Japanese Cocktail
Cognac, orgeat and bitters, stirred with a lemon twist. Jerry Thomas's 1862 drink with nothing Japanese in it — named for a visiting embassy, and one of the oldest cocktails still made as written.
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, or fill a rocks glass with a large cube.
Add the cognac, orgeat and bitters to a mixing glass.
Fill with ice and stir for 25 seconds.
Strain into the glass, express a lemon twist over the top and drop it in.
A thoughtful finish
- A good orgeat with real almond and orange-flower water; it is the drink's whole sweetness and aroma.
- Boker's bitters, recreated in 2009, are the period ingredient; Angostura makes a spicier version.
- Half an ounce of orgeat is the modern measure; Thomas's was a 'tablespoon', which is about the same.
Common mistakes
- Amaretto in place of orgeat.
- Too much orgeat; it coats the mouth.
- Shaking.
A few good questions.
Is there anything Japanese in it?
No. It was named for the 1860 Japanese embassy's visit to New York, which Jerry Thomas's customers were excited about.
What does it taste like?
A brandy Old Fashioned with marzipan and orange blossom in place of sugar — rich, nutty, aromatic.
What are Boker's bitters?
An aromatic bitters of the mid-1800s, extinct for a century and recreated in 2009. Angostura is the usual substitute.
Did Jerry Thomas invent it?
It is one of the few drinks in his 1862 book he is thought to have created himself.
Variations
- Army and Navy — Gin, lemon and orgeat.
- Brandy Crusta — Cognac, curaçao, maraschino and lemon.
- Old Fashioned — Whiskey, sugar and bitters.
- Mai Tai — Rum, orgeat, curaçao and lime.
Where it comes from
1860 · New York City · Jerry Thomas
The Japanese Cocktail is in Jerry Thomas’s 1862 guide — brandy, orgeat and Boker’s bitters, stirred, with a lemon peel — and it is one of the few drinks in that book credited to Thomas himself. It commemorates the first Japanese embassy to the United States in 1860, whose delegation toured New York to great excitement and reportedly visited Thomas’s bar; there is nothing Japanese in the glass. It is a brandy cocktail in the oldest sense, with orgeat for the sugar, and it tastes much as it would have in 1862, which is more than most cocktails of that age can say.
Sources
- Jerry Thomas, How to Mix Drinks, or The Bon-Vivant's Companion, 1862 (book)
- David Wondrich, Imbibe!, 2015 (book)
- Ted Haigh, Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails, 2009 (book)
Strength. About 1.38 US standard drinks at an estimated 26.9% ABV, estimated from the ingredients and technique, not measured. What that means.
A little character in every sip.
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