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Michelle Hillen Klump

Author

Japanese Cocktail

May 26, 2021  /  Michelle Klump

japanese cockail.jpg

It’s almost summer, and I’ve been dreaming of traveling again. Before the pandemic, one of my favorite hobbies consisted of searching for cheap airfare to exotic destinations. Whenever a cheap flight was announced on Twitter, I would imagine what it would be like to have so few responsibilities and such unlimited funding that I could jump on each and every crazy deal. But the real fun began whenever my husband and I finally got our schedules aligned and took a whole week off for vacation. For weeks after getting our vacation days approved, I scoured the Internet looking for the best deals to any place we’d never been. I’ve snagged a few great trips over the years using my favorite travel tools and apps. But these days, with international travel still a faraway dream, the crazy deals that pop up on @escapeHouston are more like torture than fun.

A few weeks ago, an amazing deal was posted for a round-trip flight from Houston to Tokyo for under $300. Tokyo is high on my bucket list, so I definitely allowed myself a few moments to picture myself strolling beneath the famous cherry blossoms. But it didn’t take too long for reality to set in and for me to realize that until a vaccine is approved for children and it’s safe to travel internationally again, I’ll have to content myself with random Internet searches and my imagination.

The other day, while looking for a cocktail recipe I stumbled across the Japanese Cocktail. I’d never heard of it, so it sparked my interest. It turns out the cocktail has very little to do with Japan itself. According to Difford’s Guide, it was created by Jerry Thomas of the Bartender’s Guide fame, and is believed to commemorate the first Japanese diplomatic mission to the United States in 1860 to ratify the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation between the two countries. I tested out the recipe and, while it didn’t exactly transport me to Tokyo, it was a nice, refreshing drink.

If you’d like to try it, pour 2 oz of cognac, ½ oz of fresh lime juice, ½ oz of orgeat syrup, and 2 dashes of Angostura bitters or some other aromatic bitters into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake to chill and strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with a lime peel and enjoy.

 

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