This cocktail at Brassica restaurant at the Waldorf Astoria Atlanta Buckhead hotel is an homage to the classic highball cocktail in general and the Japanese version in particular, but with a local twist.
Will Benedetto, who created the drink, starts by pouring ¼ ounce of house-made peach shrub and two dashes of Extinct Chemical Company’s Acid Phosphate into a frozen Collins glass. Then he adds 1.5 ounces of Suntory Toki whisky, which he keeps chilled in the freezer, and an ice spear, gives it a brief stir and then fills the glass with Fever Tree club soda, pouring it down the side of the glass so it blends well and stays as carbonated as possible. Then he finishes it with a fresh-cut flower and about eight sprays of orange blossom water over the top and the outside of the glass for added aroma.
Benedetto said he selected the Toki whiskey because it “carries lovely herbal, ginger, and pepper notes.” He keeps the whisky cold to maintain as much carbonation in the drink as possible.
The shrub is made by macerating equal amounts of peaches and white sugar overnight and then adding an equal weight of vinegar (three parts apple cider vinegar to one part white vinegar) and lets that “infuse and mellow” for five days. Then he strains the solids out and stores the liquid in a bottle.
Price: $18