In Wisconsin’s Door County, Harvested Cherries Get Bounced Into a Cordial

Between mid-July and mid-August, Wisconsin’s Door County begins its cherry harvesting season. Summer also marks the time when locals prepare their versions of a cordial known as “cherry bounce.”

Within this peninsula between Green Bay and Lake Michigan, residents head to orchards during the summertime to pick and purchase cherries to make this fruity concoction. After being combined with sugar and a spirit of their choosing — common options being brandy, vodka, bourbon, or rum — the mixture is tightly stored in a glass jar to meld until the winter holiday season.

“Cherry bounce is basically fresh cherries soaked in a liquor of your choice,” says Beth Levendusky, marketing director at Door Peninsula Winery and Door County Distillery in the county’s Sturgeon Bay. “It’s almost cultural in Wisconsin, I would say, especially in the Door County area, where we grow many cherries.”...