My First Attempt at Cocktail Cherries

I finally got around to cracking open one of those jars of my homemade cocktail cherries, and I'm pretty proud of how they turned out, especially for the first try.  No more of those bright red maraschino cherries with all the deadly chemicals. 

I made the recipe up after doing a lot of looking at different versions I found on the internet.  The only requirement I had in advance was that I wanted to use Luxardo maraschino liqueur, made from Marasca cherries the basis of the original maraschino cherries made before the current dayglo commercial version was developed.

I am sure I will be experimenting with the recipe over time.  I especially want to try using sour cherries instead of the sweet ones I used this time. 

These will be a great addition to those Manhattans and Old Fashioneds, but they may also show up in some unusual places for a cocktail cherry to be -- like this mojito (this weekend's cocktail of the week).  Isn't it pretty?  And no dye or chemicals added.