As a kid, I always remember getting a Shirley Temple when my parents took us to a nice restaurant.

I always loved getting to the Maraschino cherry.

Fast forward to two years ago. I discovered I like having a Diet Coke with 5-7 Maraschino cherries.

Since then, I have been buying the regular, store bought cherries.

visiting the Party Source in Newport, KY while my children were home for Christmas. My children both told me I had to try the Luxardo Maraschino cherries. WTH? I'll give 'em a try.

Certainly different than what I was use to. Not better, not worse, just different and not red.

Anyone else eat the Luxardo Maraschino cherries?

Any other Maraschino cherries you can recommend?

I really enjoy hem in a drink. A little pricey but a nice change.

Haven't had marachino cherries in ages so when we bought some this holiday season it was the old supermarket standby Marios (around $2/jar if memory serves). They were tiny and soft. Memory was of larger firm pieces of fruit. All were very disappointed.

I have the luxardos for my Old Fashioneds. Yum.

Love the Luxardo cherries in my Manhattans at home. BUT, rather pricey. I have tried and also enjoy the Amarena cherries from Trader Joe's. MUCH more economical, and but for the stems they leave on them - for effect I suppose - they are a great substitute.

I’ve been making old fashioned with Luxardo cherries for years. Highly superior to the weird red dyed maraschino cherries.

I have to say, I’ll never go back.

Luxardo and Amarena are great. Have a friend who makes her own. I use them more on ice cream than for cocktails.

We make marascara cherries for our ice cream. Luxardos are good, but not quite right for ice cream

If you like maraschino cherries, you should never know how they're made. I'll save you the gory details. Let's just say the only thing left from the original cherry is the shape.

Try the luxardo over premium vanilla ice cream.

Been using Luxardo cherries for years in my manhattans. Tried the Trader Joe ones, not the same.
Also gotta have Carpano Antica sweet vermouth in my manhattans

Luxardo cherries are usually $20 plus a jar. Amazon has them for 3 for $43 shipped. They are the best cherries.

Makers Mark brand cherries are also out there. Good luck finding them in any less than a well stocked liquor store. Like Liquor City named above.

I’ll eat any cherry if it’s soaked in liquor.

doesn’t matter the brand. We get a jar and dump the syrup and refill with hi proof rum like Bacardi 151 or similar. Makes for a fun treat in a cocktail.

I got talked sternly to more than once by my grandmother for eating all her cherries that were supposed to be for her daily old fashions a kid

I like the bright red USA maraschino cherries. But the Luxardo ones are very good as a change, they're really nice on top of cheesecake and things like that.

I went through a serious Manhattan phase a year or so ago and I tried every kind of maraschino cherry I could find. I liked Amarena Fabri the best. Available on Amazon.

As others have said, in an Old Fashioned or Manhattan I wouldn't have anything else. Flavor is more intense than the candy apple red things they call cherries.

Had a family German Sheppard, great dog and super smart, but would eat anything. My mom had baked a pineapple upside down cake, and in each ring of pineapple she would put a maraschino cherry. So, we all leave the house and the fresh baked cake is cooling on the counter. Come home to find the pan in the middle of the living room, empty, but next to the pan was a small, perfect pile of maraschino cherries. All but one was in the pile.

Always wondered about that, animals are pretty smart, would have loved to seen him spitting each one out. I stayed away from maraschino cherries after that.