Bamboo Cocktail

The Bamboo Cocktail is a mixture of Fino Sherry and Dry Vermouth, with a little bit of bitters thrown in for good measure. The standout part of this recipe (other than the fact that it tastes great!) is that it's relatively low in alcohol compared to a lot of cocktail recipes. You'll find Sherry is a pretty good base for a lot of low alcohol cocktails. That or recipes with Champagne or Sparkling Wine like the Aperol Spritz. After all, it's hard to make things lower in alcohol if you're using a stronger base spiriti like Gin or Whiskey, which usually comes in around 40% alcohol by volume.

The Bamboo Cocktail comes to us from Japan in the late 1800's. It was invented by bartender Louis Eppinger, who may or may not have invented the Million Dollar Cocktail (although we believe the Million Dollar Cocktail came out of Raffles in Singapore). Either way, Eppinger created some great cocktail recipes in his time, and this is one of them!

Total Time 3

Servings 1 cocktail

Ingredients

45 mL Fino Sherry feel free to use another Dry Sherry if you prefer
45 mL Dry Vermouth
1 dash Angostura Bitters
1 dash Orange Bitters
Garnish with a twist of Lemon

Instructions

Add the Sherry, Vermouth, and both Bitters to a mixing glass filled with ice. Stir everything until it gets cold.
Strain into a Coupe glass.
Garnish and serve.

Notes

We've seen other recipes for the Bamboo that call for a little bit of Simple Syrup as well. All in all this recipe is on the drier side of things so some people may prefer a little bit of sugar in there. Our understanding is that this is a more modern interpretation of the recipe though. Feel free to add it, but know that it does stray slightly from the original. Another variation on the classic Bamboo Cocktail recipes is adding Sweet Vermouth in equal proportion to the Dry Vermouth. This creates a "Perfect" Bamboo. Once again, this strays from the original but adds a bit of sweetness to the drink to balance it out a little bit. If you're finding this recipe a little dry, try the variations we just mentioned to see if it helps things at all for your specific taste.

Our Review of the Bamboo Cocktail

I don’t mind a lower alcohol cocktail from time to time. As someone drinks more than a few cocktails, it can be nice to not have to worry about drinking too much and perhaps having a couple more drinks in an evening without having to worry about a headache in the morning. And that’s why I like the Bamboo Cocktail.

If you’ve noticed that the Bamboo Cocktail is similar to the Adonis Cocktail, you’d be right. The recipe is basically the same, except for the addition of bitters in the Bamboo, but the big difference is that the Bamboo Cocktail uses dry vermouth instead of sweet vermouth. What this means is that the Bamboo is an entirely dry cocktail; there’s very little sweetness here. The Adonis gets more balanced out thanks to the competition between the sweet and the dry.

If you’re not a fan of cocktails that get a little on the dry side, perhaps you won’t like the Bamboo Cocktail. You could make this cocktail without the bitters, but it may be a bit boring, but it would be a great way to just strip everything back and understand what the recipe is trying to do with the dryness. I’m not saying that the Bamboo is uncomfortably dry or anything, but I am saying there’s nothing in there to make it more neutral.

Enjoy the Bamboo in warmer weather when you’re not after anything sweet. This could be a nice non-sweet dessert, before dinner, or at a cocktail party. It really works for a number of occasions.

7.5/10