cocktail review no. 73 - Highball

I've been talking so much about highballs lately that I might as well tell you about the grandaddy of them all, the original sin, the Very First Highball: the highball.

Yes, that's its name. Highball. It's the first highball, so every highball after it was called a highball too. Geddit? Kind of like how everybody calls tissues "Kleenex" or sticky bandages "Band-Aids" even when they're not Kleenex or Band-Aids.

As you can probably tell, I love highballs. I just adore them. They're simple, they're quick, they taste good and they go down easy.

No dirty jokes, please.

From Wikimedia Commons

To clarify, highballs are a large family of drinks composed of a spirit and a larger proportion of an alcoholic mixer, and sometimes incorporating a simple garnish. That's it. Two or three ingredients in a highball glass. The name "highball" comes from the old days of railways and steam engines, when a station master would raise a brightly-colored ball on a chain or a pole (see photo) to let incoming trains know that there were no passengers or mail to pick up. The train wouldn't slow down and waste a lot of coal and time getting up to speed again. It would just blow right through the station at top speed. Hence "highball"...a quickly-made and satisfying libation.

The original "highball" was whiskey and ginger ale. And it's still around today. And still called a "highball," thus confusing bartenders everywhere. Here's the recipe:

• 2 ounces whiskey
• 4 ounces ginger ale

Pour the whiskey and ginger ale into a highball glass half-filled with ice cubes. Stir well.

In the interests of accuracy, I printed this recipe as I saw it in The Bartender's Bible. One part whiskey to two parts ginger ale (or whatever proportion you desire) is just fine and dandy. This is a highball, after all. They're customizable.

No dirty jokes, please.