever devised, with the obvious exception of the martini. It is so elegant and balanced, so cool and invigorating, so complex and intriguing, and packs such a wallop with it. Wow. This may indeed be the last word.

[slkinsey]

Phil Ward, of Pegu Club and Flatiron Lounge, came up with an interesting and delicious variation called the "Final Ward." It's equal parts Rittenhouse bonded rye, lemon juice, maraschino and green Chartreuse.

[eje]

Found this tasty sounding recipe, as it is blueberry season, on the Luxardo site:

Tequila Smash

(created by Jim Meehan from the Pegu Club Soho - NY)

* 2 ounces Herradura Silver

* 1/2 ounce lime juice

* 1/2 ounce Luxardo Maraschino

* 4 muddled luxardo cherries

* 4 muddled blueberries

Muddle ingredients in a mixing glass. Add ice, shake well, and strain into a rocks glass with ice. Garnish with a blueberry skewered with a lime wheel and cherry.

[slkinsey]

Luxardo cherries are incredibly awesome. Seek them out. Hoard them. Eat them by yourself when your friends aren't around. Let those ingrates have the regular cherries.

[johnder]

Hoard them is right. They are incredibly hard to find. They used to be somewhat available at Dean and Deluca, but somehow they started to dissapear when a certain bar opened up close by.

I have one lone, sad little jar left.

Edited August 15, 2006 by johnder (log)

[Martin Doudoroff]

A few bits on Maraschino cherries and Maraschino liqueur:

First, there are three Maraschinos available in the U.S. (your mileage may vary): Stock, Luxardo, and Maraska. For many years, Stock's was all we could get in NYC; it's a bit simplistic, but we were grateful to have it. Luxardo's Maraschino became available again, several years ago, and there was much rejoicing, although I've always found Luxardo excessively woody. Maraska is a lesser-known Adriatic company that, comparable to Luxardo, produces an array of regional products. Its distribution has been a bit dicey, but their products are currently available in New York--at least--and they produce my favorite (by a mile) Maraschino.

As of this writing, you might be able to mail-order Maraska Maraschino from here:

http://www.wineglobe.com/12716.html

Second, Toby Cecchini (Passerby, in NYC) did a nice piece for the NYTimes on May 1, 2005 (search the Times site on "Cecchini maraschino") on this topic. Besides his research, which is interesting, he explains a very effective and accessible way to produce your own macerated cherries after the original (essentially defunct) style: drop by Whole Foods and pick up a bag of Cascadian Farms Frozen Whole Organic Sweet Cherries, dump them in a mason jar, and cover with Maraschino. Better yet, divide them into three mason jars, top one with Marashino, one with bourbon, and one with cognac. Let 'em sit for three days. Eat. I've had them. They're good. Oh, and they LOOK good, too. Note that their taste will continue to evolve over time. For a while, that's a good thing. Eventually, the cherries may become too woody to be palatable (at least to me; maybe some of you California Chardonnay fans will like them that way?).

[Chris Amirault]

I'm enjoying my first Martinez a la Regan's Joy: 2 oz Tanqueray, 1 oz NP sweet vermouth, 1/4 oz Luxardo, 2 dashes Angostura. Amazing to think that the drink is over 100 years old.

[slkinsey]

Second, Toby Cecchini (Passerby, in NYC) did a nice piece for the NYTimes on May 1, 2005 (search the Times site on "Cecchini maraschino") on this topic. Besides his research, which is interesting, he explains a very effective and accessible way to produce your own macerated cherries after the original (essentially defunct) style. . .

As chance would have it, we have a thread going on making Maraschino Cherries (plus variations) at home. I've had some going with NY State sour cherries, Maraska and a touch of simple syrup for a while.

This particular jar can now be found in one of the refrigerators at Pegu Club.

Luxardo cherries strike me as yet another category of cherry. Not really maraschino cherries, as I understand them.

[mkayahara]

Can anyone tell me what kind of shelf life maraschino will have after I open the bottle? I picked up some Luxardo back in December, and have been itching to try it. I'd love to know whether I should barrel through it once it's open, or whether I can take the time to savor it.

Thanks!

[cdh]

Don't worry about it. I still have some Luxardo so old it has a federal tax stamp on it, and it tastes as good as new... or better.

[stickyii]

I've had my bottle for over a year now, and it tastes just as fine as it did on day one.

