Drink

One trend in the 1800s that sort of paved the way for soda fountains is the popularity of sparkling water as a health tonic. Even before the soda shop became a mainstay of American culture, the wealthy elite were huge fans of drinking flavored fizzy waters to alleviate their headaches, or other little maladies. But, as technology continued to evolve, soda fountains became much easier to install and maintain in public venues.
This represents another thread in the intertwined history of booze and medicine. These soda fountains resided in pharmacies partially because druggists already had the tools and knowledge to create concentrates and carbonate them. But if you give a pharmacist a soda rig, it turns out, he’s really likely to start throwing things like booze, cocaine, or opium in your soda. And around the turn of the 20th century, all these things were still considered medicinal in their own ways.
Another movement that was taking off around this time, of course, was the temperance movement, which is a bit too complex to get into here, but the general thrust of it is that alcohol was considered bad for families, so if, as a politician or public figure, you claimed to be pro-family, well, to the temperance movement and the anti-saloon league, that meant you kinda had to be anti-booze. This is why soda shops were able to continue thriving during Prohibition because even though pharmacies were putting some really questionable stuff into some of their concoctions, it wasn’t alcohol, so it was pretty okay.
As the decades marched on past the roaring twenties, into the Great Depression, then World War II, and beyond, the ingredients used in fountain drinks got less dangerous and a little more desserty. But one tangy category of drink that remained somewhat popular was the phosphate or “acid phosphate.”
In a similar way that you’ll see fancy bartenders today making acid adjusted orange juice or crystal clear daiquiris using a blend of citric and malic acid, phosphate soda drinks were carbonated long drinks, often flavored with fruit syrups, with the addition of a little tincture that contained food-safe phosphoric acid supplemented with calcium, magnesium, and potassium.
According to cocktail writer Wayne Curtis:

Acid phosphate does two bewitching things to a drink: The acid gives it sourness without making it taste like anything in particular. And the salts enhance existing flavors, much as they do with food. The various elements of the drink (sweet, sour, bitter, sharp) are each discernible, but none is overwhelming. Adding a teaspoon or so of acid phosphate makes a cocktail seem slightly off center, and makes your tongue tingle.

Today, many savvy bartenders use acid phosphate in a similar manner to what Curtis describes – as that little pinch of acid and salt that brightens a flavor profile and accents the other notes in the drink. The first time I had one was probably around 2013 or 2014 at a brunch spot in DC called “Founding Farmers,” and I gotta say, it was a refreshing way to extend that old brunch time tradition, the hangover cure.
Aromatic Spirit of Ammonia
Speaking of hangovers, don’t forget about aromatic spirit of ammonia, our other chemical cocktail ingredient of note. According to an article on ArtOfDrink.com, it’s a 10% solution of ammonium hydroxide, mixed with water, alcohol and the essential oils of lemon, nutmeg and lavender.
Back in the 1800s, aromatic spirit of ammonia was used as OG smelling salts to prevent fainting or revive someone who has already fainted. In fact, they’re still available today at many pharmacies right alongside the heavily ammoniated smelling salts found in first aid kits. This compound was also said to have anxiety reducing properties, which may be explained away by the placebo effect. But one thing is for darn sure: ammonia is a base, which means it neutralizes acidity, so if there’s one thing I could actually see this substance being useful for, it would be dyspepsia.
Although aromatic spirit of ammonia isn’t nearly as popular behind the bar as acid phosphate, it does have its signature drink: the ammonia coke. By adding just 2 or 3 milliliters to a standard glass of coke, you’ll notice a marked drop in acidity from the cola, as well as some pleasant “top notes” from the lemon oil, lavender, and spices.
This is one additive I’d like to see used more behind the bar because I really dig the way it acts as both a flavored tincture and a pH modifier. Rarely are you going to come across ingredients that pull double duty so effortlessly, which is, I think, a really solid reason for folks to start experimenting.
The Sourtoe Cocktail Club
Rounding out this little romp through often-overlooked and esoteric cocktail ingredients, we’ve got a real stinker: the preserved medial and distal phalanges of the human hallux, which is another way of describing a pickled human toe.
As you might expect, pickled toes aren’t super popular in the craft cocktail world. It’s not like you can just order one as the garnish for your next Gibson or Dirty Martini. But one particular pickled human toe was the inspiration for a Canadian group called the Sourtoe Cocktail club.
For more about this obscure ingredient, I need to quote directly from an article from CBC Canada, which reads:

