The Japanese Cocktail

Published in Jerry Thomas' Bar Tender's Guide of 1887, the Japanese Cocktail is one of the older cocktails out there. Story has it that it was invented by Jerry when the Japanese delegation was in town, visiting New York, and he created it in their honor. It is a combination of brandy, orgeat, and angostura bitters that goes down easy. There's a fair amount of sweetness, but the brandy is strong enough to make itself felt. As Keith at Speakista notes, the orgeat is really a prime contributor, as opposed to the Mai Tai, where it's just a bit player. The almond really hits you hard right up front. The Japanese is a nice drink, if a bit sweet.

Trinidad Sour

I recently made some orgeat, and in researching drinks to use it in, I came across a number of intriguing options. One of the most intriguing was the Trinidad Sour. You rarely see drinks that require any more than a few dashes of non-potable bitters, let alone a full ounce. There's a reason they're called non-potable! But I figured I should give it a shot.

It turned out really well. The sweetness of the orgeat compensates for the bitterness of the bitters, and the sourness of the lemon juice makes quite a complex drink. It tastes very herbal, with a sour aftertaste (but in a fun way!) A very nice drink, and a good change from the ordinary. Recipe after the jump.

Fall-ing for Hemmingway

Now that I finally have some homemade Orgeat, I figured I should use it in a cocktail. There are lots of options. I wanted to save the traditional Mai Tai for when my wife was around, and for some reason, a lot of the other recipes I have laying around call for obscene amount of Angostura bitters. But the Plate recently posted a recipe that called for a reasonable amount of Angostura bitters. I still don't have any, but I'm more willing to substitute when an ingredient isn't a full ounce.

The first thing I noticed about this drink is how sweet it is. It's very good, and the lime juice helps balance it out, but between the rum and the orgeat, it's really sweet. After the sweetness, the main flavor I get is the allspice dram. I think I can take some nuts between the sweetness and the allspice, but that could just be my imagination. If I make this again, I'll probably up the lime juice to an ounce, or perhaps add more bitters. Recipe after the jump.