Bamboo
Dry sherry and dry vermouth stirred with orange and aromatic bitters. Low in alcohol, dry, nutty and quietly complex.
- MethodStirred
- GlassNick & Nora glass
- IceNone (served up)
- Strengthabout 12.5% ABV
- BaseWine & aperitivo
- Tasteherbal, bitter
Recipe
| 45 ml 1½ oz | Fino sherry or Amontillado sherry |
| 45 ml 1½ oz | Dry vermouth |
| 2 dashes | Orange bitters |
| 1 dash | Aromatic bitters (Angostura-style) |
Garnish. A strip of lemon peel expressed over the top and dropped in; an olive is an occasional alternative.
Method
- Chill a Nick & Nora glass or small coupe.
- Stir the sherry, vermouth and both bitters with plenty of ice for about 20 seconds.
- Strain into the chilled glass and express the lemon peel over the top.
About the Bamboo
The Bamboo is built like a Martini but uses no spirit at all: equal parts dry sherry and dry vermouth, with a few dashes of bitters. It is dry, savoury and nutty, with a faint salinity from the sherry and herbs from the vermouth. At around 15% alcohol it is an aperitif you can have two of.
History
Earliest record 1908: William Boothby, The World's Drinks and How to Mix Them (San Francisco)
Documented
William Boothby's The World's Drinks and How to Mix Them (San Francisco, 1908) prints the Bamboo and credits it to Louis Eppinger, a bartender who ran the bar of the Grand Hotel in Yokohama, Japan, from about 1890. Newspaper research has since turned up American mentions of a Bamboo cocktail from the mid-1880s, before Eppinger was in Japan, crediting an unnamed Englishman.
Legend and lore
The drink is often presented as Eppinger's invention in Yokohama. He certainly served it and helped spread it, but the earlier mentions suggest he did not create it.
Disputed or unclear: Exactly where and when the Bamboo was first made is not known; the pre-1890 newspaper mentions give no recipe.
Variations
- Adonis. Sherry with sweet vermouth and orange bitters: rounder and sweeter.
- Dry Martini. The same stirred shape with gin and much less vermouth.
- Sherry Cobbler. Sherry shaken with sugar and orange over crushed ice.
Bartender's notes
- Both sherry and vermouth are wines; open bottles belong in the fridge and taste best within a couple of weeks.
- Fino makes a crisp, saline Bamboo, amontillado a rounder, nuttier one; both are good.
