Would you make a Cherry Cider with water?

[lukebuz]

Hello Cider Forum!
I have about 20lbs of sour cherries, enough to make a 5 gallon batch of cherry wine (which I've made a few, and have plenty left...so no more wine, please!).

I figured I wanted to make a cherry cider. I was planning on using WATER and whatever juice from the cherries, and thought it would basically be a "light" wine thats carb'ed.

Well, I began to think that might not be a great idea. Should I use apple cider as the liquid base for the cherries? Or should I just use water?
I want it to be a full-on CHERRY experience; i.e. not an apple cider with a cherry twist. I'm afraid of losing the cherry flavor to the apple flavor.

What should I do?

 

[area123]

I would think if you ferment the apple cider to dry with a dry wine yeast you won't have anything left but alcohol and not much apple flavor. Then u could make a cherry purée and add that in secondary.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I made a cherry vanilla by adding them to secondary of Apple cider... And the flavor was good. I don't know what you'll get by watering the cherry juice down.

 

[madscientist451]

I made a tart/sour cherry cider last summer (2015). I used cider that I made in 2014 so it was finished and aged about 8 months. Its was pretty dry (used WL cider yeast) and tasted good but without much apple flavor. So I put about 3 lbs of fresh sour cherries I picked at a local orchard into a 3 gallon carboy and added the cider. The cherries were just washed and smashed up, no cooking, no sulfite, didn't even pit them. A moderate fermentation kicked off that lasted about 3 weeks. I racked off about 2 gallons of the now cherry cider and added 2 more gallons of the dry cider. The second use of the cherries didn't ferment at all, I guess the available sugar was all used up. I blended the first and second runs and it came out very cherry like, although somewhat tart. Had a very nice red color. I drank some as- is and back sweetened some of it. Almost all 5 gallons got consumed over the summer so I guess it was a success.

 

[lukebuz]

Thanks for the tips and experience.

I guess sugar water isn't that much different from apple cider.
I still haven't decided yet. I like the idea of "purity" of only cherry, but then again, I don't know. I'm so wishy-washy.