Name: Mr Icky (Waldorf Astoria Osaka)
Prep time: 5 min
Ingredients: 30 ml. Mugi Shochu (the bar uses SG Shochu); 15 ml. Rinomato Aperitivo; 5 ml. Campari; 30 ml. Mancino Vecchio Vermouth; 3 ml. truffle honey; 2 dashes The Japanese Shiso Bitters; 2 dashes The Japanese Sancho Bitters

“It’s not meant to be subtle. It’s a robust flavor that should be embraced.”

That’s what renowned bartender Masahiro Urushido (Katana Kitten) told me about wasabi, prominently featured in a Margarita riff called the Tommy Wasabi, which he was serving during a guest stint at Manhattan’s spice-forward cocktail den Mace. Yep, that green stuff on the side of your sushi platter (which is the rhizome or underground stem of a wasabi plant, ground into a paste) is an excellent addition to mixed drinks if sourced and used properly.

I loved the drink — it was spicy, sure, but it also had a fresh green aroma and flavor that bridged the worlds of Asia and Mexico. And the good news? At least for this drink, it’s pretty damn easy to use. Urushido simply uses it as is, adding it to the cocktail right before he shakes it up.

Up the street at Shinji’s, Beverage Director Jonathan Adler offers his own wasabi-driven bottled cocktail called the Handroll. “Wasabi adds a little bit of spice but also a lovely green vegetal note that is very specific, slightly earthy and not really replicable in any other way,” he says.

Wasabi on a wasabi grater — This belongs in your cocktail.

Makiko Tanigawa/Getty

Handroll replicates the flavor of, natch, a sushi handroll. Unlike some of the other drinks I mention here, it’s not so simple to make at home. “We start with a base of vodka, which is treated like a dashi, first infused via sous vide with freeze-dried ginger and then steeped while warm over bonito flake,” Adler says. “The wasabi peels are sous vide alongside cocoa butter into a sorghum-based spirit called Soka. We also add rice shochu for the rice element of the sushi, a little mirin for a touch of body and sweetness, and white soy for salinity.” Add in some forced carbonation and a bottle that mimics that of Kikkoman Soy Sauce, and, well — you’ll have to try this at the bar. One wasabi lesson a home bartender can take is that less is more if you’re using it in a carbonated preparation.

At the Fairmont Royal York in Toronto, Director of Beverage James Grant uses wasabi as part of a coconut/pandan/wasabi cordial. “The heat of wasabi is distinct from the heat we usually find in cocktails,” he says. “Unlike hot sauce, ginger or pepper, which grows in heat over time, wasabi tends to be very intense, bright and quick to dissipate.”

“It depends on what you’re trying to achieve, but wasabi delivers a very versatile and complex flavor,” adds Luis Hernandez, director of food and beverage at NYC’s new Hello Hello faux dive bar, where they use a wasabi paste as part of a riff on a Midori Sour.

“Wasabi brings more than just heat,” says Dominic Dijkstra, director of mixology at Waldorf Astoria Osaka. “The leaves and rhizome carry a clean, green sharpness that’s very different from chili spice. It’s more of a nose-tingling freshness. In a cocktail, that brightness can cut through richer flavors or elevate delicate ones, adding both aroma and a subtle, lingering lift.”

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Where to Buy Wasabi

Urushido uses both fresh and frozen wasabi imported from Japan or picks some up at a Japanese grocery store in the city, where “it tastes completely different,” he says. Adler also has fresh wasabi root shipped from Japan, specifically from Shizuoka.

But most of the bartenders we spoke to simply buy and use it as a paste. “I would love to make it fresh, but it’s cost-prohibitive,” Hernandez says.

But if money is no object? “Our fresh wasabi comes from a company called NEXTAGE Corp,” Dijkstra says. “They cultivate Mazuma wasabi — one of the rarest and most challenging varieties to grow — hydroponically in 40-foot container modules in Japan. Unlike field-grown wasabi, which often suffers from weather and insect damage, their leaves are in absolutely perfect condition year-round. That quality and consistency make a huge difference when you’re using them in a cocktail.”

Handroll cocktail at Shinji's — The Handroll cocktail at Shinji’s

Joanna Lin

How to Use Wasabi in Cocktails

Adler suggests using the green part of the rhizome in a syrup. “There’s already a high level of water content,” he says. “If you were to infuse that directly into alcohol, the water content would not only drop the proof, but you wouldn’t get as intense of a flavor.”

But you can simply use wasabi paste. “We use a paste from one of our Japanese food suppliers,” Grant says. “Given the volume we go through in our beverage program, this simply allows us to be more consistent.”

“Fresh is always best,” says Ben Yabrow, head bartender at New York’s Sip & Guzzle. “In a traditional application, it’s ground into a paste on a shark skin. For the Whisky Nigiri, we peel and cut it with a vegetable peeler into small strips and then do a cold maceration.” He also suggests starting small. “Spicy ingredients can often go from hardly recognizable to way too much quickly,” he says. “A little can go a long way.”

Dijkstra suggests using the leaves of the plant. “The rhizome takes anywhere between a year and two years to grow, while the leaves can be harvested every 10 to 14 days,” he says. “We are currently using the leaves in our cocktails while we wait for our first rhizomes. They’re gentler than the rhizome but still deliver that signature wasabi character.”

As for what liquor to pair it with, the pros have some ideas. “Spirit-wise, it lends well to gin, tequila, mezcal and shochu,” Hernandez says. Dijkstra suggests pairing wasabi with clean, botanical spirits, fresh citrus and light herbal notes and avoiding competing strong flavors like heavy smoke or overly sweet syrups. And don’t pre-batch.

“Wasabi’s flavor fades fast, so add it closer to service rather than hours ahead,” Dijkstra says.