Tart cherry sparkling water, three ways
The unsweetened infusion, the syrup, and the ratio that makes the finished drink.
In season: Dried, year round. Fresh Montmorency is a three week window in July and barely reaches most stores.
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Infused, unsweetened
Use
1/2 cup dried tart cherries per 1 litre
Method
Snip each cherry in half with scissors so a cut surface is exposed, cover with cold still water, refrigerate, strain. Check the bag before you start: if the cherries are sweetened, your unsweetened infusion is not unsweetened.
Time
8 hours for colour and a light almond note, 12 for the full flavour.
Sparkling
Still water. Top after straining.
Keeps
3 days refrigerated with the fruit pulled at 12 hours.
The syrup
Ratio
1 cup dried tart cherries : 1 cup sugar : 2 cups water
Method
Simmer 15 minutes, steep off the heat 30 minutes, strain without pressing. If your cherries are the sweetened kind, drop the sugar to 3/4 cup.
Keeps
3 weeks refrigerated, 6 months frozen
Note
Two drops of almond extract stirred in at the end is not cheating. The almond note is genuinely in tart cherry and the simmer dulls it. Two drops per cup of syrup and no more; a teaspoon makes marzipan.
The finished soda
1 part syrup to 4 parts sparkling water, over ice
Tart cherry brings its own acid so skip the lemon. If the syrup reads too sweet, top the glass with a splash of the unsweetened infusion.
The shrub version
1 cup dried tart cherries mashed with 1 cup sugar and left 2 days in the fridge, then 1 cup cider vinegar stirred in and left 3 days more. Strain. Keeps 3 months.
What doesn't work: Buying a bag labelled dried cherries without turning it over. Most are sweetened with sugar or apple juice concentrate, which gives an infusion that is sweet when you wanted it plain and then a syrup that comes out sickly once you add the full cup of sugar on top. Look for unsweetened Montmorency, or cut the syrup sugar to three quarters.
Goes with: HibiscusFig