The Japanese Cocktail is an obscure classic that appeared first in Jerry Thomas's How to Mix Drinks (1862). It does not appear to have anything to do with Japan, but it is tasty. The recipe in the Dale consists of Cognac, orgeat, lime juice, and Angostura bitters. The lime juice is a latter day addition. According to Dale's notes, the original drink involved a couple of pieces of lemon peel. Some of the versions I found still hew closely to this formula, such as the one in Simon Difford's Cocktails.

I thought it was a lovely cocktail; Tipsy thought it was too sweet. I told him to go suck a lime.