Recipes

This $70 Baller Highball at Old Mate’s Place plucks water from the air

Japanese whisky and a unique water are key elements of the drink.

Sam Bygrave

Nov 28, 2023 — 2 min read

Oscar Smith, general manager at Old Mate's Place in Sydney. Photo: Boothby

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What makes a Whisky Highball land at $70?

Well, if you’re drinking at Old Mate’s Place in Sydney, it’s going to feature a blend of expensive Japanese whiskies, and water pulled — magically, it almost seems — from the air around you.

It might just be the best Whisky Soda I’ve ever had.

“People who normally drink Highballs say it’s a great, great Highball,” says Oscar Smith, general manager at Old Mate’s Place.

But what makes it taste good? The drink employs a blend of three Japanese whiskies: Yamazaki 18, The Chita, and Hibiki Harmony.

So that’s a clue right there as to why the price of the drink is $70. The Yamazaki 18 itself retails — if you can find it, that is — north of $1500. Hibiki Harmony, that’ll set you back around $200 — again, if you can find it in stock anywhere — and The Chita, well, that’s a little more approachable at around $100 a bottle.

“It is the Baller Highball, and it’s the baller highball on the menu,” says Oscar.

It’s a relatively simple serve: 60ml of the Japanese whisky blend, extremely pure water, carbonation, and caramelised cumquats to garnish.

And it might just be that water that gives the drink a step up.

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Oscar Smith tells us what makes the Baller Highball so baller.

Co-owner Dre Walters says that they use an Aquaria atmospheric water generator — itself a rather pricey machine — which brings in ambient water vapour to create water through condensation. The machine sits in the bar’s prep lab on one of the lower floors of the building, where it can get a little humid.

“You extract more water in humid spaces,,” Dre says. “More humidity equals more water.”

That water is then filtered a number of times, with the result being a very pure water for your very fancy pants whisky.

Now, maybe after all that talk of pure water and delicious Japanese whisky, maybe I bought into the whole thing — taste is subjective after all. But there is a crispness and refreshing quality to the water that makes the whisky pop even brighter in the drink.

It’s very tasty stuff.