What Happens When You Cross a Highball and a Salty Dog?
Learn to make talented bartender Julia Momose’s refreshing vodka, sake and grapefruit soda cocktail.
Courtesy Sammy Faze Photography
Thank you to the House of Suntory for partnering with Half Full and sponsoring this Bartenders At Home cocktail video.
What inspired you to create this cocktail? “The Highball is one of my favorite recipes to drink and to make. In my heart of hearts, I always have and always will love a Salty Dog cocktail. The Shiozuké-Highball brings those two loves together, but with a soft touch. I like to celebrate the rice base of Suntory’s Haku® Vodka with nihonshu (Japanese saké), and switching to grapefruit soda instead of juice lightens and brightens the whole drink. It is also fun to experiment with various spice seasonings for the salt rim, so incorporating fennel seed and pink peppercorn shells with some sugar just felt right for this drink.”
When would you serve this drink? “It’s great as an aperitif and with food! I was channeling the nature of shōchū Highballs as I was making this drink, keeping the ABV low and the flavor profile such that it will pair well with food.”
What music would you pair it with? “There was some Ben Webster playing as I made this drink—the song “Solitude” comes to mind in particular.”
What food would you pair it with? “Izakaya style and Japanese home cooking. Karaage (Japanese fried chicken), katsudon (breaded and fried pork cutlet over rice with egg cooked in dashi), fresh fruit, tataki kyuri (flash pickled cucumbers), hiyayakko (chilled tofu with toppings), brûléed grapefruit with fennel seed and cumin, yakitori....Now I am hungry.”
By Julia Momose
INGREDIENTS
- 1.25 parts Haku® Vodka (Order on Drizly)
- 1 part Nihonshu Japanese saké
- Grapefruit soda
- Glass: Highball, rimmed with salt
DIRECTIONS
Run a lemon wedge along three-quarters of the outer rim of a highball glass. Dip the moistened rim into a dish of salt. Fill the glass with ice and add the saké and vodka. Stir, and then top with grapefruit soda.
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Interview has been condensed and edited.
Haku® Vodka, 40% Alc./Vol. ©2020 Beam Suntory Import Co., Chicago, IL. Drink Responsibly.