WHISKY

Kanpai!

We’re toasting Bristol’s new Japanese restaurant with the country’s classic tipple, the high ball. There’s more to it than whisky and soda...

One quick scan of the drinks menu at Kibou sees it crammed with Japanese-inspired cocktails, sakes and Japanese brewed beers and whiskies. But what really caught our attention was the extensive high ball section. A whole page dedicated to whisky and soda, we mused... It wasn’t until we began to explore the almost cult status that surrounds the traditional Japanese high ball that we understood its long backstory with the country.

Commercial production of Japanese whisky began in 1923 at the Yamazaki Distillery, following a trip by one of its employees to Scotland. By the end of the Second World War, Japan’s taste for whisky was becoming evident, and its popularity as a drink of status among businessmen, especially with respect to more premium brands, was really growing in momentum.

Drinking habits in Japan were mainly based around eating rather than pre or post-meal, and many of the Japanese began adding soda to their whisky to make it more palatable while consuming food and to reduce the alcohol content. By the ’50s and ’60s, the high ball had burst onto the drinks scene and was being consumed in izakayas (Japanese-style ‘pubs’) and restaurants across the country as an alternative to drinking beer.

As we headed into the ’80s, however, high balls started to fall out of favour, with emerging generations viewing them as old-fashioned and wanting to try the new drinks coming onto the menu. That was until a campaign introduced by Suntory, one of Japan’s largest distillers, put the high ball back in the limelight a few years later. Designed to shake off the out-of-date stereotypes of the classic drink, Suntory aimed to re-introduce high balls to a younger, fresher audience, highlighting their own range of whiskies on offer and a more refined take on this simple cocktail.

Since then high balls have escalated in their popularity, incorporating the full range of whiskies available across the country, including those esteemed as more premium and refined. Bars quickly developed signature serves, with an almost zen-like focus in terms of production standards and using only the finest of ingredients.

Bartenders would hand-select and carve blocks of ice for the perfect cube, they’d debate the optimum number of stirs so as to preserve bubbles in the soda, and they’d all have their own opinion as to whether you should garnish or not. The creation of the perfect high ball became so much more than just mixing whisky with soda –the devil was all in the detail, and the detail had turned this simple cocktail into a work of art.

So why are they so popular now? They’re refreshing, to start with, plus they’re low-calorie, low-carb and lower in ABV. This combination makes them the perfect drink to enjoy with a meal, and also makes them discerningly sessionable.

How to make the perfect high ball

• Fill a high ball glass with ice (the larger the size of ice the better) • Add a slice of lemon • Add the whisky – about ⅓ to ¼ filled • Add soda • Stir once – so you keep all those bubbles

Otherwise, head over to Kibou and let the pros do the work... From the classic high ball, featuring sweet and spicy Toki whisky, to their smoky Kunsei –a delicious infusion of Chita whisky with lapsang –you’ll soon discover why this drink has become so popular in Japan. n

• Kibou Japanese Kitchen & Bar opens this month in King’s Road, Clifton Village, Bristol. kibou.co.uk