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Epicurious

Japanese Cocktail

Japanese cocktail in short stemmed glass with lemon twist.
Photo by Colin Price

One of the oldest and most perfect of three-ingredient cocktails, the Japanese Cocktail first saw print in 1862 but remains stubbornly unknown and underappreciated, though it’s widely respected among bartenders. Perhaps it is too intimidating to be truly beloved. The combination of strong brandy and thick, rich orgeat can knock you on your heels at first sip if you’re unfamiliar with it—hell, even if you are familiar with it. It is the ultimate nightcap. It is also a rare cocktail that was actually invented by that paragon of mid-19th-century mixology, Jerry Thomas. If this drink alone had been his legacy, it would be enough for us to honor his name.

Recipe information

  • Total Time

    2 minutes

  • Yield

    Makes 1 cocktail

Ingredients

2 oz. cognac
½ oz. orgeat
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Lemon twist

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Combine cognac, orgeat, and bitters in a mixing glass filled with ice and stir until chilled, about 30 seconds. Strain into a chilled coupe.

    Step 2

    Express lemon twist over the drink and drop into the glass.

3-Ingredient Cocktail cookbook cover with illustration of three martini glasses in blue, orange, and tan.
Excerpted from 3-Ingredient Cocktails: An Opinionated Guide to the Most Enduring Drinks in the Cocktail Canon © 2017 by Robert Simonson. Photography © 2017 by Colin Price. Reproduced by permission of Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. Buy the full book from Amazon.
TagsCocktailAlcoholBeveragesCognacBrandyEasyQuick5 Ingredients or Fewer30 Minutes or LessCookbooks
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