The Sourtoe Cocktail is practically a rite of passage for visitors to Dawson City, Yukon. It’s a simple drink (a shot of whiskey, usually Yukon Jack) with an unusual accompaniment: a mummified human toe. 
How did the Sourtoe cocktail come to be? It all started during prohibition, with a nasty case of frostbite. 
In the 1920s, the rum-running Linken brothers — Louie and Otto — got caught in a blizzard. Louie put his foot through a patch of ice and soaked his foot. When the brothers got back to their cabin, Louie’s right foot was frozen solid.  
To prevent gangrene, Otto used his axe to chop off Louie’s toe. He placed the toe in a jar of alcohol to commemorate the event. 
In 1973, legend has it that Captain Dick Stevenson found the jar (and the toe) in a remote cabin.
He came up with the idea of the Sourtoe Cocktail Club — an exclusive club, with one membership requirement.
In order to gain admittance to the club, potential members must drink the legendary sourtoe cocktail. There’s just one rule: “You can drink it fast. You can drink it slow. But your lips must touch that gnarly toe.

Now, if you didn’t think this story could get any weirder – of course, you’re wrong. Because in 2013, a…wait for it…New Orleanian named Joshua Clark came in and SWALLOWED the mummified toe of Louie Linken.
This put him on the shit list of toe master Terry Lee, and although they have been able to continue the tradition with a “backup toe” since that fateful day, the damage was done. Clark immediately paid the $500 fine for swallowing the toe, but was subsequently banned from the Downtown Hotel where the tradition continues to take place.
There’s a really fun 20 minute documentary about this whole situation on YouTube – which we’ll embed on the show notes page – where Joshua returns to Dawson City, Yukon in an effort to make amends with the toe master. It’s actually a really great little watch, especially if you have a drink in-hand, so I won’t spoil it for you in case you’d like to see for yourself how this story concludes. More

1 ¼ oz of Agricole Rum (which is a style made from cane juice, rather than molasses)

¾ oz of Bourbon

½ oz of Manzanilla Sherry (Ivy recommends a brand called La Guita…which is delicious)

1 ¼ oz of Poblano Pepper syrup (which we’ll cover in a moment)

½ oz Pineapple juice

¾ oz Lime juice

Combine all these ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, give it a good, hearty shake, then strain into a Collins glass over crushed or pebble ice, garnish with a lime wheel, and enjoy.
To make that Poblano pepper syrup, Ivy recommends de-stemming 8 poblano peppers (but leaving in the seeds for a bit of spice), then juicing those until you have about 2 cups of pepper juice. Add that to a blender with 1 cup of agave syrup, blend until integrated, then bottle and refrigerate.
What we love about the Pancho Perico cocktail is its expert balance of multiple sweeteners and acids. You’ve got sweet notes from the rum, bourbon, and poblano syrup, acid from the Manzanilla sherry and the lime juice, and then the ½ oz of pineapple juice that straddles the line between sweet and tangy.
Personally, we’re a green drink podcast, especially when it’s summertime. So if you’re looking for a gorgeous highball that will blow away your guests this Labor Day weekend, we recommend grabbing the ingredients for the Pancho Perico. It’s not the simplest drink, but in the words of everyone’s favorite amphibian role model: it’s not easy being green.
SHOW NOTES
Ivy Mix has dominated the bartending industry for 16 years and has perused the cocktail scene since 2009. Using the popularity of agave spirits as a gateway, Ivy and her boss-turned-partner, Julie Reiner, opened Leyenda in 2015. This pan-Latin inspired bar functions as an avenue for Ivy to introduce people to the complex and amazing spirits of Central and South America.
After being defined as a successful woman in a male-dominated industry, Ivy wanted to move beyond gender definitions of her career to say yes, but I am also so much more than that. Through Speed Rack and Leyenda, Ivy fully immersed herself into every facet of mixology. Spirits of Latin America is Ivy’s newest project that takes an in-depth look into the drinking culture and history of Latin America. This book diverges from the typical tequila, gin, or vodka, shining a light onto grape-based spirits such as pisco, singani, and yaguara cachaça. As Ivy says, “there’s no book like it.”
LIGHTNING ROUND More

