Kirschwasser (, ; , German for "cherry water") or kirsch is a clear, colorless brandy traditionally made from double distillation of morello cherries, a dark-colored

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

of the

sour cherry ''Prunus cerasus'' (sour cherry, tart cherry, or dwarf cherry) is a species of ''Prunus'' in the subgenus '' Cerasus'' ( cherries), native to much of Europe and southwest Asia. It is closely related to the sweet cherry (''Prunus avium''), but ...

. It is now also made from other kinds of cherries. The cherries are fermented completely, including their stones.Lichine, Alexis. ''Alexis Lichine's New Encyclopedia of Wines & Spirits'' (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1987), p. 292. Unlike cherry liqueurs and cherry brandies, kirschwasser is not sweet. It is sometimes distilled from fermented

cherry juice Cherry juice is a fruit juice consisting of the juice of cherries. It is consumed as a beverage and used as an ingredient in various foods, processed foods and beverages. It is also marketed as a health supplement. It is produced by hot- or co ...

Serving

Kirschwasser is usually imbibed

neat Neat may refer to: * Neat (bartending), a single, unmixed liquor served in a rocks glass * Neat, an old term for horned oxen * Neat Records, a British record label * Neuroevolution of augmenting topologies (NEAT), a genetic algorithm (GA) for t ...

. It is traditionally served cold in a very small glass and is taken as an apéritif. It is an important ingredient in

fondue Fondue (, , ) is a Swiss melted cheese dish served in a communal pot ( ''caquelon'' or fondue pot) over a portable stove () heated with a candle or spirit lamp, and eaten by dipping bread into the cheese using long-stemmed forks. It was promoted ...

. People in the German-speaking region where it originated usually serve it after dinner, as a digestif. Kirschwasser is used in some cocktails, such as the Ladyfinger, the

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, and the

Rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

. High-quality kirschwasser should be served around , warmed by the hands as with brandy.

Origin and production

Because morellos were originally grown in the

Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...

regions of Germany, kirschwasser is believed to have originated there. Kirschwasser is colourless because it is either not aged in wood or is aged in barrels made of ash. It may have been aged in paraffin-lined wood barrels or in earthenware vessels.' Rivals in producing high quality "Kirsch" are Switzerland and Elsass (Alsace), the latter even has
kirschwasser route
("Route-du-pays-du-kirsch"), and other quality cherry production german speaking areas like South Tyrolia. In France and in English-speaking countries, clear

fruit brandies In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particula ...

are known as ''

eaux de vie An ''eau de vie'' ( French for spirit, §16, §17 literally " water of life") is a clear, colourless fruit brandy that is produced by means of fermentation and double distillation. The fruit flavor is typically very light. In English-speakin ...

''. The

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

sets a minimum of 37.5%

ABV Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...

(75 proof) for products of this kind; kirschwasser typically has an alcohol content of 40%–50%

(80–100 proof). About 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of cherries go into the making of a 750 ml bottle of kirschwasser.

Chemical composition

Compared with brandy or whisky the characteristic features of kirsch are (''a'') that it contains relatively large quantities of higher alcohols and compound ethers, and (''b'') the presence in this spirit of small quantities of Hydrogen cyanide, partly as such and partly in combination as benzaldehyde-cyanhydrin, to which the distinctive flavour of kirsch is largely due.

Food

Kirsch is sometimes used in Swiss

and in some cakes,Use of kirsch in a traditional Swiss cake
/ref> such as the . It is also commonly used in the dessert cherries jubilee. It is used in traditional German ( Black Forest gateau) and in other cakes—for example in cake. Kirsch can also be used in the filling of

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

s. A typical kirsch chocolate consists of no more than one

milliliter The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3). ...

of kirsch, surrounded by milk or (more usually) dark chocolate with a film of hard sugar between the two parts. The hard sugar acts as an impermeable casing for the liquid content and also compensates for the lack of sweetness that is typical of kirsch. Swiss chocolatiers

Lindt & Sprüngli Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG, doing business as Lindt, is a Swiss chocolatier and confectionery company founded in 1845 and known for its chocolate truffles and chocolate bars, among other sweets. It is based in Kilchberg, where its ...

and Camille Bloch, among others, manufacture these kirsch chocolates.

References

External links