I never expected fresh carmine jewel to be pleasant, but I was surprised that recipes needed more sugar than typical sour cherries. Last year, I noticed that only the cherries from the top of the bush get 16-17 brix, while the ones lower down and in the center might only get 10-13 brix. Of course, there was excessive ground water from rain, and the cherries were swollen and dilute. This year is looking like a drought summer, so that will be an interesting comparison.
I’ve been mixing them with other high sugar fruits, but more recently I’ve found that they can be made more palatable by removing some of the juice first, as I described here. I also noticed that seem more mellow after freeze/thaw, but that could be from juice release. It’s like carmine jewel cherries are 30-40 percent more cherry flavor in the same size package.
When using juice in ice cream, CJ will taste a bit like blackberry or black raspberry if the acidity is low enough. It will taste more like cherry if enough juice is added to taste the acidity. It definitely has a interesting flavor dynamic that sets it apart. I’m growing to like them more and more over time as learn how to work with them. The only thing missing is a mechanical pitter that is more efficient than my skewer method.