Bamboo
The Bamboo stirs dry sherry, dry vermouth and orange bitters into a wine-based cocktail with a savory edge and an expressed lemon twist.
Built to the standard modern spec; not yet tested in our kitchen. How we test.
The recipe.
Scaling adjusts quantities only. Prepare shaken drinks in individual portions.
Let’s make a good drink.
Chill a coupe and prepare a lemon twist.
Add the manzanilla, dry vermouth and orange bitters to a mixing glass.
Fill with ice and stir until cold.
Strain into the coupe and express the lemon twist over the drink before garnishing.
A thoughtful finish
- Use dry sherry rather than sweet cream sherry.
- Refrigerate both opened wines and check their aromas before mixing.
- Choose a modest lemon twist so its oil does not obscure the wines.
Common mistakes
- Using sweet vermouth changes the dry character of this published version.
- Assuming all sherry styles taste alike can lead to a much sweeter cocktail.
- Leaving the wines unrefrigerated after opening can dull their freshness.
A few good questions.
What sherry goes in a Bamboo?
This Lustau build specifies dry manzanilla sherry.
Does a Bamboo contain gin?
No. This recipe is made from sherry and dry vermouth with bitters.
Can I use fino instead?
Fino is a practical dry-sherry adaptation; it changes the wine character while preserving the style.
Is Bamboo alcohol-free?
No. Both sherry and vermouth contain alcohol, even though the recipe uses no distilled base spirit.
Variations
- Fino — ingredient adaptation — Replace manzanilla with dry fino and identify the sherry used.
- Different dry vermouth — ingredient adaptation — Compare another dry vermouth at the same measure; avoid silently switching to sweet vermouth.
Where it comes from
by 1886
Contested. More than one origin is claimed for this drink. We show the competing accounts rather than pick one.
The Bamboo’s often-told origin places it with Louis Eppinger at the Grand Hotel in Yokohama during the 1890s, but Lustau’s historical discussion identifies an earlier newspaper reference. It describes an 1886 Western Kansas World item reporting a sherry-and-vermouth drink called Bamboo in New York barrooms. That earlier appearance prevents treating the later hotel story as a settled invention account. Lustau credits Eppinger with helping the drink’s success while acknowledging that the exact creator and origin remain uncertain. Accordingly, this record leaves the creator, place and venue fields blank and uses the date only as a published-attestation boundary. The recipe below is Lustau’s present manzanilla-and-dry-vermouth version, rather than a claim to reconstruct the newspaper’s proportions. Source: Steven Dragun, Bodegas Lustau, Bamboo cocktail (2023), including its discussion of the 1886 reference and Eppinger attribution.
Sources
- Steven Dragun / Bodegas Lustau — Bamboo cocktail, 2023 (company source) link
Strength. About 0.89 US standard drinks at an estimated 14.6% ABV, estimated from the ingredients and technique, not measured. What that means.
A little character in every sip.
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