Japanese Highball Cocktail Recipe
Ice-cold Japanese whisky lengthened with sharply carbonated soda water, light and bracing enough to drink alongside a meal.
- Category: Popular
- Glass: Highball glass
- ABV: 10%
- Difficulty: Easy
- Prep time: ~3 min
Ingredients
- Japanese whisky45 ml (1.5 oz)
- Soda water135 ml (4.6 oz)
How to Make It
- Fill a tall glass to the top with hard, clear ice and stir until the glass is frosted, then pour off any meltwater.
- Pour the whisky over the ice and stir once briefly to chill it.
- Add fresh ice if needed, tilt the glass and pour the soda water down the side in one go.
- Lift once with a bar spoon to combine without losing the bubbles, then twist the lemon peel over the surface.
Garnish
A lemon peel twist
What it tastes like
It is carbonated and it drinks cool and easy.
The technique
Built in the glass. Ice goes into the serving glass, the ingredients go on top, and you stir once if at all. Anything carbonated goes in LAST and never gets stirred; every turn of the spoon costs you bubbles. Fill the glass to the rim with ice: less ice melts faster, not slower.
Glass and ice
A tall, narrow highball. The narrowness does real work — less surface area means the carbonation lasts longer and the ice melts more slowly.
Ingredient notes and substitutes
- Soda water
- Plain carbonated water. It goes in LAST and nothing is stirred after it. An open bottle goes flat fast, so small bottles make more sense than big ones.
The Story
The highball began as a plain mix of spirit and soda, but Japan adopted it as an everyday drink to accompany food. Japanese whisky producers helped bring it back into fashion in the late 2000s, and bars there now treat its preparation — the ice, the stir, the pour — as a craft.
Frequently asked questions
- How is a Japanese Highball mixed?
- It is built in the glass and served in a highball glass.
- How strong is a Japanese Highball?
- Roughly 10% ABV as served — lighter than a beer — a long-conversation drink that takes a second round.
- Can a Japanese Highball be made without alcohol?
- Simply leaving the spirit out does not work — the body and the bitterness go with it. The 86 alcohol-free recipes in the catalogue are built to hit that balance from the start.
- Is a Japanese Highball hard to make?
- Easy. No bar kit required — a measure, ice and a jar will do.
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Alcoholic drink recipes are intended for those aged 18 and over. Please drink responsibly.