The Secret to Death & Co’s Delicious Whiskey Highball

The Highball is probably the first drink every bartender learns. My introduction came from the old guys who drank whisky sodas at the golf course where I worked as a kid, always “easy on the soda.”

Until recently, I still thought of whisky and soda as an old man’s drink. But there’s an entire culture of high-end Highballs coming our way from Japan. Highball bars are all the rage in Japan these days, and they get really specific about how to build the drink there. There’s the mizuwari (“cut with water”) ritual, in which you fill a glass with ice, stir it around to chill the vessel, then pour out the water that has melted, retaining the ice in the glass. Then you add whisky and stir exactly 13-and-a-half times, always clockwise. Finally, you add sparkling water and stir three-and-a-half times. Some bartenders use one large piece of ice for the entire process; others add ice with every step. Don’t even get me started on how fussy they are about the type of water they use. It’s all very Zen.

Courtesy Tim Tomkinson

If my grandpa saw this, he’d think it was hilarious. But these days American bartenders are drawn to this kind of exacting attention to detail, as well as the romanticism of the process. But I have to admit, it’s sometimes hard to convey our appreciation for these nuances to our guests. They see a two-ingredient drink that’s mostly water, which can make it hard to understand the sophistication of the drink and the attention to detail in the glass. That’s okay; they don’t need to understand all of the minutiae if they enjoy the drink.

All of that said, the most beautiful thing about the Highball is its simplicity. You only need a spirit, a glass, some ice, and carbonated water. You don’t need a shaker or mixing glass, fancy syrups, or bitters. Hell, you don’t even need a proper barspoon. As a result, you can make a great Highball pretty much anywhere.

The simplicity of the template also leaves a lot of room to experiment, branching out into infinite other variations beyond the usual gin and tonics, rum and Cokes, and Palomas. So many branches, so little time.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 oz Scotch
• 6 oz Cold seltzer
• Garnish: Lemon wedge
• Glass: Highball

DIRECTIONS:

Pour the Scotch into a Highball glass, then add 3 ice cubes. Stir for three seconds. Add the seltzer and stir once. Garnish with the lemon wedge.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 oz Hakushu 12-year Japanese Whisky
• 4 oz Cold seltzer
• Glass: Highball

DIRECTIONS:

Pour the whisky into a Highball glass and add 1 ice cube. Let sit for 3 seconds. Add the seltzer and stir once.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 oz Domaine de Montreuil
• Pays d’Auge Réserve Calvados
• 4 oz cold Fever-Tree Tonic Water
• Glass: Highball

DIRECTIONS:

Pour the Calvados into a Highball glass, then add 3 ice cubes. Stir for three seconds. Add the tonic and stir once.

Tyson Buhler is the bar director at Death & Co and a winner of the 2015 World Class bartending competition.

Courtesy of the Cocktail Codex by authors Alex Day, David Kaplan and Nick Fauchald, with Devon Tarby