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Bourbon Cherry Old Fashioned | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

This bourbon cherry old-fashioned is like welcoming in your Saturday with a giant teddy bear style hug.

Yes, I realize that sounds totally dorky, but it’s true. While this cocktail is extremely summery with its perfectly sweet summertime cherries, it also feels warm and cozy at the same time. Why? –> the bourbon. Bourbon just has the ability to warm you right up inside. Again, dorky, but true.

All summer long I’ve been wanting to make us all a fun cocktail with cherries, but I just hadn’t gotten to it until now. I literally looked at my calendar the other day and realized that today is the very last Saturday in July. Yikes, I knew if I didn’t post this drink ASAP that cherries would be gone and we’d have to wait another ten months to make this drink (although you could certainly thaw some frozen cherries and use those too!). Obviously, I was not about to wait ten months, so I kicked myself into action and decided to create something simple yet perfect.

Bourbon Cherry Old Fashioned | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

Bourbon Cherry Old Fashioned | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

At first I was going to add other flavors to make this drink a bit fancier, but then I changed my thinking, and decided that I loved the sound of cherries and bourbon together and really wanted to make those flavors shine…so that’s what I did. Sometimes simple really is best…as I’m slowly learning with every day I grow older.

This drink takes maybe five minutes to make and consists of a total of five ingredients…

  •  sweet cherries…I used a mix of Rainier cherries and Bing, but either or will be delicious, so use what you love.
  •  bourbon…use a highly quality bourbon, as it’s a key player in this drink.
  •  lime juice…for a little citrus hit.
  •  orange bitters…a must for any old-fashioned.
  •  honey…to sweeten ever so slightly…also, I really just love cherries and honey together.

Make the drink all pretty with some fresh cherries and a sprig of mint and you’ll have the perfect Saturday cocktail for sipping on the porch, preferably in an old rocking chair…because for some reason this is the picture I have in my mind…and I like it.

Sounds like the perfect Saturday night to me.

Bourbon Cherry Old Fashioned | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

Bourbon Cherry Old Fashioned | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

Bourbon Cherry Old Fashioned

Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Servings: 1 drink
Calories Per Serving: 415 kcal

Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

Ingredients

  • 4-6 fresh cherries, pitted
  • juice from half a lime
  • dash of orange bitters
  • 1-2 tablespoons honey
  • 2 ounces bourbon, more or less to taste
  • fresh mint and cherries for garnish

Instructions

  • 1. Muddle the cherries, lime juice, orange bitters, and honey in a cocktail shaker or glass jar until the cherries are well mashed and have released their juices. Add the bourbon and shake to combine.
    2. Strain (or not, I leave my cherries in!) into a cocktail glass filled with ice. If desired top with sparking water. Garnish with mint and cherries. DRINK! ?

Notes

Recipe is easily doubled
View Recipe Comments

Bourbon Cherry Old Fashioned | halfbakedharvest.com @hbharvest

ps. I’m now longing for a creaky old porch, a rocking chair and a southern sunset…

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Comments

  1. 5 stars
    This was absolutely delicious! Used dark Morello cherries instead of fresh and topped it off with a little ginger ale which was great! Thank you for such a wonderful recipe!

    1. Hi Kay,
      Wonderful!! I’m so glad to hear that this recipe turned out well for you, thanks so much for making it! Have a great weekend:) xT

  2. This looks absolutely amazing! I love the color in this drink and how simple that recipe is. I will have to make this for my bourbon-loving boyfriend!

  3. I made this tonight, with the only substituting lemon bitters for the orange bitters, because I didn’t have any. Delicious!

  4. This is very worth the trouble of going out to buy orange bitters. It was delicious! We decided to go with the splash of seltzer, and all we had was watermelon seltzer and it was great. Thanks for this recipe. Would love more ideas of how to use my new orange bitters.

    1. SO happy you decided to try it Lisa!! Seltzer sounds delicious!!
      Thanks for trying it, I will try to think up some new ones!!

  5. This is a bourbon sour with cherries. It is not an old fashioned aka whiskey cocktail.

    I am not criticizing the recipe, but the name is not correct.

  6. This looks so refreshing! Is there any substitute for bourbon? I know that the bourbon kind of makes the drink, but it’s not my favorite. Any suggestions?

    1. I was thinking the same thing Michelle. Not a whiskey/bourbon fan at all. I was wondering about gin or vodka…

      1. haha! Of course! Vodka, gin, and tequila would all be great! Let me know what you go with and I hope you love this!

    2. haha! Of course! Vodka, gin, and tequila would all be great! Let me know what you go with and I hope you love this!

  7. My god it is better than I thought. Never really thought about bourbon as a summer drink but this cocktail was lovely.

    Btw I’m looking for a great fresh white wine sangria recipe and since you are my drinks go to i thought if you ever are out if inspiration maybe you could give it a go. Right now I’m trying granny smits, kiwi and mint but it’s missing something.

  8. Well, speaking of porch and rocking chair, it’s all here; all I have to do is to jump over to the shop get some bourbon and make this beauty 🙂 Thank you and enjoy the weekend !