Making The BEST Maraschino Style Cherries at Home!

These cherries are amazing and easy to make! They are great for manhattans, old fashioned, whisky sours, or really anything you would use cherries for. I will add the recipe here shortly!
For now:
1 3/4 cups filtered water
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
24-30 oz pitted cherries by volume (a pound or a little less by weight) with pits set aside
3 large lemons
1 medium orange
2 star anise pods
2 small cinnamon stick (or break a large one)
3 cloves
4 tablespoons dried hibiscus flower
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp pomegranate molasses