Last Updated: 3/5/2021
The Bamboo is a refreshing, lightweight cocktail that has some Japanese history. It’s a fresh and dry classic with a great deal of complexity.
In this post, we’ll go over a couple of recipes that are easy to make at home.
The Classic Bamboo
This is basically the recipe credited to Louis Eppinger in 1908.
- 1.5 oz Dry Sherry (Fino or Amontillado)
- 1.5 oz Dry Vermouth
- 2 dash each orange and Angostura bitters
- Lemon peel
Combine the ingredients into a mixing glass. Next, add cracked ice and stir. Strain into a chilled coupe or martini glass. Finally, express a lemon swath over the cocktail and enjoy!
An orange swath can be substituted if you prefer.
A Modern Japanese Bamboo
It would make sense to use Japanese ingredients when possible to make this cocktail.
Sherry will always be a Spanish product, but some producers are beginning to make Japanese vermouth. In the following recipe, Oka Kura Bermutto is used, which uses a sake base instead of wine. It is also fortified by Kumamoto rice shochu. This adds another layer of Japanese authenticity to this Bamboo recipe.
- 1.5 oz Dry Sherry
- 1.5 oz Bermutto
- 3 dash each orange and Angostura bitters
- Lemon peel
Once again, combine the ingredients into a mixing glass, then add cracked ice. Stir, then strain into a chilled coupe or martini. Express a lemon swath (or orange) over the cocktail and enjoy!
History of the Bamboo
It’s often credited to Louis Eppinger. He was a German bartender that had been working in San Francisco slinging drinks. He later traveled to Yokohama to run the bar program at the Grand Hotel.
This drink probably started before Eppinger was credited for it in the 1908 book The World’s Drinks and How to Mix Them, but William Boothby. It’s clearly related to the Adonis, which was already in existence.