Name: Japanese Cocktail
Total time: 3 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 2 swath Lemon peel; 60 ml Cognac (brandy); 10 ml Orgeat syrup; 10 ml Chilled water; 3 dash Boker's bitters

Japanese Cocktail
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Serve in a Nick & Nora glass

Ingredients:
2 swath	Lemon peel
2 oz	Rémy Martin V.S.O.P. cognac
¹⁄₃ oz	Monin Almond (Orgeat) Syrup
¹⁄₃ oz	Chilled water omit if using wet ice
3 dash	Boker's bitters

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select a Nick & Nora glass.
Prepare garnish of lemon zest twist..
REGAL STIR all ingredients (including lemon zest).
STRAIN into chilled glass.
EXPRESS lemon zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Orgeat (almond) sugar syrup (2:1) - Nuts

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Cocktail of the day:

5th January 2025 is Joma Shinji

Review:

Lightly sweetened and diluted cognac, flavoured with almond and a hint of spice.

View readers' comments

Variant:

Improved Japanese Cocktail

History:

Adapted from a recipe first published in Jerry "The Professor" Thomas' 1862 Bartender's Guide. This is one of the few cocktails in the book which is believed to be his own creation.

Japanese Cocktail.
(Use small bar glass.)
1 table-spoon of orgeat syrup.
½ teaspoonful of Bogart's bitters.
1 wine-glass of brandy.
1 or 2 pieces of lemon peel.
Fill the tumbler one-third with ice, and stir well with a spoon.
Jerry Thomas, 1862

It is thought that he created and named the drink in 1860 to commemorate the first Japanese mission to the USA. While in New York, the delegates stayed at the Metropolitan Hotel, just a block away from Jerry Thomas' bar at 622 Broadway. And as David Wondrich writes in his 2015 Updated and Revised Imbibe!, "I can't imagine that in their strolls around the neighbourhood, they wouldn't have stopped in to see the Professor for a quick one. And if you were Jerry Thomas, wouldn't you come up with something special to mark the occasion?"

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Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Ryan Hunter

23rd May 2024 at 02:34

Surprised to find the "Improved Japanese Cocktail" missing from the database (or at least the description here). 2:1:1 "sour style" with the addition of lemon juice and the bitters switched to Peychaud's.

Simon Difford

23rd May 2024 at 07:20

Thanks for bringing to my attention, Ryan. I'll add the improved version with a link above ASAP.

Jerry Bryant

23rd April 2024 at 22:28

Because I am cooking Japanese-style fried rice for dinner I thought of this drink. I’ve made The Professor’s version in the past, and found it too sweet. Hoping that there was a Difford’s version, I searched the Guide and was rewarded with this fine version. Simon reduced the orgeat, puts the lemon peel into the mixing glass, and added the chilled water, which slows down the almondy sugar train enough that it’s an enjoyable antique cocktail. Thanks, Difford’s!

Chris Dimal

24th June 2023 at 21:50

Using the loophole of 'if it says Brandy use Brandy', made this drink with the cheap French grape brandy lying around. It is just that brandy sweetened and diluted with a delightful almond flavour. I did not have Boker's Bitters so I used Angostura, which did result in a rather sweet cocktail with only a tiny bit of citrus notes and bitterness towards the end.

C.A. Mat

18th April 2023 at 02:08

Delicious and unusual, but very sweet and creamy, possibly because it doesn't have much tartness/bitterness to balance the sugar. This may depend on your bitters (I don't have Boker's). Worth trying as written, but I either halve the orgeat or add a splash of lime--heretical, I know, but delicious.