Dating to the late seventeenth century in England, Cherry Bounce is a homemade liqueur made with tart cherries, sugar, spices, and spirit. I make two different versions: rye with vanilla bean and brandy with warming spices. Both are positively ambrosial and a beautiful taste of summer on a cold winter’s night.

I knew I really wanted to have a gin drink in the mix for our Parisian Cocktails Royale theme, and I found this one in a lesser known book called Recette des Cocktails pour 1929 by E. Milhorat and J. Alimbau. Its combination of London dry gin and cherry liqueur, plus Angostura bitters, makes for a spiced fruit-and-pine base upon which to layer dry, bubbly wine. It’s my favorite this month!