Red Heering

I took my recent interest in Cherry Heering and wrote a small item for Time Out New York about it. The research gave me a good excuse to go around town and try some of the new libations folks are making with the stuff.

Red Heering
By Robert Simonson

The cocktail revolution—with its backward-looking sensibility and obsession with arcane ingredients—has helped to blow the dust off various old booze brands that for decades had marked time on the back shelves of liquor stores. One such revitalized product is Cherry Heering, the brandy-based cherry liqueur that was invented by Dane Peter F. Heering, and is one of Denmark’s biggest contributions to the bar. Today’s barkeeps are exhuming classic Heering drinks, such as the 1920s-era Blood and Sand (Scotch, Heering, sweet vermouth and orange juice), while also creating fresh concoctions. “Heering is hot,” says Jonathan Pagosh, who uses the liqueur in his fruity Johnny Appleseed (cognac, Heering, muddled Fuji apple and lemon juice), $13.50 at Bookmarks Lounge at the Library Hotel (299 Madison Ave at 41st St, 14th floor; 212-204-5498). Phil Ward of Death & Company (433 E 6th St between First Ave and Ave A, 212-388-0882) pairs Heering with rum, cream, egg yolk and bitters in his Le Gigot Flip, an adult cherry-vanilla shake ($13). But Heering central may be Clover Club (210 Smith St between Baltic and Butler Sts, Cobble Hill, Brooklyn; 718-855-7939), which boasts not only the Curtain Call punch (Heering, applejack, Grand Marnier, red wine, lemon and orange juices, and figs; $45 serves 4–6), but also the timeless Singapore sling and Remember the Maine (both $11). While the sling is Heering’s greatest claim to fame, a case can be made that the more obscure Maine is the best use Heering has ever been put to. A cross between a manhattan and a Sazerec, the mix of rye, Punt y Mes vermouth, Heering and absinthe is a sipping drink of remarkable depth and texture.