This is the drink I was going to write about for the last round of Mixology Monday, which I unfortunately missed due to being on holiday in a tropical jungle in the Congo, or the technological equivalent (i.e. my in-laws’ place). It’s what happens when one is too lazy to prepare things in advance.

The Suffering Bastard is noteworthy for being a tropical drink that doesn’t use rum. Apart from the name, of course, which makes it instantly memorable. It was created around 1950 at the Shepheards Hotel in Cairo, Egypt, and the name supposedly comes from some British officers mishearing a passing comment about a “suffering bar steward”.

In his seminal Grog Log, Beachbum Berry remarks that the original was made with brandy and ginger beer instead of bourbon and ginger ale. I didn’t have any ginger beer around, since it’s difficult to find here, and just swapping brandy for the bourbon would make a Horse’s Neck with some gin and lime juice thrown in, so I only tried the newer version.

So what’s it like? Well, it’s ok. The bourbon overpowers the drink somewhat, and doesn’t leave much room for tasting everything else. Maybe with a robust gin and a delicate bourbon it might work better, but I don’t think I’ll be making another one in a hurry.

There was one good thing, though. I was toying with not including a photo because I couldn’t get any decent ones (I’ll have to work on that), but I couldn’t resist showing you a close-up of a successful lime twist after the Fog Cutter attempt.

Recipe:

1 oz. Bourbon
1 oz. Gin
1 oz. Lime Juice
4 oz. Ginger Ale
1 dash Angostura Bitters (to taste, I like two or three dashes better)

Notes:

As I mentioned above, the Bourbon overpowered the rest of the drink. I used Jim Beam bourbon, since I didn’t want to try something more expensive on an unknown cocktail. Maybe something more delicate might work better, but I have my doubts, so I didn’t bother…

Rating:

- Cool name, pity about the drink.

The Japanese Cocktail was one of the first drinks I read about on Drinkboy when I started getting beyond Rum ‘n’ Cokes and Long Island Iced Teas. Before I had even seen the recipe, my head was brimming with ideas. Would it use sake? Soy sauce instead of bitters? Maybe it had a piece of raw fish floating in it as garnish. Perhaps you had to drink it barefoot and sitting cross-legged on the ground to get the full taste of the experience.

The truth was far more mundane. As the page loaded I saw three simple ingredients, one of which I had never even heard of before. The mystery ingredient, Orgeat syrup, revealed itself to be unobtainable in my part of the world, so I just clicked on the back button and moved on to something else.

The name stuck in my mind, though, and every now and then I’d see references to it, look it up, see I still didn’t have any Orgeat, and again mix up something else. Until today, when I came across a mention of it as well as a pointer to a post by Robert Hess over at The Spirit World where he goes over the Japanese Cocktail in his usual authoritative style. After the usual click through to remind myself of the ingredients, I realized that it was finally possible to mix one up.

After a summer of basically drinking light citrus-based drinks, I wasn’t too sure how well a classical-style cocktail would go down. I needn’t have worried, the Japanese Cocktail is quite refreshing for a drink that is basically brandy. What really surprised me was how well balanced it is, and how tasty such a simple drink can get. I have to admit, Orgeat is quickly becoming a favourite ingredient of mine.

The link above outlines what little is known about the Japanese Cocktail’s history. Basically, not much. It is one of the cocktails included in Jerry Thomas‘ classic Bartender’s Guide (or How to Mix Drinks). Some theorize that it was created by Jerry Thomas himself in honour of a delegation of Japanese dignitaries that visited the US at some point, but nothing is known for sure.

Here’s how to make one.

Recipe:

2 oz. Brandy
1/2 oz. Sirop d’Orgeat
2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Notes:

A masterfully balanced drink, one of the best I’ve had in a long time. The Orgeat brings the drink to life, without overpowering the flavour of the brandy. You don’t want to skip the garnish in this one, and should make sure to twist the lemon on top of the glass — as opposed to using a pre-made twist — so all the essential oils get sprayed onto the surface of the drink. This adds an additional dimension.

I was expecting a serious drink, but this one is lots of fun.

Rating:

- Better than sake with a piece of fish in it!

Apparently, Angostura is planning to launch Orange Bitters sometime in the near future. Even better, according to this thread in the Drinkboy forums, they should be launching everywhere they currently sell their current bitters.

This for me is good news. Angostura Bitters are the only bitters I can find here in Spain, and a massive 100% rise in the number of bitters choices available can only make me happy. Hopefully, I’ll be adding several recipes I never thought I’d be able to add here shortly…