Traverse City Whiskey Co. Premium Cocktail Cherries | Cocktails & Desserts | All American, Natural, Certified Kosher, Stemless, Slow-Cooked Garnish for Old Fashioned, Ice Cream Sundaes & More

Big at home bartender and a big believer in quality ingredients whether you are talking spirits or garnish. Skip those neon-red Maraschino cherries. These Traverse City Whiskey Co. cherries are simply fantastic. Sweet but not too sweet, natural, and grown & packaged in Michigan. What more could you ask for? Even the syrup has a pleasant, naturally sweet taste. I like to use it as a substitute for simple syrup when a recipe calls for it. Complimented my Manhattan perfectly and will turn any old fashioned, champagne cocktail, etc up that extra notch. There’s one Italian brand that comes close, but they aren’t quite as good, are more expensive, not made in the US, and not Available on Amazon. Stick with TCW. A great addition to any bar, and they'll go great with ice cream too! These will be popping up at bars everywhere, it’s only a matter of time.

I LOVE these cherries!!! I’m a mixologist and first tried them at an industry event where they were introducing them to bartenders. I was always a luxardo cherry fan, but when I tasted the Traverse City cherries I was hooked. They are larger in size and not so sickenly sweet. I was so excited to run across them on amazon as I assumed they would only be a product I would need to order for the bar through a distributor. I am so elevated that I’m able to purchase them for my house too. They are great in cocktails and even better topping an ice cream sundae!!! Thank you Traverse City whiskey for making such an amazing product and thank you amazon for carrying it!!!

I find these to be much more rich in comparison to the Luxardos I have grown to love. So in terms of flavor there is a difference. Mixed in a drink, it’s not as noticeable a difference compared to just having one cherry alone. With that said, I will exclusively be buying Traverse cherries from here on out. The value is too good to pass up for the quality and quantity. Best part is I loved traveling through Michigan. We did a 10 day tent camping trip around the entire lake and Traverse was our first stop. So it’s safe to say I’m a little sentimental towards their origin. Traverse is historically known for their cherries. They hold the National Cherry Festival every summer and produce 75% of the US’s tart cherries.

The cherries come in a good sized bottle and are boxed well. I like that the cherries do not have the neon red coloring that you find with most cocktail cherries. The Good: - The syrup is thinner than Luxardo but still sticks to the spoon well and does not tint your drink. - The cherries are good size and have a good texture. - The sweetness level of the syrup and cherries was good (not too sweet). - Jar was full of cherries, these are a good value compared to other premium brands. The Other: - The cherries taste a little bland to me, I prefer a more tart flavor and these are VERY mild. Everyone has different tastes and if you prefer the milder flavor profile these are worth a try.

I bought this for my husband (who loves to make Manhattan’s) for Father’s Day but decided to give it to him earlier to begin enjoying. He loves it.. I use to buy him another gourmet brand of cherries but this will be my permanent “go to” choice. He said that it adds a little something extra and makes his drink even better. I asked for something a little more specific - he just pointed to his empty glass and smiled. The most important thing he said is to tell any prospective buyers out there is to be sure NOT to refrigerate the jar after opening. We keep ours in the liquor cabinet which is dark & cool. The instructions back me up on this. If you want to add a special touch to your drinks than this is something you need to try. I have a feeling this will be wonderful over ice-cream or whipped cream, in case you need another incentive.

The cherries themselves seem relatively high-quality, meaning that the texture and weight are substantial and I could see why lots of other people who are used to the bright red ice cream sundae cherries would see these as a big improvement. I'm not a cherry snob or Luxardo fanboy by any stretch... but what kills this whole bottle for me is the strong, cloying flavor of the syrup. It just hangs around too long and shifts the flavor of the cocktails too much for my liking (even with overproof whiskeys). Both my wife and I immediately said "ew this tastes like cough syrup" on the first try. To us it was both overly sweet and somewhat medicinal. And while I love the thickness of this syrup in general, the thickness made it that much harder to remove any excess syrup from the cherry before dropping it in a cocktail. This is clearly a personal preference issue so hopefully your tongue is friendlier to this product than ours were.

Let me start out by saying “wow”! Having spent 20 years in Michigan, I ate a ton of Michigan cherries over the years! For those that don’t know, Michigan is the cherry capital of the world and the Traverse City area is the epicenter! I can’t believe how much these cocktail cherries remind me of the sweet, fleshy cherries that I grew up eating! These cocktail cherries are not only well suited for delicious (bourbon and rye) cocktails, but they also work well on ice cream or with just a spoon! I’ll admit it. I’m a total snob when it comes to cocktail cherries. You’ll never see the bright red maraschino cherries in my house! I’ve tried almost all of the high end ones out there, including Luxardo, Toschi, Faabri, Woodford, etc. These are the best!