A delicious alternative to your Vodka or Gin Martinis: Bamboo Cocktail

A German bartender is attributed with the creation of an American style drink in a Japanese hotel with a Spanish Sherry and a French Vermouth to quench the thirst of visiting international dignitaries! This can happen only in the world of cocktails. There is absolutely nothing Japanese about this cocktail other than the name and the fact that it was created in Yokohama!

In 1889, Louis Eppinger – a German-born bartender arrived in the growing port city of Yokohama in Japan, after establishing a bartending career in San Francisco. He was hired as a manager by a group of US naval officers who were part owners of the Grand Hotel. It is here that he is said to have created this elegant cocktail in the late 1890s. Eppinger is known as one of the founding fathers of Japan’s cocktail history.

Cocktail history was not as widely recorded during this time as wars and revolutions were. This may be the reason why many have accredited Louis Eppinger with the creation of this bracing cocktail that is great as an aperitif. The Western Kansas World and the St. Paul Daily Globe, however, attributed the Bamboo to an unknown Englishman in 1886 and not Eppinger. A new and insidious drink was introduced by an Englishman and is becoming popular in bars in New York: it is composed of three parts of sherry and a part of vermouth and is called” bamboo ” –11 September 1886, Western Kansas World

It could be that Eppinger may have made this drink first when he was working in San Francisco.

At this point, it is fair to point out that The Bamboo Cocktail could have been inspired by the Adonis which was also a popular cocktail at that time. The only difference between the two is that the Adonis uses a sweet Italian Vermouth & no bitters and the Bamboo Cocktail uses a dry French Vermouth.

      BAMBOO COCKTAIL

      (Adapted from William Boothby’s 1908: The World’s Drinks and How to Mix Them)

      INGREDIENTS

  • 1 1/2 oz. dry vermouth
  • 1 1/2 oz. Fino Sherry
  • 2 dashes orange bitters
  • 2 dashes Angostura Bitters
  • 1 lemon twist

      DIRECTIONS

  • Add all the ingredients into a mixing glass filled with ice.
  • Stir well and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
  • Twist a lemon peel over the drink to release its essence and garnish with the lemon twist
        
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