Still Spirits Cherry Bourbon essence, how to use it

Flavoured bourbon gets a bit of a hard time from people who drink the straight stuff, and some of that's deserved, because a lot of it is sugar with a hint of something fruity waved over the top. A cherry note done properly is a different thing though. Cherry and oak genuinely belong together, which is why a cherry ends up in an old fashioned in the first place, so this isn't a flavour somebody invented for the sake of it.

What you get

Still Spirits Cherry Bourbon puts the bourbon character and the cherry into a neutral base in one go, so you're not mixing two things together and hoping they get along. The cherry sits over the top rather than through the middle, which is the right way round, because the moment the fruit takes over you've got a liqueur rather than a bourbon.

It's worth saying, because somebody always asks. Flavouring a bought neutral base isn't distilling and there's no ATO excise licence in it at all. If you're distilling the base yourself that's a federal manufacturer licence through the ATO, and it's a separate question to this one.

How to mix it

The ratio is on the bottle, the base goes in first and the essence after it, then you seal it and leave it a day or two. It's ready sooner than that and it's better if you wait. If you want it a shade drier you can add a small amount of oak, and if you want the cherry further forward you're better off muddling a real one into the glass than pushing more essence into the batch, because more essence past a point starts tasting like cough medicine.

What it's good in

• Over one big ice cube. The cherry opens up as it dilutes, which is half the pleasure of it.
• A cherry old fashioned. Sugar and bitters, with an orange twist, and you can skip the cherry garnish because it's already in there.
• With cola. Unfashionable and genuinely good, and the cherry makes a lot of sense in it.
• A sour. Lemon juice and a little sugar syrup, shaken hard.

Shop related products

• Still Spirits Cherry Bourbon. The essence this post is about.
• Still Spirits Honey Bourbon. The sweeter, rounder flavoured bourbon if cherry isn't your thing.
• Still Spirits Bourbon Essence. Plain bourbon character with nothing over the top of it.
• Still Spirits Oak Cask. For drying it out and adding a bit of barrel.

Did you know we also keep the 1125ml spirit bottles and a hydrometer with its test jar in the shop. They are not on the website, so give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what is on the shelf.

More on this

• Kentucky bourbon essence, how to use it
• How to flavour a spirit at home with essences
• 3 ways to age and flavour whisky at home

Not sure which one suits what you actually drink? Brewhilder will narrow it down, or have a look through the homebrew collection.

I'm the reason there's never any ice in our freezer and I make no apology for it.

Candeece

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