Luxardo cherries are the grandfather of maraschino cherries, but aren’t nearly as recognizable. Here’s why you should give them a try.
First, let me say that I am fond of maraschino cherries. But, despite their similarities, they are quite literally the child’s play version of Luxardo cherries.
Maybe like many of you, I first encountered a maraschino cherry in my Shirley Temple as a kid. It was the ’90s, and my family sat at our favorite Chinese restaurant off Route 9 in the Boston suburbs. My eyes grew large seeing the color of the grenadine dancing slowly in the ginger ale — it felt like my first sophisticated drink, something far more interesting than a regular soda or cup of apple juice.
But it was the maraschino cherry that really locked in the superiority of this mocktail.
From then on, I wanted one anytime we went somewhere that offered a Shirley (which was rare). I lost count of how many times the drink arrived with a florescent red orb impaled on a similarly vibrant, devil-red plastic spear. The cloying cherry became my own little digestif, as I’d let it sink to the bottom of my cup (if it wasn’t already there lurking below the ice chips) to enjoy at the end of the meal.
At 37, I freely admit to having a small jar of them here in my adult home. Why not? They have their place, just like the taste for Chewy chocolate chip granola bars I’ve retained since adolescence.
But I also now know that those maraschinos are a poor facsimile of the original. And if I had to choose, I’d drop my sentimentality in an instant for the luxuriousness of Luxardo cherries.
I didn’t know until I looked it up, but those uber-sweet maraschino cherries you find in a Shirley Temple or on an ice cream sundae are actually a cheap knockoff of the original, created in a lab thanks to Prohibition.
Luxardo is a brand that derives its name from the family behind it. These cherries are actually maraschinos, too — which makes sense given the origin story. But they’re a much deeper, almost black-red hue, pitted and packaged with marasca cherry syrup (which is cherry juice and sugar). Unlike my childhood favorite, these are not nearly as sweet and are preferred by bartenders, in particular to add to cocktails like a Manhattan (below).
You can also find these cherries in Cameron Diaz’s Lambrusco Spritz and often served with an Old Fashioned or other classic cocktails.
Despite coming from a liqueur brand, Luxardo cherries are non-alcoholic. They are also gluten-free, kosher-certified, and have no added preservatives — though there’s also citric acid and natural color on the ingredient list for this Italian product. And Luxardo cherries have been around since 1905!
The downside, of course, is that they’re much more expensive, selling for about $22/jar (which is about 14 oz). A similar-sized glass jar of ruby red maraschinos sells for under $3. Still, it comes complete with high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors, corn syrup, Red #40, multiple preservatives, and honestly, who knows what else.
Again, I have some in my fridge as I type this. But in reality, we should think of them as an entirely different genre of cherry — barely a distant cousin of the Luxardo and serving a different purpose entirely.
You can easily find these decadent-yet-refined cherries on Amazon, at Walmart, or buy them directly from the company (among other retailers).
Or, if you’re really ambitious, you can make your own cocktail cherries.
This “Obsessed” column is based only on our editor’s personal favorites. It is not sponsored content and contains no affiliate links — we just want to share good things with you. And in this case, we also want to make our boss and fellow Luxardo-enthusiast Tammy proud.