Cocktail of the week: The Leftover

I’ve always maintained that Dry January is a terrible idea. Here we’re doing Damp Jan. Not only do many cold, dark weeks await before the arrival of spring – hardly the time to go dry – but I’ve got lots of open bottles of things left over from the festive season. Namely, a manzanilla sherry and several vermouths: the ideal wherewithal for the creation of a little aperitif.

This drink is based on a Bamboo, which typically combines equal parts sherry and vermouth with a few drops of bitters. I encourage you to play around; Difford’s Guide, for example, combines 45ml of fino (dry sherry) with 15ml each of dry, rosso and bianco vermouths in their “perfect Bamboo”. I’ve seen others use sweet vermouth. I, however, went for a single dry white vermouth alongside the salty manzanilla, and embellished the whole affair with a touch of lemon juice and maple syrup.

Whether your January is damp or drenched, this is an elegant use of Christmas dregs and, finished with a kitsch Luxardo cherry, promises to lift any low spirits.

The recipe

Makes 1

dry sherry 45ml (I used a manzanilla – fino would also work)
dry vermouth 45ml
lemon juice a squeeze
Angostura bitters 5 dashes
maple syrup ½ tsp
ice cocktail cherry 1, to garnish

Combine all the ingredients, except the cherry, in a cocktail shaker and stir for 30 seconds. The honey will not completely dissolve and that’s fine – you just want a hint of its flavour here. Strain into a chilled mini martini glass and garnish with a cocktail cherry.