Making an AUTHENTIC Japanese Whisky Highball (ウィスキーハイボール) | In The Drink 

Great video! The other RU-vidrs made several mistakes which I want to add. I lived in Japan 6 years until a month ago, worked in bars, and am fluent in Japanese (N2). 1. they seldom use Japanese whiskey. Usually Glenmorangie, Glenfarclas, Caol Ila, or Glenlivet is the standard. 2. Mizuwari and Tansansuiwari are two different things. 3. Most Japanese bartenders actually suck balls and the few that shine have their own way of making the highball different from the last. 4. They usually use two large clear ice cubes and not one large spear. 5. The amount of stirs depends if the whiskey is room temp or chilled or the bartenders preferance. 6. Stir speed also depends on the bartender. 7. Each bartender has a specific ratio (Moriwaki Daichi uses 35ml of Glenlivet 12y to 120ml of soda, but I use 45ml of Glenfiddich to 120ml of soda) 8. There aren't rituals specific to the highball, but each bartender has their own ritual to making different cocktail not universal to the rest of Japan. The level for Bartending is much higher in Japan in major cities. A lot of people like to idolize Japan, but in reality they have their own fair of bad bartenders with a bad sense of taste. I think the reason is, because most people go to the main bars in each metropolis which are guaranteed to be at least a 7 out of 10. People have unrealistic ideas of what drinking in Japan looks like. If you go to Nagoya (a non-touristy super city) and go to the most popular bar, its trash...same with Okayama, Sapporo, and Sendai. This is like going only to Manhattan and juding all American cocktails by that experience. The flavor profiles Japanese enjoy and us western enjoy tend to be different too. They focus on suddle undertones and simple flavors while we westerners tend to enjoy explosive flavor combinations with complex overtones. I took a Japanese bartender (Japanese champion) to San Fran/Miami and he thought everything was complex and too much. He didn't really like anything. I am happy to speak about Japanese bartending anytime. I love your videos!

Itadaki masu before eating food (being thankful for the food), kampai before drinking (the equivalent of cheers.)

Update: Just came from Japan and most highballs I got were mostly eyeballed slightly haphazardly mixed drinks to pair well with food. Still extremely delicious and refreshing but not some sort of mystical drink that requires decades of mastery in Japan haha, at least not in the everyday sense

As a bartender in Japan, I’ve noticed a few things about whisky culture here. For instance, you never see whisky stored in the freezer. When someone orders a mizuwari, they get whisky mixed with water. If they order a sodawari, highball, or tansanwari, they get whisky with soda. These drinks were likely popularized by Suntory, possibly because Kaku whisky is inexpensive and its taste is often masked by the soda. Interestingly, a 1:4 whisky-to-mixer ratio is considered too strong for many Japanese people, who tend to dilute their drinks significantly. Most Japanese prefer beverages with low alcohol content and can spend an hour sipping a single cocktail. Cocktail bars here are typically frequented by a small group of enthusiasts and foreigners. That’s about it! If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Almost forgot cheers is kanpai

as a fan of the Highball, i really appreciate you taking the time to dispel a lot of the... frankly orientalist approach to Japanese food, cocktail and bar culture. Not every bartender is Hiroyasu Kayama and the Whiskey Highball has a much more humble origin that has been forgotten in the west.

Can't say I ever expected to see such a deep dive on the Japanese Whisky Highball. Well done, Joe. Really enlightening. Cheers!

Excellent video! I've looked all over the internet too in search of this information. I'm an American who speaks Chinese and I've personally also looked all over the Chinese internet for the same information and also came up without any conclusive information. On my channel, I make cocktails in Chinese and have received requests for tips of Mizuari and Highball, so I really wanted to make sure I found the best information. You've done fantastic work here summarizing everything! Also, I love the clip of the バーテンダー show you threw in haha

This is AMAZING! I've been trying to track down the origins of the 13 and a half stirs method and the best i could find were a couple sources saying they got it from Suntory brand ambassadors. Your video and comments section really helped me out!

I appreciate the story behind this as well as all the deep diving research and respect to the art of making this drink.

