The Gouda Life

The holidays, while lovely and heart-warming and filled with good-intentions and niceness, sure can lead a woman to drink. 

Admittedly, I’ve jump on the booze-boat sooner than usual this year. A jigger of this, a splash of that, a little citrus and some cinnamon; this is my nightly ritual. I promise I’m not getting completely rocked and drunk-dialing ex boyfriends and coworkers, but I’m enjoying the experimentation and playfulness of a freshly stocked bar and a new attitude towards spirits. 

We’ve had a tumultuous relationship, me typically preferring not to have my throat scorched by the burn of neat whiskey and he preferring not to be underrated and snubbed by the likes of me. Whether my tastes are becoming more sophisticated as I age (unlikely), or I’m just preferring to sip slower, more mindfully, I’ve been enjoying the warm company of a good bottle of bourbon lately. Especially when it’s nestled snug in a short glass with a touch of sweet, a touch of bitter, and just the tiniest amount of citrus. And if a brandied cherry, provided by my dear neighbour, happened to take a dive in there, I would still happily imbibe. 

The old fashioned is like a good leather boot. Reliable, comfortable, common, and at times, impossible to find one that is exactly right. I prefer mine with bourbon, a twist of orange, the slightest amount of bitters and recently, because I’ve been lucky enough to acquire some, one single spiced, brandied cherry. It’s like a warm hug (from someone extremely sexy). My neighbour, Erin, shared the recipe she used for the cherries, so I thought you might like to make them yourself. She also suggested dropping one single cherry into a flute of prosecco. I can just imagine how beautiful the little bubbles tickling the sugary crimson syrup would look spiraling to the top of the glass. 



Classic Old Fashioned with a Brandied Cherry
makes 1 cocktail

1 sugar cube
1 dash of Angostura bitters
2 ounces bourbon
1 1” strip of orange zest, white pith removed
1 brandied cherry (recipe follows)
Ice, 2-3 cubes, optional

Place your sugar cube in a short rocks glass. Add a dash of bitters to the sugar cube. Add the bourbon, then the orange, ice and finally, the cherry. Sit back and sip slowly - you’re so sophisticated! 

Brandied Cherries  
as shared by Erin

Day 1: 
1 pound of cherries, washed and pitted.
1 quart of water + 1 tsp non-iodine salt (boiled to dissolve salt, then cooled) 

Day 2: 
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cinnamon stick
half vanilla pod
pinch nutmeg

Day 1: Place cherries in brine and refrigerate overnight.

On Day 2, drain and rinse cherries. In a saucepan, combine sugar, water, cinnamon stick, vanilla pod and nutmeg, and bring to a boil.

Immediately reduce heat to a light simmer, add cherries and simmer for five minutes. Remove from heat, add 1 cup brandy and cool immediately. Sieve cherries from liquid then filter through a coffee filter. When all sediment has been extracted, combine again with cooled cherries then transfer to a clean glass jar and refrigerate. Keeps for 1 month.