Now, you might be wondering at this point why we’re bothering to give you a cocktail recipe as cloudy as this one. Well, one reason is that some ungodly percentage of first time visitors to New Orleans visit the birthplace of of the Hurricane Cocktail – Pat O’Brien’s, and the history of this bar, coupled with the supposed origin story of the cocktail are actually kinda compelling.
Pat O’Brien is a gentleman who ran a speakeasy in the French Quarter during Prohibition, and according to legend, the password for this elicit bar was: “Storm’s Brewin’.” Later on, when drinking was legal again, he purchased a sprawling residential building and converted it to a bar with an attractive courtyard and a dueling piano stage, which is still popular to this day. I’ve been there – and as you’d expect – it’s pretty much all tourists and bachelorette parties.
AND YET – Pat O’Brien’s is pretty much the undisputed home of the hurricane cocktail.
See, in the wake of Prohibition and during World War II, there was a glut of rum from the Caribbean because everyone was suddenly obsessed with all the stuff they couldn’t get – like whiskey and imported stuff from Europe and because the military efforts abroad had a lot of manufacturers pivoting to help the war effort. 
The following statement comes directly from the Pat O’Brien’s website:

In the 1940’s many US distilleries were used to manufacture necessities for war time, and domestic liquor was scarce. However, Rum coming up the Mississippi river from the Caribbean islands was plentiful. In order to buy a case of Bourbon, for example, there was strong incentive to purchase large quantities of rum. With General manager George Oechsner Jr at the helm, the folks in the bar experimented with recipes, and eventually everyone agreed that passion fruit was a hit! A glass shaped like a hurricane lamp was the perfect vessel and the Hurricane drink became New Orleans favorite libation.

Fast forward to today, and you’ve got Pat O’Brien’s selling jugs (and powdered packets) of their Hurricane mix (as well as a bunch of hackneyed DIY recipes on the internet that involve Hawaiian fruit punch). It’s all slightly reminiscent of a frat party, especially when you consider the ingredients that frequently bastardize the formulation:

Galliano (of Harvey Wallbanger fame)

Grenadine (possibly why the cocktail at Pat O’Brien’s is red instead of orange)

And other fruit juices like pineapple orange juice

Now, one thing all these ingredients have in common is sugar – which suggests that you need something (or multiple things) to sweeten your drink and take the edge off all that booze and acidity. So keep that in mind as you’re seeking out the best hurricane cocktail recipe for you. This is the type of challenge we think today’s home bartenders are uniquely suited to tackle because the ingredients should be readily available (even the passion fruit puree or syrup), and you can really dial in the recipe to suit your personal palate, which is something you can’t always find at a bar.
Garnishing Your Hurricane Cocktail
In terms of consistency, it’s a bit ironic that the garnish for the Hurricane cocktail is the one item that seems to carry over with complete accuracy from recipe to recipe. They all call for an orange wheel or half-wheel and a maraschino cherry. In the spirit of the cocktail, this is normally a firebird red artificial cherry, but I’d highly recommend subbing in a brandied cherry if you’ve got one.
Show Notes
Tales of the Cocktail began in 2002 as a small, historical walking tour that featured New Orleans’ rich cocktail history and culture. Over the ensuing 17 years, it developed into a massively popular international cocktail convention with a more than 8 million dollar impact on the service industry of New Orleans. Some of the highlights of the event include: More

See, despite its inherent simplicity and lazerbeam focus, we think of the martini like a trick a BMX biker does on a half-pipe, or maybe a figure skating move. For these athletes, it’s all about rotation in mid-air, some other manipulation of the body while in mid-air, and some kind of specialized landing or finishing move. For a martini, it’s all about what booze you use, your ratio of booze to dilution, and what other little flavors or flourishes you want in there (or don’t want in there).
And just like the triple axel in figure skating or the 360 tail whip in BMX, martini moves come with their own lingo. For example, we could walk up to a bar and order a stirred, 50/50 dirty vodka martini, and someone else could request an upside down, shaken gin martini with a twist. 
So returning to the question: what is a vodka martini, and how do you make one, we can’t give you a single recipe that will suffice, but we can offer some tips that will help you find your perfect vodka martini.

Tip #1: Choose your vodka carefully. As we discuss in this and other episodes, vodka has a reputation for being neutral and flavorless, but this is a myth. You can almost always detect some influence of the distillate base when tasting a vodka, so consider which bases appeal most to you. Vodka can (and is) made from just about anything under the sun. It also helps to learn about how your vodka is treated during the manufacturing process, including filtration and resting techniques, which can affect things like mouthfeel and ethanol burn.

