A cocktail toast to compliment a dish of cold natto should naturally have flavors that blend well and reference the dish. Which might suggest, in this case, that we add a little soy sauce to the mix. Crazy? Not really. Cocktail flavors can be augmented with salt and umami just like with any recipe. In fact, Kikkoman, the famous soy sauce brand, even has a recipe for a “Soy Martinez” on their website. The Martinez was the original Martini, that classic with gin and dry vermouth. The Martinez, which predates the Martini, featured gin and sweet vermouth, and historically also included a sweet liqueur like cherry or orange. Kikkoman’s Soy Martinez is historically accurate, with a fifty fifty ratio of gin and sweet vermouth, plus a little cherry liqueur, and the signature addition of their naturally brewed soy sauce.

For the natto toast I took inspiration from the Soy Martinez but leaned instead on a classic sherry cocktail with Japanese roots, the Bamboo. The original, featuring dry sherry and dry vermouth, is attributed to San Francisco bartender Louis Eppinger, who was recruited to manage the bar at the new Grand Hotel in Yokahama in 1899. Simon Difford, the English spirits writer, suggests a “perfect” version of the Bamboo using dry, blanco, and rosso vermouth to compliment the dry sherry, along with a dash of orange bitters. I borrowed elements from this version, and completed the tribute with a light shoyu (Japanese soy sauce). Finally I substituted Japanese yuzu bitters to tie it all together, which lends the perfect citrus element. It may well be the best Bamboo yet, but regardless of comparisons, it’s delicious! Kampai!

Natto Bamboo

1 ½ oz fino sherry

¾ oz dry vermouth

¾ oz Cocchi Rosa

¼ oz white shoyu

Dash yuzu bitters

Sitr ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Lemon twist.

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