Cocktail Recipe: Taproot Cider House’s Rare Cherry

by Erin James | Jan 25, 2019

Taproot Cider House in Traverse City, Michigan, goes all apple, all the way. Making ciders in-house as well as using them on the menu, in the kitchen and behind the bar — in addition to apples — Taproot commits to the bittersweet cause. The pub-style food list ranges from pizza and sandwiches to fresh, leafy salads and a gooey fondue with grilled local sausage and organic apples, all focused on non-GMO, organic and local livestock.

Behind the bar, Michigan rules the roost across 17 taps, including the two house-made ciders, one a rotating seasonal and the other the Madagascar Vanilla Bean Bourbon Barrel Aged. That semi-dry cider is aged in bourbon barrels from nearby Grand Traverse Distillery and finishes at a heaping 12 percent ABV, making it the perfect topper on the expansive cocktail menu.

From the whiskey drink selection, the Rare Cherry showcases Michigan delicacy Montmorency tart cherries with bourbon and topped with this vanilla-forward, toasty cider.

“As a Traverse City native, it was easy to feel the connection of being in the cherry capital of the world and crafting a cocktail emphasized on my favorite liquor,” says Jennifer Viren, drink creator and Taproot proprietor. “The name of the cocktail played off the type of bourbon while creating awareness to the rarity of where we are in the world.”

For Viren, topping with this cider balances the rest of the drink while pronouncing and riffing off flavor profiles that already work well together: Cherry is often the lead garnish for bourbon drinks.

And the rest of the bar menu? Viren says she looks inside herself and into the texture cider brings to a cocktail. “When crafting cocktails at Taproot, I turn on my inner flavor bible and the magic begins,” Viren says. “Life’s better when you add bubbles. It makes it easy having 17 hard cider taps that can top off pretty much any cocktail and enhance flavors while keeping it interesting and fun.”

Rare Cherry

Makes 1 cocktail

1½ ounces Eagle Rare 10-year Bourbon
3-4 Montmorency tart cherries
½ ounce simple syrup
½ lemon, juiced
5 drops Woodford Reserve spiced cherry bitters
1-2 ounces Taproot Madagascar Vanilla Bean Bourbon Barrel Aged Cider
Garnish: cherry, lemon peel

Pour all ingredients except the cider into a mixing tin. Add ice, cap, shake and double strain into a coupe. Top, filling the glass, with the cider. Garnish with cherry and lemon peel.

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