Cherries are some of the most delicious fruits around. Their sweet taste and snackable size have made them a favorite for many. In addition to their unique flavor, there are plenty of health benefits associated with eating cherries regularly, including lower risks of cancer and heart disease, and even getting better sleep.

With that in mind, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be making cherries a bigger part of your diet! Like the finest things in life, however, there’s an art to appreciating cherries. Focusing on their sweet taste, relishing their juices, and savoring the tangy aftertaste are simple delights many people take for granted. Best of all, you can add them to most of your favorite recipes! The possibilities are virtually endless with this amazing fruit.

Know your cherries. While most people think of cherries as a single type of small red fruit, there are many varieties of cherries, each with its own shape, size, and use. Doing a little research (as well as knowing what you want cherries for) is a smart first move. Here are a few of the most popular types of cherry you should know about:

• Bing cherries are arguably the best-known, archetypal cherry. They are red and very versatile, great both for using in recipes and eating on their own.
• Rainier cherries are large cherries with a yellow hue to them. When they’re most ripe, they develop a more reddish color.
• Lapin cherries tend to be dark red and quite big. They’re perfect for making jams with.

Buy your cherries, preferably handpicked. Although there are canned and packaged options, you’ll want to get cherries fresh whenever possible. Hand-picking them is the best option, as it gives you the most control over which ones to buy. Go to a local and trusted produce store, and buy a bagful.

• As a rule, if you’re getting the popular red Bing cherries, you should look for the darkest cherries of the lot. Darker cherries are riper and have a sweeter kick to them. Lighter cherries are generally sourer and better suited for baking rather than eating them by themselves.

Wash your cherries off in hot water. Giving your cherries a good wash at home will remove any remaining pesticides, making them safer to eat. This rule applies to all uncanned produce, so make sure to give it all a rinse before you move forward! Putting them under the faucet for around 30 seconds should suffice.

• Try to avoid washing your cherries prior to storing them. Adding moisture will dry them out and hurt their taste, so it’s better to wash them right before eating

Pit your cherries. The most complex and unique aspect of eating cherries is the pitting process. While removing the pit from a cherry isn’t necessary, leaving them in means you’ll have to spit the pit out afterward, as eating them is mildly toxic. It’s easy to eat around the pits of fruit like peaches, but the cherry is so small that it should be removed manually. There are several ways to do this, and it’s recommended you try out most of them to see which one suits you best.

• The best option if you’re going to be eating a lot of cherries is a specialized cherry pitter. These simple contraptions are usually reasonably priced and can make the pitting process several times faster than they would be if you’re doing them by hand.
• If you’re not interested in picking up a pitter, you can get a steady momentum going by using a chopstick and a glass bottle. Place the cherry on top of the bottle with the stem on top, and push the chopstick through the cherry. The pit should fall through into the bottle, eliminating any cleanup from other methods.
• If you’re looking for an easy, basic solution to pitting, take a knife and cut around the edge of the stem. Once you’ve cut around, you can pull the pit out. This process takes significantly longer than the other methods listed, but it’ll do in a pinch if you don’t have a lot of utensils around.
• If you’re wanting to circumvent the pitting process altogether, you can always purchase a pack of pitted cherries. Keep in mind, however, that these tend to be less fresh than if you were hand-picking them yourself.

Find somewhere quiet and relaxing to enjoy your cherries. Arguably the most overlooked part of the way someone eats is where they’re eating. Trying to eat somewhere busy and crowded isn’t going to lend itself to a memorable snacking experience. Find something where you don’t have to worry about anything distracting you from your cherries.

• You might find it beneficial to add an element of ritual to your cherry-eating. Even if it’s just finding a favorite chair to sit in each time you eat them, treating the experience with an air of importance might enrich your experience.
• Savor the cherry. It goes without saying that the most important part of enjoying cherries is eating them! The key here is to draw out the experience of eating it; let the cherry sit on your tongue, and let yourself focus on the taste as you bit down into it. Close your eyes, and let your taste buds appreciate each cherry for all they’re worth!
  • Savoring food is a lost art in the current age of expedience and efficiency. If you’re having a hard time pacing yourself while you eat, try to give yourself approximately 45 seconds for each cherry.

Freeze whatever portions you won’t eat soon. It’s important to note that cherries are very perishable. In a refrigerator, they might last a week if you’re lucky! If you want to save yourself the trouble of constantly going back to the grocery store, you can freeze them in bulk. Bring them out and let them thaw a few hours before you plan on eating them.

• Frozen cherries are best eaten within a year, although judging from how delicious they are, it’s not likely you’ll have them sitting around a fraction of that time!