Tip #2: Be honest about what you want. If you want cold vodka without anything in it, just sip it on the rocks. That’s not a martini, and there’s no shame in that. Traditionally, Martinis always have some sort of flavor additive – whether it’s something like vermouth or bitters, or something a little dirtier like olive brine. So if you have strong feelings about either the amount or type of flavor additives in your martini, just specify. Your bartender should be able to replicate any ratio of ingredients you stipulate…as long as you come out and say it.

Tip #3: Dilution matters intensely. There’s a reason why gin martini purists always stir their drinks. It allows for extremely controlled dilution, which can preserve the relationship between juniper, citrus, and bitters. But then again, there might be a reason why it’s popular to shake a vodka martini (especially a dirty one that contains lactic acid from olive brine). See, shaking increases dilution and introduces a ton of air into the drink, which can result in a creamier, thicker mouthfeel that rounds out the profile. So if you’re really dedicated to ordering or creating your perfect vodka martini, make sure you also put some thought into how you want it prepared.

Show Notes
After entrepreneurial ventures in the vitamin, sleep supplement, and energy drink space, Ricky Miller realized his true passion was in beverage marketing. He knew that he wanted to build a luxury brand and to sell a product that people could immediately experience and benefit from in the moment. For him, vodka was the way to go. He knew that he wanted to create a “Western Style” vodka, something that even non-traditional sippers could enjoy.
When he was trying to build the brand story for his vodka, Ricky looked to Italy, but was told that vodka and Italy are a bit of a non sequitur. However, he realized that Italy and luxury goods (cars, clothing, art) are virtually synonymous and identified it as an opportunity rather than a problem. He settled on Italian wheat as his distillate base and then set about designing the process that would put his product head-and-shoulders above the competition.
The Carbonado Process More

If You Were a Cocktail Ingredient, What Would You Be?
Bitters. They’re the most versatile ingredient, and they come in so many flavors. To me, bitters are like the perfect wardrobe: if you have the right assortment, you can transform any cocktail.
Cocktail with Anyone, Past or Present
Trevor Noah – I adore him. I love, his background, his book (Born a Crime), how he talks about current events but adds some humor and some nuance to it. I’d love to sit outdoors with him, a bucket of beer, and a bottle of reposado Tequila and just shoot the shit for hours.
Cocktail Ingredient You’ve Never Tasted
I think I’ve tasted them all…? But I really hate guava and Fernet.
Unusual or Controversial Believe You Hold in the Spirits/Cocktail Space
I do believe that bars should have a menu of canned cocktails and hard seltzers. One or two White Claws, some Tequila Sodas, and a couple canned cocktails. No muss, no fuss, the consumer wants them, but a lot of bars are like, “no, that’s not our style.” If you’re curious, I have an Instagram account called @readytodrinklife, where I review RTD cocktails. More

The Silver and Golden Fiz cocktails, however, were shaken over ice, poured into a glass, and THEN topped off – and here’s the kicker – ONLY with seltzer water.
This tells us a few things. Obviously, to achieve the rich, desserty texture from the egg, you really need to shake the drink. This much should be clear to anyone who has worked with eggs in cocktails. But to me what’s more interesting is that Jerry Thomas knew that big bubbles – the kind you get from a seltzer gun – were the only thing to use in a rich, dessert- style cocktail if you want to achieve contrast with the other ingredients – in order to make the drink feel effervescent despite its heavy, sweet flavor profile.
If you want to learn more about egg-based drinks or the difference between sparkling water and seltzer water, head over to Episode 029 – Egg Cocktails, or Episode 099 – Bursting Bubbles. Also, if you do decide to head over to the show notes page for this episode to check out that PDF of Jerry Thomas’ Bar Tender’s Guide, the recipes I just mentioned are on pages 46 and 47 – which are pages 50 and 51 of the PDF document. The more you know.
Featured Cocktail: The Ramos Gin Fizz
Now, of course, I’d be remiss if I moved on without mentioning what’s probably the most iconic Fizz cocktail in the book – the Ramos Gin Fizz, invented by Henry C. Ramos of the Imperial Cabinet Bar in New Orleans in 1888 – one year after the final publication of The Professor’s Bar Tender’s Manual. This cocktail extends the fizz format by adding dairy (in the form of heavy cream) and orange blossom water to the recipe. It also modifies the process to generate an uncommonly rich head of foam on the drink by employing a method called the “dry shake,” where some drink components of the cocktail are beat up in the shaker without ice to begin denaturing the egg whites without the unhelpful presence of ice or dilution.
To make it, you’ll need:

