Summer Cherry Fix with Rum, lemon, sugar, and cherries.
My favorite thing about the warm months is going to the local farmers market. I suffer all winter long moping down uninspiring dark grocery store aisles for lackluster produce, and then April comes. The sun starts to shine, my mouth waters at the site of plump fresh berries, stalks of rhubarb, and crunchy kale. At last! I grab my french market tote, run down to Grove Street and fill it with all the fresh herbs, fruit, and veggies it can carry.
Seasonality is SO important to me. It provides me with the inspiration I need when I’m developing cocktails for menus, or just having fun at home. This past Thursday I saw the most magnificent cherries: sweet, sour, dark, red. You name it, they had it. I had to have them all, and so the Summer Cherry Fix was born.
A fix is a sour served down on crushed ice. Any seasonal fruit can be muddled in glass before adding your undiluted, dry shaken cocktail. I made this with Rum but any spirit of your choice works too. This is super easy to make at home, and is refreshing, juicy, and tart!
Cherries from the Grove Street Farmers Market in Jersey City, NJ.
Summer Cherry Fix
2 oz. White Rum
3/4 oz. fresh lemon juice
3/4 oz. simple syrup (1:1)
About 6 cherries
Take about 5 cherries, pit and half them and place them in the bottom of your double rocks glass. In your tin build the rest of your ingredients, dry shake. Pour a splash of your mixed cocktail ontop of the cherries in your double rocks glass. Muddle the cherries, and fill the glass with crushed ice. After you have added the ice, pour the mixed cocktail in your tin right over it. This will give you the desired layered effect. Garnish with a lemon wedge, cherry, and a dusting of freshly ground nutmeg.
Sip and Enjoy. Cheers!