Bamboo
sherry, vermouth and orange bitters
The Bamboo is the most famous of many sherry-and-vermouth drinks, preceded by Joseh McKone’s Adonis (1884 or 1885). The Bamboo was created by bartender Louis Eppinger in San Francisco, by 1886, followed by the Harvard and others).
The template for the Bamboo is wonderfully flexible: you can get delightful results from pretty much any dry sherry (fino, manzanilla, amontillado, oloroso) and any good-tasting vermouth, whether dry vermouth or sweet vermouth. The procedure:
Bamboo
Stir with ice:
- 1–1/2 oz dry sherry
- 1–1/2 oz dry vermouth or sweet vermouth
- 2 dashes orange bitters (totally optional)
Strain into a cocktail glass
Garnish with a lemon twist or orange twist
Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails, p. 58; barware icons courtesy of Haus Alpenz