2 ounces gin

1/2 ounce lemon juice

1/2 ounce lime juice

1/2 ounce simple syrup (1:1, sugar:water)

3 dashes orange flower water

1 ounce heavy cream

1 egg white

2 ounces soda water

Combine all ingredients except soda water in a cocktail shaker with NO ice, and make sure you really maintain the seal with your hands – otherwise, you’re gonna be wearing most of the drink. Give that a good, solid shake for at least 15-20 seconds (or until you hear and feel the consistency of the drink begin to change in the shaker). At this point, add your ice and shake for a further 15-20 seconds before straining into a highball glass, topping with soda, garnishing optionally with half an orange wheel, and enjoying it through a straw.
To me, the Ramos Gin Fizz is the Apotheosis – the high water mark – of the fizz family. It attains a level of decadence hinted at by Jerry Thomas’ Silver and Golden Fiz cocktails, while still fitting comfortably within a category that started with a little booze, a little sugar, a little citrus, and some bubbles.
A Brief History of the Spritz
So, now that we’re comfortable with the Fizz category, let’s get spritzy. And of course, the first cocktail that comes to mind when we say “Spritz” is the mighty Aperol variant. It’s everywhere. It’s delicious – and so why shouldn’t it be the first thing we think of when the word is uttered?
It’s a weird thing to say, but the Spritz – in my opinion – is both older and younger than the Fizz – or perhaps more accurately stated, the origins of the spritz are older, but it didn’t reach its height of popularity or development until fizzes were old news. More

How Chava and Lou came to fall in love with Mezcal – each in their own special way. Lou by way of beer and Chava, well…his journey may have involved a little under-aged drinking something called “Aguas Locas,” aka Crazy Waters.

What makes agave spirits so special – including milling, direct-fire distillation, earthen oven roasting, and a terroir unique from any other in the world.

Of course, we talk about Agave Road Trip, but more importantly, we try to capture some of the stories, flavors, and a few examples of the 400 decisions (and that’s not a random number) that mezcaleros must make as they cultivate, ferment, and distill their products.

There’s a few other important discussions that anchor this interview:

One is the recap of an agave tasting seminar Lou gave at Tales of the Cocktail 2019, where he walked people through a 3 by 3 comparative tasting that demonstrated the fingerprint of the agave varietal vs. the fingerprint off the mezcalero, vs. the fingerprint of the moment (or the batch, or the microbiome).

Another is our attempt at explaining the very tricky line that external interests must walk when interacting with the mezcal community. This is a question I’ve been stewing on since I met Lou a year ago, and I think we uncover some really important questions that all gringos need to consider when we make choices about mezcal.

And finally, we do a little thought experiment to figure out what the world might look like if agave spirits were produced in places outside of Mexico.

Between Chava’s intimate understanding of the engineering and production side of agave spirits and Lou’s experience running a non-profit that addresses food and water insecurity in the communities responsible for these incredible products, you’re in for a real treat here.
You get a real sense for the humor and passion that underpin the Agave Road Trip podcast, which you can download for free on all your favorite podcasting platforms. You can also support them by visiting HeritageRadioNetwork.com, clicking on the beating heart at the top of the screen, and selecting “Agave Road Trip” as the beneficiary of your donation.
Featured Cocktail: The Esplanade Swizzle
This episode’s featured cocktail is the Esplanade Swizzle, and I love this drink for a couple reasons. First, it was developed by Chicago bartender Danny Shapiro, and we have a great Chicago connection in this episode with Lou Bank, who calls Chi-town his home when he’s not journeying around Oaxaca. Second, it’s got Amontillado Sherry, which is arguably my FAVORITE style of Sherry – lightly oxidized, nutty, and complex.
To make the Esplanade Swizzle, you’ll need:
Fill a highball glass halfway with crushed or pebble ice, add your ingredients, give them a good, healthy jostle with a swizzle stick, then top with more crushed ice, garnish with a freshly activated sprig of mint, and enjoy.
Swizzles are a great way to embrace the summer heat. The crushed ice and falernum give the Esplanade Swizzle a distinct “tiki” vibe, while the ginger syrup and the amontillado sherry offer some rich, spicy notes to complement the mezcal.
Show Notes
Below, you’ll see Eric’s capture of the 3 x 3 mezcal tasting that Lou conducted at Tales of the Cocktail 2019. The top row demonstrates the fingerprint of the agave varietal (3 different varietals, same distiller/method). The middle row demonstrates the fingerprint of the mezcalero (same varietal, same methods, 3 different distillers), and the bottom row demonstrates the fingerprint of the “moment” (same mezcalero, same varietal, 3 different open fermented batches). More

