The other day I grilled some bourbon-soaked bing cherries… and I was glad I did! I still have some, and I think I’ll be preserving some soon, but I thought they’d go well with cocktails in the meantime.
What first came to mind was a Perfect Manhattan, which is rye or bourbon, with both sweet and dry vermouth, and a dash or two of bitters, often garnished with a cherry. But, instead of just a Perfect Manhattan, I thought it might be interesting to mix that with a summery milkshake!
In a blender went a couple scoops of ice cream, then 2 ounces of bourbon. I went with sweet bourbon over rye for the milkshake, though rye is more traditional; I figured the shake was already untraditional, anyway. Then I added half an ounce each of dry and sweet vermouth and blended. I poured half the shake into a glass, then added several of the grilled cherries to the blender and mixed that for a bit, pouring that into a taller glass. I added the non-cherry-blended shake on top of the and mixed a bit for visual impact, added a bit of whipped cream, and, of course, topped it with a bourbon grilled cherry!
Try this, and you’ll realize your summer is only getting better!
