Shochu Highball (Oita Chu-Hi)

The Oita Chu-Hi is a refreshing, barley tea-infused Shochu Highball that combines sweet vermouth, a pandan coconut soda, and orange bitters.

Shochu is Japan’s most popular spirit, outselling both sake and Japanese whisky. Though it is the country’s oldest distilled alcoholic beverage, dating to the 1500s, this low-alcohol spirit (typically under 30% ABV) remains relatively unknown to many U.S. drinkers.

Highballs made with Japanese whisky have been popular in Japan since the 1950s, partially fueled by the Japanese beverage producer Suntory. After World War II, the company behind the oldest Japanese whisky brands opened bars throughout the country promoting the cocktail and went on to create branded highball machines. This meticulous style of crafting Whiskey Highballs has only recently made its way to U.S. cocktail bars and menus. 

The Shochu Highball, colloquially known in Japan as a “Chu-hi” or “Chuhai,” is another widely popular tall drink in Japan, with variations increasingly popping up on bar menus overseas. They can be found in casual izakayas (Japanese pubs) or in a ready-to-drink can format, typically containing just shochu, club soda, and a fruit flavor, and hovering around 3% ABV. 

The Oita Chu-hi, from bartender Kevin Sheridan at n/soto in Los Angeles, California is named for Oita, the prefecture in Japan known for putting 100% barley shochu on the map, and is also the origin of the shochu boom in the late 1970s.

Sheridan’s recipe takes the highball template and leans into Nikaido Shochu’s barley base.

What makes the Oita Chu-hi work

Chu-hi cocktails are known to be especially food-friendly. 

“Chu-his are perfectly crushable, low ABV cocktails,” says Reed Windle, beverage director at n/soto. “They go well with all types of food. They have all of the beautiful effervescence of a spritz with less of the sweetness and medicinal element.”

The Oita Chu-hi was created to complement n/soto’s izakaya-inspired dishes.

“The intention with this cocktail was to create something more delicate, nuanced, and conducive to pairing with our cuisine,” says Sheridan. “I found that the softness and subtle sweetness of coconut water and the aromatic qualities that pandan provides, paired nicely with the rich barley notes of Nikaido shochu.”

To create this flavor-forward highball, Sheridan first steeps barley tea in a bottle of shochu for 30 minutes and makes a homemade pandan coconut soda by blending pandan with coconut water and then carbonating. 

Sheridan uses California-made Lo-Fi Sweet Vermouth which is slightly drier than many traditional sweet vermouths and has a complex flavor profile that includes vanilla, rhubarb, cocoa, and gentian root. The dashes of orange bitters and orange zest heighten the vermouth’s botanicals and brighten the barley notes.

“Vermouth adds some weight and texture to the cocktail, while the mugicha tea fortifies some of the barley notes found in the shochu,” he says. “The result is reminiscent of a classic shochu highball but with slightly more depth and complexity.”