[eje]

Maraschino's a bit different from most liqueurs, in that it is distilled.

Liqueurs based on the infusion of ingredients, do tend to lose some zip over time (years). Liqueurs based on dairy and egg have a shelf life after opening and may go bad or coagulate (congeal?).

However, distilled liqueurs, like Maraschino, Chartreuse, and Benedictine, last pretty much forever.

[bostonapothecary]

Maraschino's a bit different from most liqueurs, in that it is distilled.

Liqueurs based on the infusion of ingredients, do tend to lose some zip over time (years).  Liqueurs based on dairy and egg have a shelf life after opening and may go bad or coagulate (congeal?).

However, distilled liqueurs, like Maraschino, Chartreuse, and Benedictine, last pretty much forever.

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distillation has its merits and its draw backs.....

with distillation there can be alot of "art" in what can be extracted as far as oils go and the ability stay away from alot of bitter. though distillation can leave alot behind. (good and bad)

it was explained to me that infusion can be superior if you have great filtration technique....due to specific gravities alot of aromatic substances come to the forefront and you can get liqueurs that are much more perfumey.... though these oils can easily evaporate and you can see why their shelf life could decline....

cherry liqeueurs IMO are best in the style of a "ratafia" and I make a verion from the seeds of a compeletely different fruit that gives alot of the cherries a run for their money.... it is like wine, one or two things go in and alot comes out.... sometimes a different fruit than you started with.... just like amaretto.... i bet the peach in southern comfort comes from woodruffe root and not peach pits....

but another amazing cherryesque liqueur to check out is "elisir gambrinus" by the wine maker sergio Zanato..... he takes this weed grape called ribasso which makes horrible watery wine completely dominated by a one sided marasca cherry and reduces it slowly to concentrate it..... it is then sweetened by cane sugar and fortified with grappa.... it might spend a couple years in oak as well.... the price is totally reasonable and the sugar and alcohol content is perfect for cocktails.....

at the restaurant we use alot of those wine and liqueur makers techniques..... i was inspired by zenato and make my own wine reduction like "sapa" for sangria and merry it with Cava..... i throw in some micro seasonal fruits. etc.....

"kalimocho".... basque country sangria.... keeps it so fresh, economical, saves alot of bar space because i make it to order and don't poor it from a giant jug....

you can learn alot from those liqueur makers..... cheers!

[jmfangio]

Glad to see that this thread got bumped back to the first page, since I haven't seen it since I became a participating member. Here are a couple of Maraschino favorites that I haven't found anywhere else on the boards. The first is a Sidecar variation that I saw in an article in Wine Enthusiast magazine:

2 ounces Cognac

1 ounce Cointreau

1/4 ounce Maraschino liqueur

1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice

1 dash Angostura bitters

1 lemon twist, for garnish

This is now my favorite version of the Sidecar. The first time I made it for a mixology obsessed friend of mine, someone who prides herself on her Sidecars and one of the people who inspired my obsession, it nearly brought to her eyes in a 'the pupil has surpassed the master' kind of way.

I'm also a big fan of the Seventh Heaven #2, essentially an Aviation with grapefruit juice instead of lemon. It's in the Savoy Cocktail Book, but this is the recipe from Difford's Guide.

2 1/4 ounces Gin

3/4 ounce Maraschino liqueur

1 1/2 ounces freshly squeezed pink grapefruit juice

1 mint sprig, for garnish

For those of you who live in Los Angeles, Jons Market on La Brea and Fountain has the Maraska maraschino liqueur for $15. Geographically, the market is right in between the Russian and Armenian communities in LA, and they have a lot of Eastern European liqueurs and Russian vodkas that I've never seen before.

Edited March 26, 2007 by jmfangio (log)

[jlo mein]

Thanks for bringing up this thread. Family were able to bring a bottle of Maraska Maraschino back from Seattle for me a couple days ago, as there is no Maraschino available in Vancouver at all. Hopefully there are some awesome recipes in this thead once I read through it.

[Beebs]

I've also had no success tracking down maraschino liqueur here in Vancouver, like jlo mein mentioned above (I've actually posted in another thread hoping someone would have a local lead on it). Anyway, short of making a cross-border run, how close is kirsch to maraschino liqueur? What is the taste profile (sweetness, etc.)? Thanks!