Maraschino cherries

[Mrclearwine]

Ok so i have a large amount of maraschino cherries i unfortunately acquired,i dont like waste and iv made wine for years. Part of me says just make it and see what you end up with but i thought id ask if anyones made it before or at least tried. I know they're full of crap but they are still cherries...right?

 

[Birrofilo]

Ok so i have a large amount of maraschino cherries i unfortunately acquired,i dont like waste and iv made wine for years. Part of me says just make it and see what you end up with but i thought id ask if anyones made it before or at least tried. I know they're full of crap but they are still cherries...right?

They are delicious to make Maraschino, the brandy. Those cherries are not good for normal consumption. I wonder where you bought them.

https://www.etilika.it/liquore-maraschino-luxardo-070-lt
You could ferment them and then find a friend who has a distiller and who knows how to make fruit brandy.

Or you could prepare them in syrup, as if they were amarene.

https://www.amazon.it/Fabbri-Amarena-Opaline-Gr-600/dp/B004V2SAQE/ref=sr_1_1
Absolutely delicious on ice cream!

 

[TheBluePhantom]

Wow, just learned a lot bout maraschino cherries from wiki. Since they are preserved, what chemicals are in yours? They may not be fermentable at all.

 

[Birrofilo]

I suppose the OP has fresh cherries.
I see now from Wikipedia maraschino cherries are sold in the US preserved, bleached and coloured with an awful vivid red.
All those I saw are basically black. They are preserved under spirit or under syrup. Same for amarene and marasche, which are two other kinds of cherries which are not eaten "as is" (due to bitterness, astringency or whatever) but which are very aromatic.

Maybe the best use of them, if fresh, could be to make a jam. If preserved, bleached and coloured, I suggest to compost them

 

[Mrclearwine]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/n7qjy0rqirhshkn/20210425_112326.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wjdvt54e2cm6rfv/20210425_112425.jpg?dl=0
Ok have a look at these, iv got 24 jars of them,i think theres a litre in each

 

[Mrclearwine]

Birrofilo: yes they are an almost nuclear red colour. The more i look at them the more i think just keep a jar for cocktails

 

[TheBluePhantom]

OK, there is no such thing as fresh maraschino cherries. They are a preserved cherry, originally marasche cherries, but other types are used now. So these are preserved.

The jar says Preservative E220, a quick check on the internet gives this as sulfur dioxide. You could probably crush and press them to extract the liquid, Normally the sulfer content of must will drop in an open bucket over a day or two if it is derived from potassium metabisulphite. It may be the same for that one. I would not ferment the fruit directly, it would probably retain too much sulfur. The question would be, do you like the taste of them, or is it too fake? And the day glo red might be a bit disconcerting. But who am i to judge, I was eyeing watermelon snocone syrup yesterday.

You could also learn to love ice cream sundaes.....

 

[Mrclearwine]

Im thinking empty the jars wash the lot,crush them then get started on that,theyve gotta taste of something...or is all the flavour going to be in the juice? Theyre 5yrs out of date..did i mention that

 

[IslandLizard]

Im thinking empty the jars wash the lot,crush them then get started on that,theyve gotta taste of something...or is all the flavour going to be in the juice? Theyre 5yrs out of date..did i mention that

I would not wash them, the syrup contains sugar but lots of the flavor too.
I saw they contain almond oil as flavoring.
It's strange how some ingredients are not listed categorically under each translation...

Also contains Sulfites. That ******* yeast growth.
As @Birrofilo [EDIT] @TheBluePhantom said, let them air out for a few days, scoop em through every day, to get rid of that, before pitching yeast.

Maybe do a test batch with 1 or 2 jars. Since they're 5 years old already, keeping them another month longer won't harm them.

 

[Mrclearwine]

I was given 20 jars of strawberry wine and thats fementing a treat. Ok il give it a go. Thanks guys

 

[bkboiler]

5 years out of date is a long time even for a jarred product. I used to work at the food bank often and that's stretching it even for canned or jarred product.
Have you tasted them?

 

[IslandLizard]

5 years out of date is a long time even for a jarred product. I used to work at the food bank often and that's stretching it even for canned or jarred product.
Have you tasted them?

Those cherries don't go bad!
Look at them, bright red and filled with food grade preservatives, kept in a sealed glass jar...

 

[Mrclearwine]

No i haven't yet,was just exploring whether it would even be worth the effort first. I build a pub during lockdown so its not like they wouldnt get used although 24 jars is a few too many cocktails even for me.

 

[Mrclearwine]

Those cherries don't go bad!
Look at them, bright red and filled with food grade preservatives, kept in a sealed glass jar...

See that was my first thoughy

 

[Mrclearwine]

That was my first thought

 

[Mrclearwine]

Il taste them tomorrow

 

[Birrofilo]

As @Birrofilo said, let them air out for a few days, scoop em through every day, to get rid of that before pitching yeast.

It wasn't me but @TheBluePhantom . My suggestion was to compost them...

 

[skidmark]

How is your supply of bourbon and vermouth looking?