Chūhai (チューハイ, shōchū highball)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Highball glass or tall tumbler, chilled
• •Jigger or small measuring cup
• •Bar spoon, or a long chopstick
• •Citrus press, or clean fingers and a small strainer

Instructions

1. 1

   Chill the glass

   Put the shōchū, soda water, and glass in the cold before you begin. Fill the glass with ice and stir it for ten seconds, then pour off any water that gathers at the bottom. This isn't fuss. A cold glass keeps the soda lively, and the drink stays dry instead of turning watery before the first sip.

2. 2

   Add the shōchū

   Measure 60 ml of chilled kōrui shōchū and pour it over the ice. Kōrui is clean and quiet, which is why it suits this postwar highball. It leaves room for the soda and citrus, instead of making the drink about the spirit alone.

   Honkaku shōchū, the single-distilled kind with more character, can be good in its own glass. Here it changes the center of the drink, so use it knowingly.
3. 3

   Squeeze the citrus

   Squeeze in the fresh lemon juice, then drop in the squeezed peel if you like its scent. Use bottled juice only when you want to be disappointed efficiently. Fresh citrus gives the clean edge this drink needs, and there is no syrup to hide a tired squeeze.

4. 4

   Top with soda

   Tilt the glass slightly and pour the very cold soda water down the side, filling the glass without flooding it. Give it one slow lift with a bar spoon or long chopstick. Stir hard and you drive out the bubbles, and the bubbles are half the seasoning here.

5. 5

   Serve at once

   Serve immediately, while the outside of the glass is beaded with cold and the drink still snaps at the tongue. Chūhai is made to drink long beside grilled food: yakitori, salted fish, vegetables from the fire. Keep it dry. Once sugar leads, you're making another drink.

Chef Tips

• •For the postwar Tokyo profile, buy kōrui shōchū. It is continuous-distilled, clean, and dry, so the lemon and soda stay clear. Honkaku mugi or kome shōchū is a respectable drink, but it changes the center, so don't pretend it's the same glass.
• •Use a newly opened bottle or siphon of soda and chill it hard. Bubbles are part of flavor here; flat water makes the drink taste thin and a little sulky.
• •Lemon is the workhorse. When sudachi or kabosu are at their shun in autumn, or yuzu in winter, use one wedge and no syrup. The citrus should sharpen the drink, not announce a parade.
• •This is meant to sit beside grilled food, especially yakitori, salted fish, or vegetables from the grill. Keep it dry enough to reset the mouth.

Advance Preparation

• •Chill the shōchū, soda water, and glasses at least two hours ahead. Cold is the quiet technique that makes this drink work.
• •Cut the citrus up to 30 minutes ahead and keep it covered in the refrigerator. Squeeze it only when mixing, because the scent fades quickly.
• •Do not batch chūhai with soda. For several drinks, measure the shōchū and citrus into chilled glasses, then top each one with soda at the table.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 220g)