Yuzu · With alcohol

Toji Highball

Name: Toji Highball
Yield: 1 drink
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: 45 ml Japanese whisky, blended; 10 ml yuzu juice; 10 ml simple syrup; 90 ml chilled soda water, to top

The winter solstice bath, drinkable. The executive signature serve.

Yuzu in full, from where it grows to how it reaches a glass in Europe, is in the Yuzu chapter.

GlassTall highball, the clearest ice you can make.

Build

Servings

45 mlJapanese whisky, blended
10 mlyuzu juice
10 mlsimple syrup
90 mlchilled soda water, to top

MethodBuild over ice in this order: whisky, yuzu, syrup. Stir five times. Top with soda poured down the side. Stir once, gently. A highball is ruined by enthusiasm.

GarnishA wide strip of yuzu or lemon peel, expressed over the surface and dropped in.

Cost estimateCHF 4

A tall glass of clear sparkling highball with a single long ice spear and a twist of yuzu peel, on a black lacquer tray beside a whole yuzu with one leaf still attached. — Toji Highball AI generated.

What to expect in the glass

Dry, long and aromatic. The whisky stays legible instead of being sweetened into anonymity, and the yuzu arrives as perfume in the nose before it registers as acidity on the palate. That order is what separates this from a whisky sour.

Expressing the peel does most of the aromatic work. The oil in yuzu rind is more distinctive than the juice, and it sits on the surface where your nose meets it first.

Ten ml of yuzu against 10 ml of syrup keeps the whisky in charge, and at roughly 145 ml of liquid over ice the dilution lands where a highball should. The ratio holds if you scale it for a group.

Balance note

Ice quality matters more here than anywhere else in the book, because there is nothing to hide behind. Use the largest, clearest cubes you have and chill the glass first.

Simon's note after tasting

Aroma: bright yuzu peel and fresh citrus oils, followed by green apple, delicate honey and subtle vanilla.

Palate: crisp, sparkling and exceptionally refreshing. Yuzu brings vivid citrus acidity and aromatic complexity, lifting the lighter fruit and herbal notes of the whisky. The syrup softens the edges without adding noticeable sweetness, and the soda opens everything up.

Finish: clean and dry, with lingering grapefruit, yuzu zest, gentle ginger spice and a whisper of oak.

Overall: precise, citrus driven and elegant. Refreshing first, whisky second, with enough fruit, spice and aromatic depth to keep every sip interesting.