Cherries 

“Life is like a cocktail, made up for the most part of sweet things, and tinged with a dash of bitters. We must drain it to the dregs to get at the cherry, just as we must live a full and rounded life to know all its pleasures.” 

~ Edgar Guest

The two cherries are an essential part of a Flackhattan. After soaking in the bourbon or rye), they are your reward for getting the job done.

The maraschino cherry originates from the Marasca cherry (a type of sour Morrelo cherry of Croatian origin) and the maraschino liqueur made from it, in which Marasca cherries were crushed and preserved after being pickled.

In the U.S. after Prohibition was repealed, lobbying by the non-alcoholic preserved cherry industry encouraged the Food and Drug Administration to revise federal policy toward canned cherries. It held a hearing in April 1939 to establish a new standard of identity. Since 1940, "maraschino cherries" have been defined as "cherries which have been dyed red, impregnated with sugar, and packed in a sugar syrup flavored with oil of bitter almonds or a similar flavor.

While "dyed red, impregnated with sugar . . . oil of bitter almonds" doesn't sound that appealing, they actually taste pretty good and can make for better inclusion in a Flackhattan than some higher-end cocktails cherries served at higher-end cocktail bars. Another benefit of the maraschino cherry is the attached stem which makes fishing them out of the bottom of your Flackhattan much easier.

My reviews of the higher-end cherries:

1. Six Lugs Cocktail Cherries: (11 oz. - $14.95): Small, dry, and a little mealy. As one reviewer stated " . . . with a relative dryness at their core instead of a burst of juice. The flavor takes a spin away from the typical sweet/tart cherry character one finds with a Luxardo. Here, the cherry has a distinct chocolate character that acts as a foil to a modest earthiness beneath". I definitely agree about the lack of juiciness and the distinct chocolate character, so much that I don't include them in my Flackhattan, but just eat them on their own.

2. Collins Maraschino Stemmed Cherries: (10 oz. - $5.99): This is the classic maraschino cherry: plump, red, juicy, and sweet. Some may complain that the ingredients include "sugar, citric acid, natural and artificial flavors, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate, red #40, sulfur dioxide", but what do I care? I'm putting them in a cocktail, not a bean sprout salad. They are also stemmed to allow for better fishing.

3. Best Choices Maraschino Cherries (with Stems): (16oz. - $2.99): Typical economy grocery store Maraschino cherries. Better than the store brands, but not by much. Most of the cherries have stems, but some don't. Most of the cherries are intact, but some aren't.

4. Sable & Rosenfeld Whiskey tipsy Cherries:(10oz - 4.99): Comme ci, comme ça. Too small and lacking in juiciness. Also, the ratio of stemmed to unstemmed is almost 1:1.

5. Luxardo Marcasdhino Cherries: According to the website "These are candied cherries soaked in Luxardo marasca cherry syrup. The percentage of marasca cherries in jars and tins is about 50% and so is the percentage of syrup. No thickening agents of any type." While it's nice to know thickening agents are used, its confusing to find out that only 50% are marasca cherries.

6. Smart Harvest Organic Cherries: They come frozen which allows them to defrost in your Flackhattan. Solid, and since they are brought to you via Costco, the economics can be quite appealing. Definitely worth a try. And at 4lbs., that's a lot of Flackhattans! And they're organic.  

Endnotes:

¹ In marketing, a fighting brand is a lower-priced offering launched by a company to take on, and ideally take out, specific competitors that are attempting to under-price them.

² Jim Beam was subsequently acquired by Suntory in 2014 for $16 billion. Yes, that's correct, the Japanese are now making your whiskey.

³ While Mellow Corn is aged in previously used charred oak barrels, unlike other American whiskey styles, corn whiskey is not required to be aged in wood. Though if aged, it must be in either uncharred or previously-used oak barrels and must be barreled at lower than 125 proof (62.5% abv).