The Highball, or Mizuwari in Japan, is one of the most common drinks in the country. Suntory founder Shinjiro Torii is said to have popularised the drink in the 1950s at his Tory’s Bars, which specialised in the serve. Since then the Highball has consistently grown domestically and is catching up with beer in volume terms. On paper it’s the perfect drink for today’s market – simple to make at home, low in calories and not so boozy – yet, there’s some loss in translation in western markets.
Many tourists and trade professionals returning from Japan reference the quality of their Highballs. The cynic in me maintains that it’s a holiday romance – nevertheless, you can’t argue with the drink’s domestic success.
“When you walk past a 7-Eleven in Japan they’re filled with Suntory Highball cans, and so are all the vending machines,” says Martyn ‘Simo’ Simpson, founder of Dram whisky bar in London’s Soho. “Domestically there’s a huge culture of RTD Highballs, which is less common in Europe, while some of the old Mizuwari-style Highballs in Japanese bars aren’t even fizzy – if you see some original recipes they’re often flat.”
The RTD Highballs, which are dominated in Japan by Suntory, are more aligned with the effervescent style recognised in Europe and the US. However, in order to get the same volumes and culture of canned Highballs in the west, the on-trade needs to up its game.
It’s often said that to increase off-trade sales, a product’s on-trade performance needs to dance. Simply pouring a random whisky into a room-temperature glass with soda water won’t demand a standing ovation. The following ritual marked out by Jamie Feldmar in Food & Wine magazine is what bartender standards should demand.
“Chilling the ingredients is essential – the water, whiskey and glass – all of which contribute to the finished product's overall quality and taste. Ice usually comes in large, clear cubes to slow dilution, and is often added to a glass, stirred to chill the glass appropriately, and then drained. Whiskey is added and carefully stirred, topped with more ice, then soda water is added and carefully stirred again, often an exact and minimal number of times to maintain carbonation. Garnishes run the gamut from none to citrus to other fruits and herbs, depending on the type of whiskey and its flavour profile.”
Flavour profile
Given the attitude towards hospitality in Japan compared to European nations, it’s unlikely we’ll ever see the above ritual become standard practice for a whisky soda, but certainly in premium bars it’s important – particularly the final point on the flavour profile of the whisky.
“Japanese whiskies lend themselves to Highball-style drinks because of their floral and fruity undertones, they’re delicate whiskies,” adds Simpson. “At Dram we notice the Japanese whiskies which sell best are the more floral styles. I don’t think Japan makes many extreme whiskies, even its peated style is nowhere near as strong as an Islay malt, for example.”
Having spoken with other bartenders around London, the consensus with Highballs is to avoid whiskies with a heavy oak influence, such as those aged in first-fill casks. Heavily sherried or port-finished whiskies should also be avoided while blended whiskies, particularly Japanese, were recommended because of their meticulous blending process.
In order to gain uniform and rapid serves in the on-trade, much like draft beer, Suntory invented its own Highball dispense system in the 1980s. When it later introduced Toki to the US market in 2016, it offered branded dispensers to on-trade accounts, which reportedly have a much more intense carbonation than soda water. This type of system could be the answer to the previously mentioned lack of bartender standards as well as the need for ice or whisky knowledge.
In Japan the consumption of booze has declined rapidly over the past few years. So much so that a government campaign was launched in 2022 by the National Tax Agency called Saka Viva! to find new ways of encouraging 20 to 39-year-olds to drink more. As bizarre as that may sound, the change in consumption levels is largely down to a shift in attitude towards drinking among younger consumers, therefore the need to increase exports is important for Japanese whisky brands.
Activations such as the dispensing systems for the on-trade could go a long way to increasing the popularity of Japanese Highballs internationally. This, in turn, could boost off-trade consumption and leave an opportunity for Suntory’s vast Highball RTDs to break boundaries.
