Bamboo

Wine, comfortably. Sherry and vermouth both sit somewhere near 15 to 18 percent, so a Bamboo lands around half the strength of a Martini once it’s cold. That’s the point of it: aperitif hour, two of them, dinner still ahead of you.

Probably not. Fino starts oxidizing the day it’s opened and by week three it has gone from almond and salt to wet cardboard, which is exactly what a dull Bamboo tastes of. Treat it like white wine: stoppered, in the fridge, half bottles, finished inside a week.

It sharpens the whole thing. Manzanilla is fino aged by the sea at Sanlúcar and comes out saltier and lighter, which pushes the drink toward olive brine and away from almond. Fino is the rounder, more standard choice. Either works; manzanilla is the one to try if the Bamboo feels too soft.

You can, but you’ve made something else, closer to a very dry Martini with sherry standing in for part of the vermouth. If the drink feels thin to you, the fix is usually a colder glass rather than more alcohol.

A classic Bamboo calls for 45 ml (1.5 oz) Dry sherry, 45 ml (1.5 oz) Dry vermouth, 1 dash orange bitters Orange bitters, 1 dash Angostura Angostura bitters. That single-serve spec scales cleanly — the recipe above converts it to oz and multiplies it for 2–4 drinks.

A standard Bamboo is roughly 17% ABV once mixed (before ice melt softens it further). That makes it about as strong as a glass of wine.

A Bamboo is shaken. About 13 seconds with plenty of ice chills and dilutes it correctly.