Around the world in 80 drinks

The Japanese Highball is a masterclass in restraint. Whisky — typically a blended Japanese expression — is poured over a single large ice cube, stirred exactly thirteen and a half times to chill without diluting, then topped with chilled sparkling water. The result is crisp, clean, and deeply refreshing.

In Japan, the Highball is not a shortcut — it is a craft. The care taken over temperature, dilution, and carbonation reflects a broader cultural philosophy: that doing simple things exceptionally well is its own form of artistry.

The Pisco Sour is Peru's national drink and a source of fierce national pride — Chile has its own version, and the debate over which country owns the cocktail has been running for decades. The Peruvian original uses pisco (a grape brandy), fresh lime juice, simple syrup, egg white, and a dash of Angostura bitters on top.

The egg white gives the drink its signature silky foam, and the bitters on top are as much about aesthetics as flavour. It is a cocktail that rewards patience — the dry shake before ice is essential — and the result is one of the most elegant sours in the world.

Brazil's national cocktail is built on cachaça — a spirit distilled from fresh sugarcane juice rather than molasses, giving it a grassy, almost vegetal character that sets it apart from rum. Muddled lime, sugar, and cachaça over crushed ice: the Caipirinha is as direct and exuberant as the country it comes from.

Variations abound — strawberry, passion fruit, kiwi — but the original remains the benchmark. It is a drink that demands fresh ingredients and a willingness to get your hands a little sticky.

The Mojito is one of the oldest cocktails in the world, with roots stretching back to 16th-century Havana. White rum, fresh mint, lime juice, sugar, and soda water: the formula is simple, but the execution separates a great Mojito from a mediocre one. The mint should be gently pressed, not brutally muddled — bruising releases bitter chlorophyll.

Hemingway drank them at La Bodeguita del Medio. The bar still exists. The Mojito still tastes best in the heat, with the sound of music drifting in from the street.

Legend has it that Count Camillo Negroni walked into Caffè Casoni in Florence in 1919 and asked the bartender to strengthen his Americano by replacing the soda water with gin. The result — equal parts gin, sweet vermouth, and Campari — became one of the most enduring cocktails ever created.

The Negroni is bitter, complex, and completely uncompromising. It does not try to please everyone, and that is precisely why it has endured. Stirred, not shaken. Served over a large ice cube. Orange peel expressed over the top.

While the Margarita gets all the international attention, Mexicans themselves tend to drink the Paloma — tequila, fresh grapefruit juice, a squeeze of lime, a pinch of salt, and sparkling water. It is lighter, more refreshing, and arguably more versatile than its famous sibling.

The Paloma is a drink for hot afternoons and long evenings. It asks very little of you and gives a great deal back.

Named after the French 75mm field gun used in the First World War — because it hits with the same force — the French 75 combines gin, lemon juice, sugar, and Champagne. It is celebratory, elegant, and deceptively strong.

The French 75 is the cocktail equivalent of a perfectly tailored suit: effortlessly stylish, with a little more going on beneath the surface than first appears.

The Old Fashioned is the original cocktail — or at least the closest thing to it. Whiskey (bourbon or rye), sugar, Angostura bitters, and a twist of orange peel: the recipe has barely changed since the 1800s, and it does not need to.

It is a drink that rewards good whiskey and punishes shortcuts. The sugar should be dissolved properly, the ice should be large and clear, and the orange peel should be expressed — not just dropped in. Get those things right and you have one of the finest drinks ever conceived.