How Greg transitioned from a career in the brewing world to a life behind the stick, slinging cocktails, niche agave spirits, and happiness.

A little about the two podcasts that Greg helps bring to the airwaves, including the deep-dive, historical contemplations of Bar None and the weekly, boozy nerd-out sessions of The Speakeasy.

Then, we focus in on the main subject of this episode: the RESTAURANTS Act – and YES, RESTAURANTS, in this case, is an acronym. A very long, very apt acronym.

We talk about the origins of this possible service industry bailout, what it’s designed to do for the hospitality world, and the potential impacts it could have if passed.

We do a little thought experiment about winning the hearts and minds of legislators as if we were the ghosts of cocktail bars past, present, and future,

We riff on the bitter beauty of gentian liqueurs and existential Yelp reviews,

And much, much more.

Not only does Greg have a great voice, but he’s also super passionate about his home bar community in New York City and the larger service industry community that has been devastated by this here super virus we’re all rightfully terrified of. It’s always tricky to talk about the logistics and politics of a bailout, but in my opinion, there’s no better companion for that conversation than the man who thinks Suze can solve all the world’s problems.
Featured Cocktail Garnish: Brandied Cherries
This episode’s featured cocktail is…well…not a cocktail at all. But it is a recipe that we recently developed for Brandied Cherries. These delicious little flavor bombs are made from tart (or sour) cherries – usually the Montmorency variety – and the ripeness window for these cherries is a pretty narrow one – and we happen to be right in the middle of it here in mid-July. So, if you live near upstate New York, Michigan, or the Pacific Northwest where the majority of these fruits are grown, then you might just be in the position to grab a few quarts and try your hand at brandying them.
The recipe below is a fusion of one by The Spruce Eats and Alex Luboff’s recipe for brandied cherries from the Speaking Easy Podcast. Basically, we took what we thought were the best aspects of each.
The ingredients you’ll need are as follows:

1.5 pounds of sour cherries

6 oz (by weight) of sugar

6 fluid ounces of water

8 oz of Brandy – we used the ubiquitous E&J VS, which you can purchase by the handle

1 cinnamon stick

2 cloves

1 oz fresh lemon juice

¼ teaspoon of salt

This should ideally yield about 2 pints of brandied cherries, so feel free to scale it up or down as you see fit.
The process for making these cherries is pretty simple if you’ve ever canned anything before. But if you don’t have any experience canning, it might make sense for you to do a little outside research before you commit because there IS a potential for messing this up if you’re a beginner. Essentially, though, the production steps are as follows:

First, you’ve got to pit and de-stem your cherries. This is a step that wasn’t done in the Speaking Easy recipe, but it’s super easy if you’re willing to part with less than 15 bucks  for a cherry/olive pitting tool on Amazon. My advice? Definitely de-pit your cherries. But make sure you do it right before you brandy the cherries because they’re super delicate and have thin skins. You don’t want these sitting in their own juices overnight.

Next, combine your water, sugar, lemon juice, salt, and spices (clove and cinnamon) in a saucepan or pot on the stovetop, stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved. Once you’ve let all those flavors get to know one another, you add your Brandy, continuing to stir over VERY low heat until the liquid reduces a little. Remember you’re adding alcohol to a heat source here, so be sure to follow instructions and use EXTREME caution.

Then, once you’ve got the brandy syrup where you want it, add the cherries and their juices, stirring very gently until you’re confident that juice is evenly incorporated.

At this point, it’s time to can, and we recommend doing this in a large stock pot where you can set up a boiling hot water bath. This process in itself contains several important food safety steps, so be sure to check out this canning resource if you have any questions about the process. More