Break Out the Cherry Bounce

In Wisconsin's Door County, sour cherries are soaked in booze and stashed away to become a beloved holiday cordial

The tart Montmorency cherries grown in Door County, Wis., have become central to the region's reputation—and myriad sweets and other foodstuffs.(Gedeminas777/Shutterstock)

It’s bounce season in Wisconsin. No, not the jump-around tradition at a Wisconsin Badgers football game. Here, we’re talking about cherry bounce: hard liquor, often brandy, with a load of fresh cherries soaking in it.

Bounce is a strong tradition in parts of Wisconsin, particularly the Door Peninsula, that thumb that juts out into Lake Michigan. It may surprise some that the cheese and beer state produces about 10 percent of the nation’s cherry harvest, but this homemade cordial celebrates it when the end-of-the-year holidays arrive.

This Is Cherry Country

Door County is ideal for such a fruit tree. Lake Michigan provides stability in temperature throughout the year—never too hot, nor too cold—and while the shallow, alkaline soil with broken limestone underneath doesn’t do much for traditional crops, it’s ideal for fruit trees.

In 1851, 19-year-old Swiss immigrant Joseph Zettel came to America, where he met and married a German woman and started a family, which eventually settled in Door County. In 1858 (10 years into Wisconsin’s statehood), he planted the area’s first commercial apple orchard. Its success didn’t go unnoticed. In 1896, a University of Wisconsin professor, Emmett S. Goff, joined orchardist Arthur L. Hatch to plant the first cherry orchard on the peninsula—and so it began.

Soon after the turn of the century, news of Wisconsin’s great cherries had spread nationwide. By the 1940s, more than 700 growers were harvesting millions of pounds of cherries each year, and during World War II, they used German POW labor just to try to keep up. Mechanical tree-shaking technology took care of the labor needs not long after. Today, tourism is thriving, and all things cherry are central to Door County’s reputation and the local culture itself.

The Origins of Bounce

However, bounce didn’t originate on this continent. The earliest textual reference to it is in a 1693 book of common phrases from the UK—meaning that it was already an established term for a mix of brandy and cherries well before that.

The concoction traveled across the pond to the colonies, and while George Washington may not have actually cut down a cherry tree, he did have access. And Martha Washington’s recipe for making bounce has survived the centuries:

“Extract the juice of 20 pounds well ripen’d Morrella cherrys. Add to this 10 quarts of old French brandy and sweeten it with White sugar to your taste. To 5 gallons of this mixture add one ounce of spice such as cinnamon, cloves, nutmegs of each an Equal quantity slightly bruis’d and a pint and half of cherry kirnels that have been gently broken in a mortar. After the liquor has fermented let it stand close-topped for a month or six weeks then bottle it, remembering to put a lump of Loaf Sugar into each bottle.”

But making it isn’t exactly rocket science.

Jon Jarosh is the chief communications officer at Destination Door County, and if you want to know anything about the place, he’s your Huckleberry. He provided the recipe below.

“We do have an official recipe,“ he said. ”Truth be told, I don’t follow it.”

It’s true: The making and consuming of cherry bounce is the tradition; however, the recipe gets personal, and many families have their own road map dating back a couple generations or more.

“We like to make that during the cherry harvest season, so July-ish,” Jarosh said.

As most recipes will point out, much of the “making” of it is leaving it to sit for at least a few weeks. But as this process often starts in July and folks like to wait and crack it open for the holidays, a few months are preferred.

In Door County, Wis., July is the season for making cherry bounce with the seasonal bounty. Pictured, the orchard at Lautenbach's Orchard Country Winery and Market near Fish Creek. (Courtesy of Destination Door County)

The Right Stuff

The tart Montmorency cherries grown here are suited for baking and other cherry products and are ideal for bounce. Clear liquors such as vodka or rum will showcase the cherry colors and flavors a bit more, but those flavors also blend very nicely with bourbon or brandy. Jarosh prefers brandy or whiskey.

Some recipes call to remove the pits from the cherries first, but Jarosh doesn’t roll that way: “I’ve found that leaving the pits in gives the whole thing a hint of almondy flavor, which I happen to like. Plus, it keeps the cherries from falling apart. And the cherries are ohhh so yummy after they’ve been sitting in booze for a few months.”

Waste not, want not: Garnish a cocktail with a couple or eat them as is.

Leave It to the Pros

The seasonality of cherries can leave you empty-bottled late in the year, but if you missed the start date or haven’t got a good source for cherries, Wisconsin’s got you covered: You can buy bounce from some of the regional wineries and distilleries.

Along the shores of Lake Michigan in Algoma, Wisconsin, von Stiehl Winery makes its own take, combining cherry fruit wine with cherry brandy and then aging it in barrels with the solera method. This took Double Gold Best in Class Liqueur in 2021 and 2022 at the Finger Lakes International Wine Competition, as well as Silver in 2020 and 2021 at the USA Wine Ratings. The winery also has a 36-month aged version that it makes in collaboration with Great Lakes Distillery in Milwaukee.

Door County Distillery sells Cherry Moonshine, a jar full of 100-proof neutral grain spirit and local Montmorency cherries left to soak for at least six months. Off the peninsula in Green Bay, Paradise North Distillery bottles Essen House Cherry Bounce, made with macerated cherries and sugar soaked into a neutral spirit and aged in bourbon barrels for several months.

The Old Fashioned, a restaurant in the state capital of Madison, celebrates everything Wisconsin—from fried cheese curds and fish fry to brats and prime rib. Of course, it also gets to work on the bounce in July. The restaurant soaks its cherries in four different ways: in Wisconsin-made J. Henry Bourbon, Korbel Brandy, Smirnoff Vodka, or Four Roses Bourbon. You can order a glass there, but they also sell take-home jars of cherry bounce as the holidays draw near.

Failing this or a tavern with a cherry-filled gallon jug on the back bar, you may need to find a friend in Door County.

Cherry Bounce

• 1 pound tart cherries
• 3 cups sugar
• 4 cups spirit of choice (brandy, bourbon, vodka, rum)
• Cloves, cinnamon, and/or nutmeg (optional)

Start with tart cherries and leave the pits in. Pierce each cherry with a knife in one or two places to allow the booze to soak in.

Combine the sugar and 1 cup of liquor in a resealable, glass, half-gallon jar, then mix or shake to dissolve the sugar. Add the cherries and the remaining liquor and seal it up. Wait a few months before drinking.

To serve, strain out the cherries as you pour. Pour it neat, on the rocks, or mix it into cocktails. Because of the high-proof liquor, the bounce will keep indefinitely. Keep the soaked cherries for garnishes, snacks, or toppings for an adult ice cream sundae.