This Part II straining step applies to both varieties of cherry liqueur – dark charry liqueur and tart cherry liqueur. In this straining step of either of these recipes, you need a common kitchen stainless steel strainer and some food grade cheese cloth. Make sure the cheese cloth is food grade. Some cheese cloth is sold for automotive detailing and is not suitable for this step.

Straining The Liqueur

The first step in straining the liqueur is to pour all the contents from the Mason Jar into the strainer over a saucepan or pot. All the cherries will collect in the strainer. Empty the saucepan or pot and pour the juice and vodka mixture into a clean Mason Jar:

Add some of the cherries to a piece of cheesecloth and gently squeeze them so the juice collects in the saucepan or pot:

When all the juice has been squeezed out of the cheese cloth, pour it into the Mason Jar. Repeat this process on small batches of the cherries until all the juice is squeezed out:

Now set the Mason Jar aside in a cool place and let it age for 2 to 3 months. During this time, sediments will settle to the bottom of the jar. At some point, rack off the clarified liqueur leaving the "sludge" or "slag" behind in the jar. When the time comes to bottle the liqueur, bottle only the clearest liqueur. This is the best quality. A good explanation of "racking" can be found at Gunther Anderson’s website on making liqueur.

There are two main varieties of cherries for making liqueurs. There are dark, sweet cherries and there are sour (or tart), red cherries. This is my recipe for tart cherry liqueur.

Tart cherries make a very fine liqueur. It is hard to find sour/tart cherries in most stores. The only ones I could find in a super market was the canned variety for making cherry pie filling. This variety is inadequate for making quality liqueur. I live in Southern California. I have found a source for sour cherries in Glendale, California – the Central Grand Market. For this recipe, I bought frozen sour cherries. When thawed, they became very juicy … perfect for making liqueur.

There is a growing season when you can obtain fresh tart cherries. I even heard that you can pay and pick them yourself. I believe this can be done at an orchard in Palmdale, California. I will post more specific information here if I obtain it.

Here is my recipe for Tart Cherry Liqueur:

Making The Liqueur

First add the cherries and Vodka to the Mason jar:

Wait 4 weeks, then add the sugar, then shake thoroughly to dissolve the sugar.

Wait for another 4 weeks while the liqueur macerates. In the next post, I’ll go over the filtering and straining.

Continue to Cherry Liqueur Recipe – Part II