Bourbon Cherry Summer Slush

This is a recipe from the good folks at America's Test Kitchen. With summer sweet cherries still widely available and often at a great price (I paid $1.99 pound), this is a great cocktail during the hot dog days of summer. 

Julian's Bourbon Cherry Summer Slush

It's a slush, so a frozen drink that works as well by the pool as it does as we are today, watching the Chicago Air and Water show. It does take some planning ahead, as you need to pit the cherries and then freeze them to insure you get a good slushy drink. I use a small cherry pitting device that does four at a time. But as these are going to be pureed eventually, you can remove the cherry pits by pushing a drinking straw (metal preferred) through, or simply cutting the cherry in half and pulling out the pit. In any case, do this at least 3 hours ahead of making the drink or even overnight and freeze them. They will hold even longer in an airtight container if you want to keep some on hand for future batches of this popular treat. 

This drink is not highly sweetened and you'll definitely taste the bourbon. So it doesn't feel like a kiddy cocktail in any way, despite being a frozen drink. 

Ingredients (serves 4)
8 ounces bourbon
1/2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
1 teaspoon old-fashioned aromatic bitters
1 pound (4 cups) frozen sweet cherries
20 ounces (5 cups) ice cubes
Garnish: Orange, cherry or mint as you prefer

Instructions
Add bourbon, orange juice concentrate, bitters, cherries, and ice to blender (in that order) and process (puree or frozen drink setting if available) until smooth, about 1 minute, scraping down sides of blender jar if needed. Pour into chilled double old-fashioned (sometimes called rock) glasses, (a wide-rimmed, heavy-bottomed tumbler.) Garnish and serve with a straw for sipping.