"Cherry" cook in July, and before the New Year holidays I dive in the summer, opening a jar.

The season of juicy sour cherries is in full swing. And this means that you have the opportunity to prepare not just banal dumplings, but something truly unique. I propose to make authentic Ukrainian. cherry-drink. In other words, cherry liquor.



In Ukrainian villages, this drink is called cherry. It is prepared quite simply, but the taste is not inferior to expensive store tinctures. Intrigued?

A cherry drink can be made from different varieties of cherries. In this recipe will be used the variety “morel”. The fruit is fully ripened by the end of June. However, the harvest can be harvested now.



It is best to prepare a hot drink from cherries recently plucked from a tree. There's some charm to it!

The ingredients

• 2–2.5 kg of cherries
• 400g sugar
• 40-degree drink to taste

Preparation

1. First of all, go through the freshly harvested cherries. We need to get rid of all the rotten fruits. It is not necessary to remove the bones from them, since they do not spoil the taste of the drink, but, on the contrary, make it more noble.
   
   
   
   Nor do cherries need to be washed. The microorganisms that cover the surface of the bone are the basis for the natural fermentation process. However, this only applies to homemade cherries. If you buy it in the market, be sure to wash the fruit.
   
   
2. Place the prepared cherry in a 3-liter jar, sprinkling each layer with sugar. At this stage, you will need 200 g of product. Try to make sure that every cherry is covered with sugar. For this, the bank can be broken from time to time.
3. A jar with cherries should be sent to a secluded place where the air temperature will be about 20-25 degrees. After 4-5 days of fermentation, the fruits will settle a little in the jar. A foam forms on the surface. This is another sign of good fermentation. Once every 2 days, a jar of cherries can be chickened.
   
   
   
   
4. After 1-2 weeks (orientate on when the cherries will stop fermenting) after the 1st stage of cooking, it's time to do the pressing. To do this, place the contents of the jar in a deep bowl and start squeezing all the juice out of the cherry. It's best to do it with your hands.
5. Then pour the resulting cherry gruel through several layers of gauze into another bowl or bucket. Don’t be afraid that the drink looks very murky at this stage. The color will change later.
6. Transfer the resulting liquid to the jar in which the fermentation occurred. It is not worth washing it in any case, since microorganisms remain at the bottom, which are needed for further fermentation.
   
   YouTube
   
   

Other stages of preparation

1. Then you need to add sugar to the jar. You can adjust the amount to your taste, but I suggest adding another 200 g of product. Sugar is needed not only to improve the taste of cherry. It will also help the drink continue to play.
2. Put a rubber glove on the jar. It serves as a water shutter. Pierce a small hole on one of the fingers of the mitten. Thanks to this hole, air will not penetrate into the middle, but will allow the release of carbon dioxide formed during fermentation.
   
   
   
   YouTube
3. Then send the can to a warm place and watch the drink. The fermentation time can take from 1 to 2 months. When it is completed, carefully drain the liquid from the jar so that the sediment does not get into the drink. Then add a strong drink to your taste. Usually for 10–11 liters of cherry is enough 300 ml of white.
4. Pour the drink into a clean jar, cover it again with a glove, make holes in it and send the jar to a cold place. Ideally, we should use a cellar for this. The cherry can wander a little more - that's normal. But overall, it will only improve over time. It is ideal to prepare a drink in the summer and start drinking it on New Year’s Eve.
   
   
   
   

Ready cherry can be stored for more than a year. If you decide to get involved in this adventure, know that you are not alone! I decided not to waste time and jumped into the last carriage, collecting cherries in my parents yard. And although it ripened in late June, I managed to get about 3 kg of good fruit.



That's what I did! To be honest, I have no idea how this experiment will end. I really wanted to try something unusual. And cherry is a great fit for this role. Wish me luck.

I hope you like the recipe. It will be great if you talk about your experience in the comments!