A Japanese Whisky Highball can be made in the following way:

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Select a tall 8- to 10-ounce glass, with a narrow mouth, and carefully cut a butter-shaped block out of a block of pure, dense ice (either made yourself or purchased from a local ice store). Cut the block no longer than the glass, but about a third smaller in size.

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Adding 1.5 ounces of Japanese Whisky and shaking it clockwise 13.5 times is a good way to get the sides of the glass opaque with chill. Strain out the melt water. Add 6 ounces. Using your spoon, gently stir the ice and whisky into the water as you gradually fold the spoon down the sides of the glass until the glass is half full of water. Pour the mineral water down the sides and stir three times more. Add a lemon peel over the top and discard it.

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A Japanese Whisky Highball can also be made in the following way:

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Use your index finger to open the Japanese Whisky Highball can.

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We in the United States have a deep sense of respect for Japanese craftsmanship and reverence for it, and the former (known as Mizuwari) is more appropriate for us. In Japan, it is still done quite often, though it does not occur as often as it once did.

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In addition, the latter is more often, and these 12-oz. cans 7/11 stores throughout the country sell cans, as well as cocktail vending machines, that are as Japanese as possible. In order to answer this question, which choice is the most popular among the Japanese public? Both of these are very stereotypically Japanese.

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In fact, neither. The Japanese people have adopted a middle ground, where precision and elegance are important but efficiency is also. Whisky Highballs are way too popular in Japan to be fussy about counting the stirs. Whisky Highballs are drinks for after-work, drinks for letting loose. They are drinks for the people. They were invented that way.

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There's no hiding from the Japanese Whisky Highball. If each ingredient in a cocktail is a character in a movie, then the Japanese Whisky Highball is Castaway. 

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It is true that most Japanese bartenders do not rotate every 13.5 months, but this does not mean they don't care about the process. It means that they have found a way by iteration and innovation to adopt what matters and dispense with what doesn't.

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If you order a vodka soda, you risk being accused of being basic, whereas the Japanese Highball is just whiskey soda that looks sophisticated and cool. Is it a double standard? Hey, kinda. Urushido refers to kaizen, or continuous improvement, when writing about cocktails. It makes more sense when you have a highball whiskey his way, the Japanese way.

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Japanese Whisky Highball

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• 1.5 oz. Japanese Whisky
• 4.5 oz. chilled soda or seltzer water

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You should add chilled whiskey to the tall narrow glass as soon as you take it out of the freezer. The ingredients and tools should be as cold as possible. Place the chilled whiskey over the ice and gently pour in the soda water. Be careful not to disturb the bubbles, and combine the ingredients minimally. Remove and discard the lemon peel. 

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NOTES ON INGREDIENTS

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There is a crucial ingredient in carbonation here, which is why I am taking it separate from water. The important thing is to make sure that everything is as cold as possible. Is it possible to open a bottle of Coca-Cola at room temperature and have it foam like a demon? If you open a Champagne bottle before it is fully chilled and the cork pops off the second you remove the cage, that's because carbonation prefers cold temperatures; the warmer temperatures, the faster bubbles will leave. Refrigerate the soda water, the whiskey, and the glass, all of it. Cold, cold, cold.

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Almost every time you look for the recommended whiskey for highballs, you'll find Suntory Toki. Japanese Whisky: It's rare to find such consensus in the bar world, but Suntory Toki is pretty much always there. As mentioned, the flavor of this product is mild, but persists, and it's perfect for this application, as well as being widely available and reasonably priced. If you intend to make highballs, I highly recommend freezing the bottle. You will retain more bubbles when it is cold.

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The importance of cold temperatures and a clean glass greatly exceeds its shape when it comes to glassware. As a result, flutes should be used instead of coupes in Champagne because they hold the bubbles for longer (supposedly), so grab a tall, thin glass if you can. To prevent annoyingly endothermic human hands from warming the glass and cocktail itself, Katana Kitten uses a 12oz stein with a handle. Keep the glass in the freezer before you use it, if you can, but if you can't, don't worry. If you can't, don't worry.

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Traditionally, soda has a bit of sodium in it, seltzer doesn't and mineral water has more dissolved minerals like sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium. I could write an entire article about the differences between these waters, but briefly: Soda usually contains a bit of sodium, while Seltzer typically doesn't. You can use whatever you like here as long as you enjoy it.

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I realize I've already said it, but what you really need for a good cocktail is big, ripping carbonation. To make a great cocktail, you need the right amount of carbonation. This means you shouldn't use San Pellegrino and Perrier that are weakly carbonated, nor should you use them that are painful to hold in your mouth. It has a little too much saltiness on its own, but it adds a lot of flavor to cocktails.

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Depending on where you get it, it also costs somewhere between $6 and $10 per liter, so even though I do prefer Q, most of the time I'll get either Topo Chico or the cans of supermarket-brand soda water. These work just fine in an emergency, but I would prefer Q if I've got the option.

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In general, if you have access to perfectly clear, ultra-dense ice, then it would be ideal, but that isn't the case. In basic terms, the bigger the piece of ice, the less surface area, the fewer nucleation points, and the more carbonation you will get. Make sure to use the biggest piece of ice that can fit in the glass.

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In order to give the whole project a bright aroma and taste, it is advisable to express the oils from a lemon peel over the top of the drink. By dropping the peel into the drink, you will add some delicious oils to the drink, at the expense of some carbonation. Some things are worth sacrificing. There are some things you can't change.