My deep and abiding love for cherries is well-documented on this blog, and as I (im)patiently await sweet cherry season this year, I grabbed something on a whim that I’m now completely obsessed with. That “something” is Luxardo’s Sangue Morlacco liqueur, and it is the secret to this delicious hard cherry lemonade.
I found this grown-up take on a cherry lemonade in Food + Wine, and loved that it used the Sangue Morlacco. It’s super simple, using the cherry liqueur and some fresh lemon juice, and then I obvs substituted gin for the vodka it called for…
One of my mantras in life is “why have vodka when you can have gin???”
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Now, you may be wondering what Sangue Morlacco is…I’d never heard of it til I saw it on the shelf next to the Luxardo Maraschino liqueur that I’d been looking for. After reading the bottle I was like UM YES PLEASE.
It’s a liqueur made by fermenting the juice of marasca cherries, and the resulting liqueur is truly like the most intense cherry punch in the mouth you can imagine. You can learn more at their website, the history and process is really interesting.
Making it only takes a minute, just add plenty of ice to a cocktail shaker and add the gin, cherry liqueur, fresh lemon juice, and simple syrup. I like just a touch of simple syrup because when everything gets shaken together, I find the texture just a bit smoother (emulsification-wise).
Shake for 10-15 seconds, until well-chilled. Then strain into a small coupe or Nick & Nora glass. You can garnish with a lemon peel if ya feelin’ fancy. I’m working on how to make easy but cool-looking garnishes and I think this one turned out pretty good!
I’m also obsessed with my new Nick & Nora glasses…they’re so cute! Now I need to make me a couple of these cocktails and throw my “The Thin Man” DVD into the player…
I love this as a vibrant fancy sipping cocktail, but I also sometimes make this as a more chill “on the rocks” drink as well. It’s easy, just double the amounts and instead of the couple glass you’ll strain it into a rocks glass with ice.
I know it’s annoying to buy a special liqueur that you think you’ll never use…but I promise you will! I’m already playing around with other cocktails using the Sangue Morlacco (which I will, of course, share), but it’s great over ice cream, sipped with dark chocolate, tossed with fresh berries for dessert, and so much more!
Other fruit-forward cocktails you’ll love:
- Related: Cherry Limeade for Grown-Ups
- Berry-Basil Smash (A Refreshing Gin Cocktail)
- “Preservation Punch” Whiskey Cocktail
- Bohemian Cocktail (Gin, Elderflower, & Grapefruit)
- Blood Orange Elderflower Gin Cocktail
“Cherry Lemonade for Grown-Ups”
These proportions are for a small fancy sipping drink like the pics in this post
- 1 ounce of gin
- 1/2 ounce of Sangue Morlacco cherry liqueur
- 1/2 ounce of fresh lemon juice
- Optional: 1/4 ounce of simple syrup
- In a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice, add the gin, cherry liqueur, fresh lemon juice, simple syrup.
- Shake for 10-15 seconds, until well-chilled.
- Strain into a small coupe or Nick & Nora glass. Garnish with lemon peel if desired.
I’ve also made it as more of a long “on the rocks” drink, the proportions for that are double.
- 2 ounces of gin
- 1 ounce of Sangue Morlacco cherry liqueur
- 1 ounce of fresh lemon juice
- Optional: 1/2 ounce of simple syrup
- In a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice, add the gin, cherry liqueur, fresh lemon juice, simple syrup.
- Shake for 10-15 seconds, until well-chilled.
- Strain into a pretty rocks glass filled halfway with ice. Garnish with lemon peel or a maraschino cherry if desired.
Adapted from Food + Wine
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Cherry & Lemon Gin Cocktail...Cherry Lemonade for Grown-Ups
This cherry lemon gin cocktail is a perfect take on hard cherry lemonade, a sweet & tart balance made with intense, delicious Sangue Morlacco cherry liqueur.
Ingredients
- 1 ounce of gin
- 1/2 ounce of Sangue Morlacco cherry liqueur
- 1/2 ounce of fresh lemon juice
- Optional: 1/4 ounce of simple syrup
Instructions
- In a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice, add the gin, cherry liqueur, fresh lemon juice, simple syrup.
- Shake for 10-15 seconds, until well-chilled.
- Strain into a small coupe or Nick & Nora glass. Garnish with lemon peel if desired.
Notes
- I often make this as a sipping "on the rocks" kind of drink too, and basically double the amounts and strain into a rocks glass with ice (crushed or cubes).
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