Homemade Sour Cherry Drink from Fresh Syrup
A spoonful of homemade sour cherry syrup and a glass of ice-cold water make one of summer's great drinks. Here is a lighter syrup recipe, how much to pour, and how to store it safely.
Sour cherries are too tart for most people to eat by the handful, but cooked with sugar they turn into one of the most loved syrups in the world. In Greece, a spoon of the syrup stirred into cold water is called vyssinada. In Turkey there is vişne şerbeti, in Iran sharbat-e albaloo, and across Central and Eastern Europe sour cherries are bottled as syrups and cordials every summer.
Making your own syrup takes about half an hour and lets you decide how sweet it is. Here is a recipe with less sugar than many traditional versions, a sensible serving size, and the storage rules that keep a homemade syrup safe.
Sour cherries and how to choose them
Sour cherries have a sharp, almost lemony taste. That acidity is exactly what makes a good drink, because it balances the sugar. Penn State Extension notes that both sweet and sour cherries can be preserved, and that sour cherries are packed in a stronger sugar syrup than sweet ones.
Choose fruit that is freshly picked, deeply and evenly colored and firm, with a little snap to the skin. Overripe cherries look dull and have dried stems. Penn State Extension advises not to delay once you have them. Frozen pitted sour cherries also work well for syrup.
Sour Cherry Syrup and Cold Drink
You need
- sour cherries, weighed after pitting, fresh or frozen500 g (about 3 1/2 cups)
- sugar350 g (1 3/4 cups)
- water250 ml (1 cup)
- lemon juice1 tbsp
- syrup, to serve20 ml (4 tsp) per glass
- very cold still or sparkling water, with ice230 ml (1 cup) per glass
Method
- Wash and pit the cherries over a bowl to catch the juice. Mix the cherries and their juice with the sugar and leave for 1 hour, or overnight in the fridge, until a lot of juice has come out.
- Tip everything into a pan, add the water and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, skimming off any foam.
- Mash the cherries lightly, then pour through a fine sieve into a clean bowl, pressing gently to get out the juice.
- Return the strained syrup to the pan with the lemon juice and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes more, until it coats a spoon lightly. It thickens as it cools.
- Pour into a clean bottle or jar, let it cool, close it and refrigerate.
- To serve, put 20 ml (4 tsp) of syrup in a tall glass, add ice and top with cold water. Stir and taste, adding a little more water or syrup as you like.
Tips
- Do not throw away the cooked cherries. Spoon them over yogurt or ice cream, or keep them in the fridge for a few days to eat with breakfast.
- Sparkling water turns it into a homemade cherry soda.
- Label the bottle with the date you made it, so you know when the month is up.
What the evidence says
This is a treat, not a health drink, and the main fact to know is about sugar. The NHS counts sugars in syrups and fruit juices as free sugars, the kind we should cut down on, and advises adults to have no more than 30 g of free sugars a day. Children aged 4 to 6 should have no more than 19 g, and ages 7 to 10 no more than 24 g. Sugar is also one of the main causes of tooth decay.
The recipe below makes about 600 ml of syrup with 350 g of added sugar, plus the fruit's own sugars. A 20 ml measure, about 4 teaspoons, therefore holds roughly 12 g of sugar from the added sugar alone, so one glass uses over a third of an adult's daily limit. Enjoy it as an occasional summer drink, keep children's glasses weaker, and offer plain water as the everyday choice.
Storing homemade syrup safely
A syrup that has not been processed in a canner should live in the fridge. Penn State Extension advises that opened syrups be kept in the refrigerator and used within one month, and it is sensible to treat an unprocessed homemade bottle the same way. Throw it away if it looks or smells off.
For longer storage, freeze it. Oregon State University Extension notes that syrup can be frozen instead of canned, leaving about 2.5 cm (1 inch) of space at the top of the container for expansion. Small containers or ice cube trays make it easy to thaw a little at a time.
If you want shelf-stable bottles, use a tested recipe and boiling water bath method from a food preservation service, with the right jars and processing times for your altitude. Do not improvise or reduce the sugar in a canning recipe.
Questions people ask
Can I use sweet cherries instead?
Yes, but the drink will be flatter. Use less sugar and add more lemon juice to bring back some tartness.
Can I make it with less sugar?
For a fridge or freezer syrup, yes, but it will be thinner and less sweet. Do not cut the sugar in a recipe meant for canning, as the amount can matter for safety.
How long does homemade sour cherry syrup keep?
Keep it in the fridge and use it within about a month, following Penn State Extension's advice for opened syrups. For longer, freeze it in small containers with a little space at the top.
Sources
- What is Fruit Syrup? — Penn State Extension
- Making berry syrups at home — Oregon State University Extension Service
- How does sugar in our diet affect our health? — NHS
- Let's Preserve: Cherries — Penn State Extension
This article is for general information only and is not medical advice. Herbs can interact with medicines and health conditions. Talk to a doctor or pharmacist before trying a herbal remedy, especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, giving it to a child, or taking any medication.
