Japanese Cocktail

Cognac softened with almond orgeat and a dash of bitters: a nutty, silky nineteenth-century classic.

• Cognac60 ml
• Orgeat15 ml
• Angostura bitters2 dashes
• Lemon peelto garnish

Shake the cognac, orgeat and bitters with ice until well chilled. Strain into a chilled coupe and express a lemon peel over the surface.

CREATED

1860

CREATOR

Jerry Thomas

STATE

United States

LOCATION

New York

Jerry Thomas is believed to have created and named the Japanese Cocktail in 1860 to mark the first Japanese diplomatic mission to the United States. The delegates stayed at New York’s Metropolitan Hotel, a block from Thomas’s bar at 622 Broadway. He published the recipe — cognac, orgeat, bitters and lemon peel — in his 1862 Bar-Tender’s Guide; despite the name, it contains no Japanese ingredients.