Cherry-Infused Vodka

I was in my kitchen, tying up loose cherry ends -- pitting the sour cherries left over from the sour cherry preserves, along with the sweet cherries I had hauled home from the farmers market to snack on. Both were going on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and then into the freezer for an hour. From there, they'd end up in labeled and dated zip-top bags.

But then I stopped halfway through my pitting and reached for two pint jars from the cabinet.
One, I filled with sour cherries. The other I filled with sweet cherries. Both I filled with vodka.

And that's it.

The jars are stashed in the cabinet. In a week or so I'll check on them. If the vodka is tasty, I'll strain out the fruit and put the jars of vodka in the freezer.

Last year, I made four infused vodkas: blueberry, melon, blackberry, and raspberry. Blackberry was the winner, with blueberry a strong second.

The muskmelon vodka was disappointing. It had a striking melon flavor, but the unpleasant muskiness came too quickly forward. I'm not even sure we finished the bottle.

I don't expect that problem with the cherry vodkas.