You’ve seen them sitting atop a mountain of whipped cream or drowning in the bottom of a Shirley Temple. They are impossibly red. They are weirdly firm. They taste like a chemistry lab had a beautiful, sugary accident. But if you’ve ever stopped to wonder what is a maraschino cherry made of, you’re probably expecting a horror story about wax and formaldehyde.
Relax. It’s not that dark.
Most people assume these neon garnishes are just "fake" fruit. In reality, they start as actual cherries—usually Royal Ann, Rainier, or Gold varieties—picked before they are fully ripe. If you ate one straight off the tree at that stage, you’d be disappointed. They are yellow-fleshed and kinda sour. To get from a crunchy, pale fruit to the glowing orb in your cocktail, the cherry goes through a process that is less like cooking and more like pickling in a laboratory.
The Bleaching Phase: Where the Color Goes to Die
The first step in making a maraschino cherry is actually removing everything that makes a cherry a cherry. This is the part that weirds people out. Manufacturers soak the raw fruit in a brine solution. This isn't just salt water; it’s a mixture of calcium chloride and sulfur dioxide.
Why? Because the natural pigment in a cherry is unstable. If you just canned a regular red cherry, it would eventually turn a sad, bruised grey-brown. By soaking them in this brine for four to six weeks, the fruit loses all its color. It turns a ghostly, yellowish-white. It also gets firm—the calcium ions react with the pectin in the fruit to create a "crunchy" texture that can survive months in a jar without turning into mush.
Honestly, at this stage, the cherry is basically a blank slate. It has no flavor, no color, and very little of its original nutritional profile. It’s a structural husk.
The Sweet, Red Resurrection
Once the fruit is bleached and hardened, it gets washed. Thoroughly. You have to get that sulfur dioxide out of there. Then comes the infusion.
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To answer the core question of what is a maraschino cherry made of in its final form, you have to look at the syrup. The bleached cherries are pitted (usually by a machine that pokes the pit out while trying to keep the fruit whole) and then simmered in a vat of sugar syrup. This isn't just a quick dunk. The sugar concentration is increased slowly over several days. If you did it too fast, the cherries would shrivel up like raisins.
Then comes the "magic."
- Dye: Usually Red 40. This is what gives them that radioactive glow. If you see "Natural" maraschino cherries at a fancy grocery store, they probably use beet juice or radish extract, which results in a deeper, more realistic burgundy.
- Flavoring: Most of that "maraschino" taste is actually bitter almond oil or benzaldehyde. It’s a distinct, nutty sweetness that bears zero resemblance to the taste of a fresh Bing cherry.
- Preservatives: Sodium benzoate and citric acid are usually invited to the party to make sure the jar can sit in your fridge until the next decade.
The History: From Croatian Royalty to Prohibition Science
We haven't always used chemicals to make these. The original "Maraschino" wasn't a brand; it was a place and a liqueur. Back in the day, the Marasca cherry grew wild along the Dalmatian coast in what is now Croatia. People would crush them up and preserve them in a liqueur made from the pits and skins of the same fruit.
It was a luxury item. We’re talking 19th-century elite stuff.
When these cherries made it to the United States, they were expensive imports. Naturally, Americans decided to figure out a cheaper way to make them. During Prohibition, the liqueur became a problem (because, well, alcohol), so Oregon State University professor Ernest Wiegand spent years perfecting the non-alcoholic brining method we use today. He’s the reason your sundae garnish stays firm and bright red without the booze.
Wiegand basically saved the cherry industry in the Pacific Northwest by giving farmers a way to sell their "ugly" or underripe fruit to a market that didn't care about natural sweetness.
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Are They Even Healthy?
Let’s be real. No.
You’re basically eating a fruit-shaped gummy bear that used to be a plant. While a fresh cherry is packed with antioxidants and vitamins, the bleaching and brining process strips most of those away. You’re left with the fiber, the sugar, and the dyes.
There has been a lot of talk about Red 40 over the years. Some studies suggest a link between food dyes and hyperactivity in children, though the FDA still considers it safe for general consumption. If you're someone who reacts to sulfites, you should probably be careful—while the washing process removes most of the sulfur dioxide brine, trace amounts can remain.
Modern Variations: Luxardo vs. The Neon Jar
If you go to a high-end cocktail bar, you won't see the bright red stuff. You’ll see a dark, almost black cherry in a thick, viscous syrup. This is the "real" deal—or at least the traditional deal.
Luxardo Maraschino Cherries are the gold standard for bartenders. These are made from Marasca cherries preserved in a syrup made from the fruit’s own juice and sugar. No brine. No Red 40. They taste like deep, dark honey and real fruit.
The difference in what they are made of is massive:
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- Mass-Market: Bleached with sulfur, dyed with Red 40, flavored with almond extract.
- Luxardo/Artisanal: Slow-cooked in Marasca syrup, dark purple naturally, no chemical bleaching.
You pay for the difference. A jar of the bright red stuff at the grocery store might cost three dollars. A jar of Luxardo can easily run you twenty-five. Is it worth it? If you're making a Manhattan, absolutely. If you're putting it on a five-year-old’s ice cream, stick to the neon version.
The Stem Situation
Ever wonder why some have stems and some don't? It’s purely for convenience. Hand-harvesting cherries with the stems intact is more labor-intensive, which is why "stem-on" maraschinos usually cost a bit more. The stem acts as a handle for dipping or garnishing. It doesn't change the flavor, but it does make you feel 10% more sophisticated while you're eating sugar-soaked fruit.
Actionable Tips for the Conscious Consumer
Knowing what is a maraschino cherry made of doesn't mean you have to stop eating them. It just means you can make better choices based on what you actually like.
- Read the Label for "No Sulfites": If you want to avoid the heavy chemical brine, look for brands like Tillen Farms or Woodward Canyon. They often use more traditional preservation methods.
- Look for Natural Colorants: If Red 40 bothers you, check the ingredients for "Beet Powder" or "Anthocyanins." These provide a red color that won't make you feel like you're eating a glow stick.
- DIY Your Own: You can actually make these at home. Buy some fresh Rainier cherries, pit them, and simmer them in a mixture of sugar, water, and a splash of maraschino liqueur (like Luxardo) or even just some almond extract and lemon juice. They will last in the fridge for weeks and taste infinitely better.
- The "Crunch" Test: If a cherry is mushy, it was likely over-processed or sat in the syrup too long without enough calcium. A good maraschino should have a slight "snap" when you bite into it.
If you are watching your sugar intake, these are a "hard pass." A single maraschino cherry can have about 2 grams of sugar, which doesn't sound like much until you realize you're eating five of them in one sitting. Most of that sugar is high fructose corn syrup in the cheaper brands.
At the end of the day, a maraschino cherry is a feat of food engineering. It’s a way to turn a perishable, fragile fruit into a shelf-stable decoration that can survive a nuclear winter. It’s not "fake," but it’s certainly not "raw." Enjoy them for what they are: a nostalgic, sugary pop of color that makes a drink feel like a celebration.