Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Squid Mixes: Japanese Cocktail


The Japanese Cocktail was invented by Jerry Thomas, AKA The Professor, a famous nineteenth-century American bartender.  Interestingly and coincidentally, I am reading a book about him right now, though I got the recipe from a different book: Robert Simonson's 3-Ingredient Cocktails.  Simonson employs cognac, orgeat (almond) syrup, Angostura bitters and a lemon twist.  We didn't have much cognac left so I topped off with brandy.  When I've made them before, I used The New York Bartender's Guide's recipe which adds lime juice.  The single greatest flavor discovery I have made in mixing drinks is the dazzling combination of almond and lime - definitely a whole-greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts situation.  Alas, we had none on hand.  Next time.

There is nothing Japanese about the drink whatsoever, always leaving the name a bit of a mystery.  David Wondrich - author of Imbibe, the aforementioned book about Jerry Thomas - suggests that it was perhaps a marketing gimmick for a Japanese delegation that came to New York in 1860.  There is no proof of this theory.

The drink is yummy.  Brandy is dangerous stuff - essentially liquid candy.  Orgeat is pretty amazing, too - the aroma alone is heavenly.  It is a lot of sugar and the lime juice, when available, certainly cuts into it.  Even without, it's a lovely treat.

8 comments:

  1. Almond and lime, huh? That I will have to check out.

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    1. First discovered in a nutty cola, a non-alcoholic concoction with orgeat, lime juice and cola. I felt like my mouth was going to explode - in the best possible way!

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  2. Sounds like a simple and delicious cocktail

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    1. It is. Simplicity is really the whole point of the 3-Ingredient book. Less is more.

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  3. Lime and almond sounds good to me.
    Son had a drink in a Japanese restaurant that had some ginger brandy (?) in it with something else. It was a very light drink I liked the sip I had. but after eating some nigiri the drink bloomed and tasted so different and better.
    hahahaha this comment had nothing to do with your post. I am so weird !

    cheers, parsnip and badger

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    1. I've never had ginger brandy. I would love to try it.

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  4. Almond and lime: noted!
    Am too partial to brandy!

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