George Washington’s Cherry Bounce
Cherry Bounce was a popular drink in the 18th century and a favorite of George Washington’s. It’s essentially fruit-flavored brandy infused with spices. Start making it a couple weeks before the holidays for a very special and festive libation. While it takes time, it’s not difficult and well worthwhile!
Cherry trees were grown at Mount Vernon, George Washington’s estate, for many years. Records show that the cherries were harvested in June and then dried and preserved for use in the winter. The cherries were used to make tart and pies, candy, wine, and alcoholic beverages.
The Cherry Bounce is an alcoholic drink made with mashed cherries and left to sweeten in brandy for 24 hours; then spices are added to the concoction to ferment. According to Abigail Adams, then wife of the then Vice President, the cherry bounce was a traditional Dutch holiday treat in New York. According to his diaries, George Washington packed a canteen of Cherry Bounce, along with port and madeira wines, for one of his trips west in September of 1784.
The recipe for this drink was found among Martha Washington’s surviving papers on an undated manuscript in an unknown hand, written on George Washington’s watermark paper, entitled “To Make Excellent Cherry Bounce.”
”Extract the juice of 20 pounds well ripend [sic] morrella cherrys
[sic] Add to this 10 quarts of old french brandy and sweeten it with
White sugar to your taste–To 5 Gallons of this mixture add one ounce
of spice such as cinnamon, cloves and Nutmegs of each an Equal
quantity slightly bruisd [sic] and a pint and [a] half of cherry
kirnels [sic] that have been gently broken in a mortar–After the
liquor has fermented let it stand close-stoped [sic] for a month or
six weeks then bottle it remembering to put a lump of Loaf Sugar into
each bottle.”
It’s interesting that the Washington recipe specifies brandy as whiskey was more popular at the time.
Cherry Bounce Recipe
Below is the recipe with modern ingredients and amounts for today’s cook, courtesy of the wonderful book Dining With the Washingtons: Historic Recipes, Entertaining, and Hospitality from Mount Vernon.
Note: The recipe lists fresh cherries but you can also buy jars of preserved cherries, specifically 3 jars (1 pound, 9 ounce), preferably Morello cherries.
Cherry Bounce was a popular treat at the Washingtons’ table.
Dining With the Washingtons, Mount Vernon Ladies' Assn.Photo Credit:
Ingredients
Instructions
- Pit the cherries, cut them in half, and put them in a large bowl. Using a potato masher, carefully mash cherries to extract as much juice as possible. Strain the juice through a large fine-mesh strainer, pressing the fruit with a sturdy spoon. (You should have about 8 cups.) Reserve the mashed cherries in the refrigerator or refrigerate for later use. If using jarried cherries, drain the fruit and set the juice aside before halving and mashing the cherries. Add any pressed juice to the reserved jarred juice.
- In a 1-gallon glass jar (or glass container) with a lid, combine the juice with the brandy and sugar, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Cover and set aside in the refrigerator for 24 hours, occasionally stirring or carefully shaking the jar.
- Bring 2 cups of the juice to a simmer over medium heat. Taste the sweetened juice and add more sugar, if desired. Stir in the cinnamon sticks, cloves, and nutmeg.
- Cover and simmer for five minutes; remove from heat and set aside to cool to room temperature. Strain, and discard the spices.
- Stir the spiced juice back into the 1-gallon glass jar with the reserved sweetened juice.
- Cover loosely with the lid, and set aside for at least 2 weeks before serving, occasionally shaking the jar with care.
- Serve at room temperature in small cordial or wine glasses.
Enjoy small glasses of Cherry Bounce and keep the remainder on hand in the refrigerator.
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Reader Comments
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Maybe Even Easier?
If I'm not to use the mashed cherries in the beverage, could I purchase 8 cups organic sour cherry juice and proceed to step 2? I probably would add some dried cherries (like G. Washington - "a pint and [a] half of cherry kirnels [sic] that have been gently broken in a mortar") for additional flavor and authenticity? What do you think?