Aaron von Frank

Yes, that will work fine too.

Aaron von Frank

Awesome! Glad you’re enjoying your fermented wild black cherry cordial, Kimberly. 🙂

Aaron von Frank

Those are most likely fruit fly larvae, which people unknowingly eat all the time in fresh fruit from the grocery store (especially in cane berry fruit like blackberries). If you’re doing a pre-soak of your wild black cherries for cleaning and the fruit fly larvae are coming out, just dump the water/larvae prior to starting the recipe. However, you could still make the recipe with or without fruit fly larvae. One of the nice things about the fermentation process is that all the beneficial microbes outcompete pathogenic ones, so your end product is contaminant-free. In this recipe, you’ll also strain out all your solids at the end.

Aaron von Frank

Hi Mark! Yes, stone fruit pits (almonds, cherries, peaches, etc) contain varying levels of cyanide in their pits. We typically smash our wild cherries by hand so haven’t had the characteristic marzipan flavor show up in our ferments. Unfortunately, there’s no way to remove pits from small wild black cherries, but you could do so if making this recipe with larger bred/domesticated cherries.

As for your safety concerns re cyanide:

1. Numerous studies have shown that microbes present during the fermentation process vastly reduce cyanide levels via biotransformation into benign compounds. Stone fruit pits contain amygdalin, which is a type of cyanogenic glucoside. During fermentation, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) can reduce amygdalin levels by up to 85% (source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1359511323002520#). However, without having a team of scientists to measure the amygdalin levels in your specific ferment over time, it’s impossible to say what % reduction you’ll achieve from start to finish.

2. Another important consideration is dosage. At low levels, amygdalin is arguably “medicinal” in that it has shown anti-cancer potential. Obviously, high doses are not safe and can be deadly. In your case, there’s likely only trace amounts of amygdalin going into a large water-diluted fermentation. And that amygdalin is likely to be severely degraded by microbes during the fermentation process. Then, once it’s actually time to drink your cherry cordial, you won’t be drinking a gallon of it at a sitting. If you’re like us, you might sip a small shot glass as a digestif or aperitif. Or maybe add a bit as a flavoring to a larger drink. So you’d only be consuming trace amounts of amygdalin, not an amount that would present health concerns.

3. Suggestion: If it was us, we wouldn’t toss the ferment. We’d let it finish out and continue to taste a small amount daily to see how it develops. However, if you have any safety concerns at the end, compost the batch and consider it a learning experience. Next time, hand-crush the fruit (if using wild black cherries) or remove pits first (if using domestic cherries).

Hope this helps and good luck!

Aaron von Frank

Glad your wild cherry ferment is coming along well! Mulberries sound like a great addition. A carboy would work fine too, but… The challenge is going to be twofold:
1) you have to vigorously stir this ferment at least twice a day – hard to do with the small opening;
2) you’ll have to strain out the pulp, seeds, etc when the ferment is done, and it’s going to be a pain getting that material out through the small opening on the carboy.

However, if you’re doing giant batches or you don’t have any other large glass container, a carboy may be your only option though. Best of luck!

Aaron von Frank

Fermented wild black cherry cordial is a much more active ferment than kombucha. You *could* bottle it at day 5-6 but you’ll want to refrigerate it if you do in order to slow microbial activity and offgassing. If you left the bottles at room temperature, that would create bottle bombs in short order.

Aaron von Frank

You could probably make a really good cherry cider using wild black cherries, but the process would be different. Cider making also involves fermentation, although ciders are typically made using specific strains of commercial yeasts. We’ve never made a cherry cider, but you might search for a recipe, then substitute wild black cherries for standard commercial/store bought cherries. Or modify a peach cider recipe.

Aaron von Frank

Thanks, Anne! How did you all like your wild cherry-infused kombucha?

Aaron von Frank

The acidity by itself is not adequate to prohibit the proliferation of pathogenic microbes, but it’s helpful. Bumping up the initial acidity helps to create an ideal environment for beneficial microbes, namely various species of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and native yeasts on the cherries/fruit. (You eat both of these organisms any time you eat a raw fruit or veggie.) Those microbes also benefit from a bit of oxygen which is why: 1) twice per day stirrings of your fermented cordial are important to keep them happy, and 2) you don’t want to use an air tight lid which prevents off-gassing or inhibits oxygen exchange.

As the “good” microbes proliferate, they also raise the overall acidity levels of the beverage, e.g. lower the pH. Pathogenic microbes can’t survive in a high acid environment – especially one that’s already chock full of these good microbes. The proverbial “hotel” has no vacancies and is not hospitable to strangers.

This fermented black cherry cordial recipe is a relatively short fermentation but is similar to methods used in other fermentations – wine, beer, kombucha, sauerkraut, etc. We have plenty of experience making all those other types of ferments as well as simple sparkling fruit cordials. In the decade+ that we’ve been making fermentations, we’ve never gotten sick and don’t intend to. If you understand the processes involved and follow the rules, you’ll never get sick from making fermentations either. Quite the opposite – the probiotics (beneficial microbes) + enhanced nutrition that results from fermentation should be beneficial to your health.

Hope this answers your question and alleviates any concerns. Happy fermenting to you!

Aaron von Frank

Hi Lydia! Glad you liked this recipe and recipe slider. 🙂

Yes, you can use this same basic recipe with other types of fruit and even edible flowers. The best fruits to use are strong-flavored (or mixes of fruits) – things like blackberries, raspberries, and other cane berries are wonderful. Dial back the sugar for commercial cherries or other sweet fruit which has a way higher sugar content than wild black cherries. You can also substitute honey instead of sugar for more nuanced, richer flavors. We also use this same basic recipe to make fermented/sparkling flower cordials with redbud, wisteria, mimosa, elderflower, and other edible flowers as detailed here: https://www.tyrantfarms.com/incredible-edible-wild-flowers/. Quite versatile – enjoy!

Aaron von Frank

Hi Lynne! Nope, don’t remove the wild cherry pits. There’s no risk of cyanide poisoning unless you smash the pits open, which would be pretty hard to do. Easiest thing to do (and what we do) is just to smush the fruit by hand and leave all of it (including the pits) in the drink as it ferments. Strain and remove pits, skin, and pulp at the end when it’s ready.