This Tsukiji Highball, named after the historic Tokyo fish market, was only served once at Katana Kitten for a private event, and the divisive drink proved to be a love-it-or-hate-it affair. “At first, the Melon-Lime Soda is a punch in the face that delivers the most vivid flavor, but as the ice melts, the undertones of lime flavor are introduced by the end you’ve experienced all of the intended balance of the flavors.”Ī simple Scotch & Soda served as the inspiration for a savory highball whose seemingly austere profile packs an umami punch. “At Katana Kitten, we drive home that the first sip should always hit you and leave an impression,” says Urushido. Lime peels come into play in the housemade matcha-lime cordial, which counterbalances the sugar and amps up the bright aroma of the drink. The inherent sweetness of the drink is cut with fresh lime juice and tart Japanese sudachi (another citrus fruit). The drink’s split base of a full ounce each of Absolut Lime and Midori-two ingredients you don’t usually find in a craft cocktail bar-might cause a stir with some bartenders, but Urushido is undeterred. “Vodka, shitty ice, soda water from the gun, and a lime wedge.” But Urushido’s reinterpretation took a turn in a new direction with the addition of a certain disco-era Japanese melon liqueur. “Vodka Lime Soda, over and over,” he recalls, drawing on muscle memory to mimic making the drink with his eyes closed. The idea for the drink originated at one of the first bars Urushido worked at in New York: Kingswood, the now-closed high-volume bar in Greenwich Village where he fielded countless requests for vodka sodas. The neon green Melon-Lime Soda, a mashup of the vodka soda with lime and the Midori Sour, stands alongside the house Toki Highball and the fragrant Shiso Gin & Tonic as a top-selling highball at Katana Kitten. That extends to Katana’s inventive approach to highballs. The name-a mashup of the austere beauty and tradition of a samurai sword and the playful nature of an adorably curious little cat-is the perfect encapsulation of the bar, where a team of skilled bartenders comes together for a nightly house party set among Japanese movie posters and a soundtrack of ’80s hits. Urushido, known by most simply as “Masa,” is a managing partner, head bartender and “director of deliciousness” at the award-winning Japanese American bar Katana Kitten in New York’s West Village. “But what are you complaining about? It tastes like a highball.” It depends what you expect and what you pay for it,” says Urushido. “I don’t think it’s possible to have a bad highball in Japan. In Japan, the highball is a working-class drink that, while democratic in its appeal, usually displays care and consideration-even lifelong dedication-in its construction. He pictures a long, tall, cold glass filled with stacked ice, whisky and highly carbonated soda water. When Masahiro Urushido considers a highball, the first thing that matters is how it looks.
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