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.