Black cherry is a robust-flavored stone fruit indigenous to North America that is used to make jam, pie, liqueur, soda, ice cream and more, including sauces for savory meat dishes. But its growth on menus in recent years is mostly due to its presence in alcoholic drinks ranging from hard seltzer to cocktails

The extra sweetness that is natural to the black cherry, backed by robust acidity, provides balance to mixed drinks and gives an extra flavor boost to sodas and seltzers. Its comparatively earthy flavor also offers added complexity and possibly a perception of being more distinctive or authentic.  

Market research firm Datassential reports that black cherry is now found on 10% of menus, up by 34% over the past four years.

Click through the gallery and watch this video to learn more about this week’s Flavor of the Week and see how one restaurant is using black cherry on its menu.