The best way to celebrate cherry season is in your coffee

I adore cherries.

This love began when I was young, when I would watch my aunt eat endless amounts of cherry pie and cherry vanilla ice cream. Of course, I'll never turn down a maraschino cherry, with its waxy, artificial essence, a bright spot on top of any milkshake or sundae. They're unmissable.

I have been obsessed with black cherries since working at Coldstone Creamery in my teen years (yes, I did indeed sing the tip songs with verve and gusto). My black cherry love came full circle a few weeks ago when I had the most superb Amarena cherries alongside a chicken liver mousse.

Cherries also have a place in fine dining. One of my all-time favorite "Top Chef" dishes was Chef Nina Compton's ajo blanco with cherries, crab and almonds in the New Orleans season. Here, Compton utilized the inherent sweet-tart nature of cherries to elevate her chilled, velvety soup.

Also — I'll admit it, I have a case of Dr. Pepper cherry in my garage as we speak.

So when it comes to cherry syrups, harnessing the very essence of cherry, distilled into a sweet, dense nectar? I'm so very in.

Cherry-flavored coffees, teas and matchas are all the rage at some of the local coffee shops in my neck of the woods, which I've been a big proponent of this spring. Cherry syrups are also mighty welcome in any cocktail or mocktail. Cherry is also excellent in savory contexts; I love it in rich gastriques and syrupy reductions, too, balanced with some stock or butter to help it decisively cross the line into savory. Dried cherries are always welcome in punchy, acidic salads and also make for an excellent addition to any cookie or baked good.

Clearly, I'm a cherry fanatic no matter how it's used. Within the past few summers, I've also gotten into the habit of making syrups and sauces for my coffees, iced teas, lemonades and the like — and I almost always prioritize cherries amongst all of the other fruits (though I do also opt for rhubarb or blackberry sometimes, too). 

Looking to try out your own homemade cherry syrup? Or a syrup made of a reduction of another favorite fruit? You've come to the right place. 

Deciding on the type of syrup you're looking for 

For the simplest approach, go for a bag of frozen, pitted cherries. Toss them into a saucepan with a touch of sugar, a sprinkle of salt and a bit of water. Cook over low heat under sludgy and thick; the cherries will have given up their juices. Strain through a fine mesh sieve, let cool and use the syrup however you see fit. 

Another option would be trying maple syrup, honey or agave in place of the sugar, which would round out the flavor a bit more. Conversely, you can also ignore the sugar aspect and cook down the cherries simply with just water — or, use a sugar-free substitute so there's still a touch of sweetness, but nothing too cloying.

Another choice is to reduce cherry juice or a mixture of cherry juice and cherry jam, jelly, marmalade or preserves. This will add a more textured aspect to your syrup, too, and would probably be the most immediately cherry-forward of the options. 

Note: if you're using fresh cherries, be sure to strain afterwards, regardless of your texture preference. Here and there, a cherry seed can slip through, and that is most certainly not something you want to accidentally crunch on when sipping a delicious drink.

How to flavor or season your syrups 

Cherries and almonds are obviously a wonderful pair, so a touch of almond extract stirred in at the end of the reducing process would be delicious. I also like a hit of warmth, like a sprinkle of nutmeg or cardamom, to bring out the cherry's more latent flavors.

And of course, another favorite pairing would be fresh herbs: imagine a cherry lemonade or iced green tea with lots and lots of fresh mint? There may be nothing more refreshing on a sweltering summer day. 

Uses for your syrup

As mentioned, my go to is stirring into coffees, iced teas and lemonades, but this syrup is super versatile. You can drizzle over cakes or ice creams, whip into a buttercream base to create a ruby-toned frosting for cupcakes, use as a base in a rich pan sauce for roasted chicken, enjoy in an upside-down cake, whisk into a tart, pungent salad dressing — the list goes on and on. 

No matter how you end up using your syrup — even if it's just in a bowl paired with some fresh cherries — I'm sure you'll find yourself returning to this method repeatedly.