The Japanese Cocktail
Remembering all that is good about Japan during these most horrible of times for the country, perhaps a drink of salute to the hard work of the many rescue teams there at the moment hoping for a miracle or two to raise the hopes of many a now lesser-off Japanese. I once visited Japan back in ’08 and the six days I spent there only teases me with a want to return at the earliest opportunity. A country so bursting with culture and custom, spend three or four days in just Tokyo alone and you’ll hardly scratch the surface.
Of course amid bartending circles it’s become known as a country with such disciplined techniques, they border on obsessive. From Japan the global craze towards ice, in all its forms began and we owe much to them for the increased distribution and popularity of an array of favoured bartending tools including ice saws, whisky moulds, plastic knives and barspoons with a fork on the end which curiously no one really knows what to do with.
Of course as many would know both whisky and cognac are big in Japan, their ability to produce fantastic single malts in the ilk of reputable Scottish Highlands brands is truly a gift to whisky drinkers, and as I’ve said in posts previous it’s a strange irony that not even they know how good they are, with hardened Japanese imbibers still favouring Scotland’s finest over their domestic product. But today is not about whisky it is about cognac, and the wonderfully simple but elegant Japanese Cocktail.
The Japanese Cocktail is one of the pioneering drinks coming out of the pages of Jerry Thomas’ 1862 Bartenders Guide (or How to Mix Drinks), and famously is remembered for none of its three or four (depending on who you ask) ingredients being actually Japanese. Again its origin is a bit of a mystery also. The basic belief is that it was created in honour of an 1860 visit by Japanese dignitaries to the US, apparently this had been the first or one of the first mission visits from that country. Cocktail historian David Wondrich muses that “Professor Thomas had one of the most popular bars in New York, when they were there” so I guess it’s not unfathomable that this story may hold some truth.
The recipe anyhow:
60ml cognac (VS or above)
15ml orgeat syrup
2-3 dashes of Angostura bitters
15ml fresh lime juice (optional)
Stir/strain with rock ice in a large beaker or mixing vessel, dispense to chilled cocktail glass
Garnish with twist of lemon, expressing the oils well over the drink
I’ve tried this drink with/without the lime juice and it works equally well, just depends on your individual taste, if you prefer something drier omit the lime. If you are adding the lime though I recommend a small shake, just to ensure a proper even mix. The real crucial ingredient here though is the orgeat, get your mitts on the best one you can, if it’s Monin only then that works just fine.
