Cherry, strong, lavish
Eve Bar harvests its own cherries for their layered take on a whisky cherry bounce.
Bar: Eve Bar, London
Menu: Evolve
Recipe: Adam Handling
Ingredients:
50ml The Macallan Double cask 12YO Whisky
40ml Antica Formula sweet vermouth
15ml Noilly Prat dry vermouth
2ml Eve Lab cherry bitters
1 drop saline
Method:
Cherry stone sweet vermouth:
When cherries are in season, we buy them whole and remove the stones. The stones don't need to be completely cleaned of the cherry flesh, as during this process the flesh and the sugars within will caramelise and add more flavour. Once you've removed the stones from the cherries, place them on a dehydrating tray and transfer to a preheated dehydrator at 80°C for 3 hours - this process will caramelise the flesh and lightly toast the cherry stones, releasing an almond like quality. Remove from the dehydrator and place into a vacuum pac bag along with sweet vermouth, seal this on full and cold infuse for 1 day in the fridge. Once this stage is complete, remove from the vacuum pac bag and filter using a magic bag. Pour into sterilised glass bottles, add dates and name on frog tape to company standards and store in the fridge until needed.
Cherry blossom dry Vermouth:
When the cherry blossom is in flower, we carefully remove some of the flowers from the tree leaving enough for the tree to still grow new flowers and look pretty. We give these flowers a quick bath in ice cold water to remove any insects and pat dry with napkins. We then add the flowers and the dry Vermouth into a vacuum pac bag, seal this on full and cold infuse for 1 day in the fridge. Once this stage is complete, remove from the vacuum pac bag and filter using a magic bag. Pour into sterilised glass bottles and store in the fridge until needed. You can usually then dehydrate the flowers, on a low heat for a few days, and make very pretty garnishes.
Cherry infused Whisky:
Add 250g cherries and 1 litre of Macallan double cask 12YO Whisky to a sterilised glass jar. Ensure none of the cherries float by either sinking with a small water filled vacuum bag on top or Kilner stones to hold down. Leave these for 3 days - the alcohol will draw out the flavour of the cherries. Once this process is complete, use a magic bag to remove the cherries and place to one side. These are used in the cherry bitters. Pour the cherry Whisky into sterilised glass bottles and store in the fridge until needed.
For serving:
Both your mixing jug and serving glass should be chilled before you start. Fill your mixing jug 2/3 full of cubed ice. Add the contents of your drink. Glide your bar spoon down the inside of the jug, so that it almost reaches the bottom. Rapidly stir for 35-45 seconds. The drink should be approximately -6°C/21.2°F. Put your hawthorn strainer inside (or on top of) your mixing jug and strain into your serving glass. Garnish with 3 Maraschino cherries.
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