🍒 Jam Session Black Cherry Cider Barbecue Sauce

Every unforgettable recipe has a story, and this one began beneath the towering California redwoods after a summer jam session with friends, incredible homebrew, and baskets overflowing with fresh black cherries. This rich Black Cherry Cider Barbecue Sauce combines sweet ripe cherries, hard cherry cider, a splash of bourbon, balsamic vinegar, and warm spices into a deeply flavorful sauce that's smoky, tangy, and beautifully balanced.

Perfect brushed over smoked chicken, pork tenderloin, ribs, brisket, burgers, venison, or served as a dipping sauce, it's a handcrafted barbecue recipe that celebrates good food, great music, and the magic that happens when creativity takes over in the kitchen. Once you taste it, you'll find yourself making a fresh batch every cherry season. tretaylor.com

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Some recipes are carefully planned.

Others simply happen.

This one was born after a long summer weekend tucked beneath the towering redwoods of Boulder Creek, California. Friends had gathered for one of those magical music weekends where someone always has an instrument nearby, someone else is tending the grill, and laughter drifts through the trees long after sunset.

One of the great inspirations behind this recipe is my dear friend, Kevin Johnson—a remarkable jazz pianist and one of California's legendary homebrewers. Kevin has earned countless blue ribbons for his handcrafted beers, ciders, and meads, and if you've ever tasted something made with years of patience, careful fermentation, and a little bit of alchemy, you understand why.

That weekend I had brought along a batch of my homemade Velvet Note Estate Black Cherry Cuvée, fermented with champagne yeast until it was dry, bright, and wonderfully tart.

The next morning, after the barbecue was over, we found ourselves staring at bowls of perfectly ripe black cherries, leftover cider, a few mystery bottles from Kevin's legendary homebrew cellar, and the remains of a homemade barbecue sauce I'd been experimenting with.

Instead of letting any of it go to waste...

...we threw everything into one pot.

The cherries slowly melted into the sauce.

The cider added brightness.

A splash of bourbon deepened the flavor.

The balsamic rounded everything out.

By the time it finished simmering, we'd accidentally created one of the most unforgettable barbecue sauces I'd ever tasted.

It was smoky.

Sweet.

Tangy.

Rich.

With just enough heat to keep you coming back for another bite.

We filled mason jars, shared them with friends, and somehow the sauce followed us all the way to Burning Man, where it disappeared almost as quickly as we could serve it.

I've tweaked the recipe over the years, but the spirit has never changed.

It's still a celebration of friendship, improvisation, good music, and never letting beautiful ingredients go to waste.

I hope it becomes part of your own summer traditions.

Jam Session Black Cherry Cider Barbecue Sauce

Ingredients

• 3 cups ripe fresh black cherries, pitted and halved

• 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste

• 2 cups black cherry hard cider

• ½ cup good bourbon (optional, but highly recommended)

• ½ to 1 cup packed brown sugar, to taste

• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

• 2 teaspoons minced garlic

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

• ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

• 2 tablespoons cold cider or water (to dissolve the cornstarch)

Instructions

1. Place the cherries, tomato paste, cider, bourbon (if using), brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, garlic, salt, cayenne, and pepper flakes into a heavy saucepan.

2. Bring everything to a gentle boil.

3. Reduce the heat to very low, cover, and simmer for 45–60 minutes, stirring occasionally as the cherries soften and begin melting into the sauce.

4. Mix the cornstarch with the cold cider until smooth.

5. Stir the slurry into the simmering sauce and continue cooking another 5–10 minutes until thickened.

6. For a silky sauce, strain through a fine-mesh sieve.

For a more rustic sauce, leave some of the softened cherries in place.

7. Cool completely before transferring to sterilized jars.

The flavor actually improves after resting overnight.

Perfect With

• Smoked pork shoulder

• Baby back ribs

• Grilled pork tenderloin

• Beef brisket

• Burgers

• Venison

• Elk

• Duck

• Smoked chicken

• Turkey

• Meatloaf

• Grilled vegetables

• Pulled pork sandwiches

Nomad Kitchen Notes

Don't be afraid to improvise.

Swap the cherries for blackberries, plums, figs, peaches, or apricots.

Replace the bourbon with rye whiskey.

Use apple cider instead of cherry cider.

Every summer tells a different story, and every batch becomes its own signature sauce.

That's the joy of cooking.

With love, music, food, art, and fun,

Tré Taylor

tretaylor.com