Cherry coke brings about memories of childhood, hot summer days and playing Marco Polo with the 6 new friends you just met at the community pool. This evolved version gives the classic cherry coke just enough of an upgrade to have you pining for the grown up version of the same scenario, hot summer days around a fire pit swapping stories with six of your best friends. Cheers to the onset of warmer weather.
This cocktail is deceptively simple. Just 4 ingredients with surprising complexity due to a little pre-work: sherry is fat washed with cocoa butter to impart its chocolatey flavor. Add that to amaro, Campari and Orasella’s own cherry syrup and what results is a cocktail that is light and nuanced enough to welcome in spring. And who isn’t ready for that?
Our friends recently launched Seattle-based, Fast Penny Spirits, a distillery focused on the Italian bittersweet herbal liqueur, amaro. Since I started Orasella, there are few spirits I’ve grown to appreciate more than amaro. Amari are generally jam packed with botanicals - Fast Penny’s includes over 45 - so, a well-made amaro can take you on a flavor journey that will end in a completely different place than you began. And, they perform magic in cocktails, taking any drink from flat to interesting in a second’s notice.
Four years ago, our friend, Damon, whipped up an off-menu cocktail dubbed, “the spicy cherry juice thingy”. That cocktail remains one of my favorites, the kind you continue to crave on a Friday night years later. I mean, who knew that Orasella’s cherry syrup went so well with spicy spirits?
Well friends, since Damon sent this slightly spicy cocktail recipe, I’ve made (and drank) more of them than I’m willing to tell you about. This cocktail strikes the balance between incredibly delicious and super easy to put together making it the perfect thing to whip up as you’re waiting for dinner to cook.
Ready to continue our cocktail adventure? This time we’re featuring a bittersweet traditionally Italian herbal liqueur, called an amaro. To it, we pair one of my favorite smoky spirits, mezcal (cousin to Tequila), and summer blackberries to create something that will make all you heavier cocktail lovers swoon.
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