bamboo crusta

1 oz Dry Sherry (Lustau Amontillado)
1 oz Dry Vermouth (Noilly Prat)
1/4 oz Triple Sec (Cointreau)
1/4 oz Maraschino Liqueur (Luxardo)
1/4 oz Lemon Juice
1 dash Orange Bitters (Angostura Orange)
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a small wineglass with a sugar-coated rim. Garnish with a wide lemon peel looped around the inside of the glass' opening.

Last Thursday, I started brainstorming for a recipe for Mixoloseum's Thursday Drink Night. Although technical difficulties got in the way, I still created my drink. My concept was to create a hybrid of two older drinks -- the Crusta from New Orleans in 1852 and the Bamboo Cocktail created in Yokohama, Japan, during the early 1890s. The Bamboo Cocktail is one of our favorite aperitif cocktails and giving it a new feel by enacting an old treatment was my goal.
The Bamboo Crusta began with a nutty and lemon oil aroma. The sip presented a semi-dry orange flavor that was followed by sherry and Maraschino notes on the swallow. Overall, the drink was really light and smooth yet flavorful. Indeed, the recipe hybrid elevated the classic Bamboo Cocktail to a different level by adding some additional flavor complexity while still retaining a good amount of its aperitif charm.