George Washington’s Favorite Drink
09-23-2015
Author: Blog Editor in Diet for a Tiny House
One of our favorite places to visit is Mount Vernon, George and Martha Washington’s estate in Alexandria, Virginia.
Quiz time. What was George Washington’s favorite drink? Hint: It has something to do with a myth that he chopped down a tree and a his refusal to tell a lie.
Give up? Cherry Bounce!
George loved Cherry Bounce so much that his wife Martha would make it for him to take on his campaigns.
The curators at Mount Vernon have thoughtfully made the recipe for this drink available for visitors to take with them on little cards. If you want to taste it, you make it just like Martha did. The recipe is also online at the estate’s website, where you can find other Washington family favorites such as Scotch Collops, Hoecakes, Salamongundy, and Fairy Butter to name a few.
Cherry Bounce is an easy-to-make, powerful cordial, probably best served as a dessert drink. Made with cherry juice, brandy and whole spices -- whole cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg -- there is nothing out there quite like it today. The recipe gives you a choice of making it the old-fashioned way -- with 11 pounds of fresh cherries -- or with 1-pound jars of preserved sour Morello cherries that one can find in Cost Plus World Market stores and in Trader Joe’s markets. We used the jars of cherries.
The recipe is pretty straightforward. It just takes a while to keep an eye this cordial in the refrigerator through a couple of weeks of spicing and turning and then it’s ready to bottle up and give away as gifts (it also needs constant refrigeration, something to consider if you want to keep the Cherry Bounce to yourself).
The taste is very pleasant, very fruity and sweet, and you could sort of drink it like punch. But don’t. The punch happens. Or the bounce does, before you realize it. Cherry Bounce probably livened up quite a few conversations in the late 1790’s!
Quiz time. What was George Washington’s favorite drink? Hint: It has something to do with a myth that he chopped down a tree and a his refusal to tell a lie.
Give up? Cherry Bounce!
George loved Cherry Bounce so much that his wife Martha would make it for him to take on his campaigns.
The curators at Mount Vernon have thoughtfully made the recipe for this drink available for visitors to take with them on little cards. If you want to taste it, you make it just like Martha did. The recipe is also online at the estate’s website, where you can find other Washington family favorites such as Scotch Collops, Hoecakes, Salamongundy, and Fairy Butter to name a few.
Cherry Bounce is an easy-to-make, powerful cordial, probably best served as a dessert drink. Made with cherry juice, brandy and whole spices -- whole cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg -- there is nothing out there quite like it today. The recipe gives you a choice of making it the old-fashioned way -- with 11 pounds of fresh cherries -- or with 1-pound jars of preserved sour Morello cherries that one can find in Cost Plus World Market stores and in Trader Joe’s markets. We used the jars of cherries.
The recipe is pretty straightforward. It just takes a while to keep an eye this cordial in the refrigerator through a couple of weeks of spicing and turning and then it’s ready to bottle up and give away as gifts (it also needs constant refrigeration, something to consider if you want to keep the Cherry Bounce to yourself).
The taste is very pleasant, very fruity and sweet, and you could sort of drink it like punch. But don’t. The punch happens. Or the bounce does, before you realize it. Cherry Bounce probably livened up quite a few conversations in the late 1790’s!
The Washingtons’ Cherry Bounce
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Ingredients
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2 jars 24-ounce preserved sour Morello cherries
2 cups brandy
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 whole clove
1 piece whole nutmeg
NEEDS: You will need a large wide-mouth 1-gallon jar with lid, a fine sieve, a funnel, and a medium sauce pan. You will also need some decorative bottles with stoppers or corks to store the Cherry Bounce.
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Procedure
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Drain the fruit from the jars and set the juice aside before mashing the cherries with a potato masher or a fork. Drain the mash again and add any additional juice to the reserved juice. Put the mashed cherries in the fridge or freezer to use later in a cherry crisp or other dessert you want to make.
In a clean 1-gallon wide-mouth glass jar with a lid, combine the juice with the brandy and sugar, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Cover with the lid, and set aside in the refrigerator for 24 hours, occasionally stirring or carefully shaking the jar.
The next day, bring 2 cups of the juice to a low simmer on the stove. Add the cinnamon sticks, cloves, and nutmeg. Allow to simmer for a few minutes to release the flavors of the spices into the juice.
Take pot off the flame and allow to cool to room temperature. Strain the mixture again through a fine sieve and discard the spices and any additional pieces of cherry.
Pour the spiced juice back into the 1-gallon glass jar with the reserved sweetened juice. Put the lid on loosely and keep refrigerated for at least two weeks, occasionally turning the jar over carefully to reincorporate the contents.
After two weeks, use a funnel to carefully pour out the liquor and bottle it up into sterilized individual small decorative bottles with stoppers. Serve at room temperature in small cordial or wine glasses. Store the remaining Cherry Bounce in the refrigerator.
Parts of this recipe were adapted from Dining with the Washingtons: Historic Recipes, Entertaining, and Hospitality from Mount Vernon, edited by Stephen A. McLeod. © 2011 by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. Distributed by The University of North Carolina Press.
--------------
Drain the fruit from the jars and set the juice aside before mashing the cherries with a potato masher or a fork. Drain the mash again and add any additional juice to the reserved juice. Put the mashed cherries in the fridge or freezer to use later in a cherry crisp or other dessert you want to make.
In a clean 1-gallon wide-mouth glass jar with a lid, combine the juice with the brandy and sugar, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Cover with the lid, and set aside in the refrigerator for 24 hours, occasionally stirring or carefully shaking the jar.
The next day, bring 2 cups of the juice to a low simmer on the stove. Add the cinnamon sticks, cloves, and nutmeg. Allow to simmer for a few minutes to release the flavors of the spices into the juice.
Take pot off the flame and allow to cool to room temperature. Strain the mixture again through a fine sieve and discard the spices and any additional pieces of cherry.
Pour the spiced juice back into the 1-gallon glass jar with the reserved sweetened juice. Put the lid on loosely and keep refrigerated for at least two weeks, occasionally turning the jar over carefully to reincorporate the contents.
After two weeks, use a funnel to carefully pour out the liquor and bottle it up into sterilized individual small decorative bottles with stoppers. Serve at room temperature in small cordial or wine glasses. Store the remaining Cherry Bounce in the refrigerator.
Parts of this recipe were adapted from Dining with the Washingtons: Historic Recipes, Entertaining, and Hospitality from Mount Vernon, edited by Stephen A. McLeod. © 2011 by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. Distributed by The University of North Carolina Press.
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About Blog Author Wendy Gorski: I'm a full-time traveler with my husband Nick, and we live in a 2011 Airstream travel trailer. In 2012, we sold our 4,000-square-foot house with its gourmet kitchen and bought our 100-square-foot tiny Airstream house. In this blog, I'll share recipes, tips, thoughts, and experiences as we careen across the country in search of adventure. All my recipes will be primarily plant-based, fast to cook, easy to clean up, and delicious!
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