The Refreshing Japanese Highball

Nothing is better than a refreshing Japanese Highball in the summer heat.

Ball is slang for glass. High glasses are highballs. To many, whisky was considered too strong to enjoy with your food, so people in Japan started adding soda to make it more mellow and pleasant to drink. The Highball was born.

In the 1950s Suntory opened 1500 torys bars, these were intimate, smoked-filled joints serving whisky and especially Highballs. The bars had a well known mascot, Uncle Torys, impersonating a hard-working character in need of a drink after a hard day's work.

The hype died a few years later as beer, vodka and gin grew in popularity across Japan. Suntory made a massive push in the 1990s to put Highballs back on the map by starting to sell the drinks canned. Still a common sight if you enter the usual corner 7-eleven in Japan.

The people were back on Highballs.

Ingredients

5 cl of Japanese Whisky. We prefer the smooth Suntory Kakubin

(if you don't have Japanese Whisky, use Scotch)

Soda Water

Large chunks of clear high-density ice.

Lemon

Steps

1. Start by chilling a highball glass the colder the better.

2. Fill the glass with ice

3. Add Whisky

4. Carefully pour the soda water to fill the glass,

try to avoid pouring direct over the ice.

5. Gently stir with a bar spoon to mix.

6. Optional, Add a slice or dash of Lemon to make your

highball even more refreshing.

Enjoy!

Please enjoy this simple yet delicious mixture at your local bar, Japanese Izakaya or learn how to perfect it at home.

Illustrator: Sara Gezelius

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