Cherry Vodka Sour

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Real ingredients make for a better cocktail: I’ve seen a lot of cherry vodka sour recipes use grenadine and sour mix, but that’s not how we roll here. We use real cherries and fresh-squeezed lemon juice for a premium craft cocktail.

Made for cherry lovers: By muddling the fresh cherries, we infuse this drink with so much fruity flavor. I actually tried this drink side by side with a version that used a homemade cherry simple syrup, which was still tasty, but the muddled cherries added way more bright flavor. Of course, you can also use that cherry syrup for an extra fruity touch, but don't skip the muddling.

That perfect sweet and sour balance: I crafted this cherry vodka sour cocktail to perfectly show off both flavor notes, which results in an ultra refreshing, crisp drink that’s perfect for those hot summer nights.

Makes for an impressive presentation: How pretty is this drink with that lovely red hue and creamy, frothy topping? Gorgeous! As soon as you set down this drink, your guests will swoon.

Bonus recipes: Love a cherry cocktail? Make sure you also try my cherry margarita, cherry bourbon smash and cherry-orange Kentucky mule.

Ingredients

Now let’s chat about the ingredients we need for this cherry vodka sour recipe.

Fresh cherries: While I definitely recommend going fresh in the summer, cherries are typically only available from May to August or September. If you’d like to make this drink throughout the year, you can use frozen cherries. Just make sure you thaw them first. I prefer to use sweet cherries rather than sour cherries.

Vodka: For the smoothest drinking experience, I recommend storing your vodka in the freezer and using the best quality within your budget. Grey Goose and Belvedere are great for more of a top-shelf cocktail, but Tito’s and Absolut are tasty mid-range options. Ultra cheap vodka is too harsh.

Lemon juice: Always use fresh lemon juice, not bottled juice. Bottled juice is not as flavorful, bright or crisp. Trust me — I’ve tried side-by-side tastings, and it makes a world of difference.

Simple syrup: You can buy simple syrup, but I prefer to make my own. That way, we just get pure syrup, and it truly is as easy as can be. We simply add 1 cup water and 1 cup white sugar to a small saucepan, bring to a boil and stir to dissolve the sugar. As long as you store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator, it should last for about a month.

Egg white: Sounds weird? I promise it’s not. In fact, egg white is actually a common cocktail ingredient. This is what gives us that frothy topping. It’s pretty much flavorless but adds such a wonderfully smooth texture.

Bitters: I used classic angostura bitters, but feel free to use another variety. Orange bitters, for instance, would also work nicely.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: We start by adding the fresh cherries and simple syrup to a cocktail shaker and then muddling them until the cherries break down like so (photo 1).

Step 2: Now we add the vodka, lemon juice, egg white and bitters to the cocktail shaker (photo 2) and give it a shake for 30 seconds without ice. This is called the dry shake (photo 3).

Step 3: We remove the cocktail shaker top, add ice cubes (photo 4) and shake again for at least a minute. This is called the wet shake.

Step 4: For our final step, we strain the drink into a chilled cocktail glass (photo 5).

If you’re feeling extra fancy, I love garnishing with a lemon twist. You could even add a Luxardo or maraschino cherry. Now relax and enjoy every sip of this delicious cherry vodka sour.

Tip: If you love this sour cocktail, I have more options for you. Try my aperol sour, tequila sour, rum sour and spiced cranberry bourbon sour.

Recipe FAQs

Variations

While this is a cherry drink, you can easily substitute other fruit and use the same proportions. Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and peaches all work well, just to name a few. 

Use other types of liquor. Bourbon and cherries are wonderful together, especially if you opt for my cherry-infused bourbon. Gin adds a lovely floral, citrusy quality, and a white or dark rum gives it a tropical twist.

Add extra flavor with an infused simple syrup. For instance, my fresh ginger simple syrup would give it a delicious spice kick.

Swap lemon juice for lime juice. Cherries work well with both. You could also use some freshly squeezed orange juice.

Expert Tips

Use a fresh or pasteurized egg white: While the risk using the egg white is minimal, we still want to be safe and use a fresh egg white that’s been inspected and keep the eggs in the coldest part of the refrigerator. A pasteurized egg white is also a safe option.

Get the most from your lemon: Before juicing, firmly roll the lemon on the countertop under the palm of your hand. This gets the juice flowing.

Before careful when handling the cherries: Cherry juice stains easily, so clean up any remnants that might get on your countertop or wooden cutting board immediately.

Shake in a mason jar: If you have a stainless steel cocktail shaker, the dry shake can get a little messy because it doesn’t have the ice to create a seal. In that case, I find a mason jar with a solid lid is best for the dry shake. However, if you have a cocktail shaker with a rubber lining on the top, those tend to seal well enough for the dry shake.

Perfect Pairing

Let’s take advantage of cherry season and enjoy this drink with a big slice of my chocolate-covered cherry cheesecake. Besides the obvious cherry flavor match, the bright lemon is perfect with that tangy cream cheese filling.

For the perfect fruity summer drink, I hope you try this fresh cherry vodka sour. Every sip is like summer in a glass.

Cheers!

More Summer Cocktails

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