Ume Blossom High Ball

Our neighborhood is aglow with blossoming Ume and Cherry trees and it had us incredibly inspired. We’ve always loved the whiskey highball and were wondering how it would fare with the introduction of a slight sourness from Kimino’s amazing sparkling Ume juice - newsflash IT’S AMAZING! Our instructions follow the classic Japanese bartender guide for making highballs, and we will say there is magic to hand cutting your ice cubes so they perfectly fit your glass.

Ingredients

• 2oz Japanese whiskey - we used Toki by @suntorywhisky

• 1 bottle of @kimino Sparkling Ume juice

• 3 large ice cubes

Tools

• Highball glass

• Stirring spoon

Instruction

• Place one large cube of ice in a highball glass. 

• Stir until a frost appears on the glass. 

• Pour off any excess water. 

• Add one more cube of ice, then add the whiskey to the glass. 

• Stir exactly 13 times clockwise. 

• Place another cube of ice in the glass (the ice should fill the highball at this point). 

• Top with Ume soda and stir three times to incorporate. Garnish with Ume blossom (if you can find one!)