This is by far the best channel I have encountered so far

The highball is a refreshing whisky drink, and the secret is not to overstir it so it doesn't lose its fizz. Also recommended is highball without ice, which lets you savor the whisky's flavor and sweetness more. A glass of Whisky Highball with ice Step 1 Fill a glass with ice and let chill Step 2 Pour chilled whisky Step 3 Stir Step 4 Add chilled soda (3- 4 parts soda to 1 part whisky)

When i visited japan this summer, it was my first time stumbling upon this drink. They sell it canned in convinience stores!

5:34 so "single grain" doesn't mean it's made from a single grain buth that it's a single whisky made from grain. Grain here being any mixture not limited to just malted barley. Because most grains don't produce enough enzymes to fully break down their own starch but barley can produce enough to break down several dozen times its own starch the mixture will almost always include some malted barley and the rest of the grain will usually be unmalted. Also, a grain whisky should be column distilled. Of course Japanese whisky doesn't follow the strictest rules for production and labeling so there is a chance that this is made with just corn to which enzymes are added separately. I bet it's made with a column still though because if not you'd want to highlight it.

Thanks for debunking the whole ritual thing. I ran into it a bunch of times while trying to research this drink.

Japanese love presentation. Just get a rocks glass, put a large cube of ice in there (doesn't have to be clear), put in a shot - 2 oz of whiskey and then fill the rest of the way with soda water. Stir for a few seconds and you have the same thing. Substitute - ginger ale, ginger beer, sour mix, tonic water, cola, citrus soda, etc. for soda water for different tastes.

Sitting here, drinking my Suntory highball from a can. Great video! I'll be making myself one, I've got to say this is probably the nicest explainer out there. So many youtubers are on some unique train of exaduration, this was refreshing! If you want to say Cheers in Japanese by the way, "Kanpai" is the way to go!

The better ratio is 1:5 (measured!). And using Toki whiskey which was specifically made for highballs. Also the lemon twist/garnish is absolutely necessary, with the addition of mint making an absolutlely god like summer drink. Also a thick frozen beer glass would also be superior.

Loved the video, hidden gem uncovered by youtube's algorithm it seems. Cheers from Argentina, wish I could add soda water to higher shelf whisky here without being fired from the bar... Oh and make a Fernet con Coca one day, you'll be flooded with comments (goes for any national drink, really, but we really tend to go wild whenever a foreigner makes it).

Keep it up mate. I loved the cinematography and storytelling

I think the "bogus" method features the whiskey more with the 2:1 ratio. The method you showed is more refreshing. I like both metheds.

So Suntory basically invented the two most iconic Japanese whisky cocktails the Mizuwari Whisky and Japanese Whisky Highball. I heard this story before. I think the "mizuwari" techniques reffers to how the tea ceremony is and I've heard an apocryphal tale about the 13 and a half stirs is from some bartender that did it for some rich clients when he made them watered whisky he did this whole elaborate ritual. So yeah glad to see a perfect japanese whisky hihgball

I thought I was just obsessing but I keep all my Japanese liquor products in the freezer once opened

For a relaxing time, choose Suntory Time ;)

You should check out the anime "Bartender: Kami no Glass"

For a relaxing time, choose Suntory Time ;)

Hello from Ohio. New subscriber here. Well done on the video.

I only ever see people drinking Mizuwari with Shochu or some of those weird high proof Sake

Thank you, sir.

I used tonic water and it was also good

You deserve 100x the subs you have now!

everyone talks how soda pops up all the flavors and how amazing it is in summer - every time I tryed to make one, with different japanese whiskys, and even skotch whiskys, they all tasted completely identical - absolutely tasteless , like cold glass of water with whisky added. When I will have a chance to visit Japan, I sure will try it there, other than that this so far is the only way of drinking whisky that I don't like

Isn't it usually made with non carbonated water

i think i usually get a whisky soda whenever i order a highball 😢

1.5 oz is about 45 ml, not 35 ml

JOE!!! I must be doing it right!! I def take gulps when I first taste my cocktail!!! This is one cocktail I need to try!! I've never had Japanese Whiskey, so I'm game!!! CHEERS!!!

I was just doing brief research on the mizuwari and how it's a drink in lou of Shōchū drinking methods/traditions established long before Suntory's push in the 70s to increase sales and found your channel. Legit I am glad I encountered your work here on the highball and mizuwari before trudging through the feedback loop that other channels unfortunately did.

2ND!?!?========>I want silver NOW!!!!