The grandfather of all long drinks, this classic highball recipe is a great one to keep in your back pocket — especially for that one friend who claims, “I just don’t like whiskey.” The addition of soda water removes much of whiskey’s bite and burn, letting the nuance and delicacy of the spirit shine.

Its simplicity makes the whiskey highball ideal for riffing, but in its simplest form, the drink is made with just whiskey, soda, and lemon. The latter is essential to the drink, perfuming it with zesty citrus and adding dimension to the otherwise simple sipper.

Ingredients

  • 2 ounces whiskey
  • 4 ounces club soda
  • Garnish: lemon wedge

Directions

  1. Fill a highball glass with ice.
  2. Add the whiskey followed by the club soda.
  3. Stir gently and garnish with lemon wedge, squeezing it if you wish.

Rate This Recipe:

(62 votes)

Yield: 1
Calories: 149
Updated: 2022-10-04

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Whiskey Highball FAQ

What is a Whiskey Highball made of?

A Whiskey Highball is made by combining two ounces of whiskey and four ounces of club soda and garnishing with a lemon wedge.

Why is it called a Whiskey Highball?

There are several theories explaining the origin of the name Whiskey Highball. One theory suggests that the term originated from an American railroad signal — if a ball was raised on a signal post, the train could pass through quickly. As such, the Whiskey Highball reflects a drink that can go down easy.

An additional theory, which may be more definitive, suggests the term was originally used in 19th century English golf club bars where whiskey served in a high glass was referred to as a “ball.”

What are examples of other Highball drinks?

A number of delicious cocktails are served in Highball glasses including the 7 & 7, the Midori Sour, the John Collins, and many more.

The History of The Whiskey Highball

Back in the late 19th century, at a time when carbonated water was becoming more readily available, the English upper class discovered the delight of mixing it with brandy. This experimentation soon spread to Scotch, and soon, the classic Scotch and soda was born.

In his “The Official Mixer’s Manual,” published in 1934, Patrick Gavin Duffy claimed to have been the first person to bring the highball to the United States in 1895. According to cocktail historian David Wondrich’s book “Imbibe!,” by 1900, the Scotch Highball was the “most fashionable drink in America.”

The name “highball” can also be traced back to American expansionism and the rise of the train industry. In “The Joy of Mixology,” Gary Regan connects the drink’s recipe to the sound the train whistle a conductor makes when there is sufficient water in the tank: two short whistles and one long — reminiscent of the drink's composition of two ounces of whiskey and one long pour of soda.

What Makes a Highball a Highball?

A highball is any two-ingredient cocktail that contains a small amount of base alcohol (usually two to three ounces), and a larger amount of non-alcoholic mixer (usually four to six ounces). It’s a drink that’s typically served over ice, in a Collins or highball glass, and it can be garnished with citrus, fruit ,or even herbs.

Many believe the original highball is the Scotch and soda, but several drinks fall into the highball category: the whiskey ginger, the rum and coke, and even the gin and tonic are all considered highballs. Additionally, while traditional recipes use a spirit as the base alcohol, it is just as common nowadays to see amari, wine, sake, or other lower-alcohol beverages to create a drink that is more sessionable.

Another fun fact is that the highball is especially popular in Japan, where bartenders create elaborate and delicious interpretations of the drink, and it’s receiving somewhat of a renaissance stateside now, too!

Best Practices: Perfecting the Whiskey Highball Is a Science and an Art Form

Marco Pierre White, the acclaimed British chef who made history in the 1990s after becoming both the youngest chef and the first in his country to receive three Michelin Stars, once described perfection as “lots of little things done well.”

The enfant terrible of London’s `90s fine dining scene might have been describing the intricately composed dishes for which he gained fame, but he could easily have been talking about cocktail creation.

When a mixed drink contains just two or three simple ingredients, both the quality of those components and the manner with which they are combined leave no place to hide, nor room for error. Nowhere is this better exemplified than the Whiskey Highball.

With just whiskey, sparkling water, and ice, the drink’s composition is straightforward, but many bartenders treat the Whiskey Highball as both a scientific equation and an art form. With honed technique and microscopic attention to detail, the humble, unremarkable mix of whiskey and soda water is at once elevated to something infinitely more impressive.

How to Make a Whiskey Highball

Control the temperature of every component.

Deke Dunne, head bartender and manager at Washington D.C.’s Allegory at Eaton DC, describes the Whiskey Highball in the same way that Pierre White pictured the pinnacle of cooking. “Each one part of the process might not make a noticeable difference if you're doing it on its own,” he says, “but if you care about every single step, all those little changes add up.”

For Dunne, the most important aspect of the drink’s preparation is temperature control. The objective is to keep everything as cold as possible, though the reason for doing so is not just refreshment. “The lower the temperature, the more carbon dioxide will remain captured inside the soda water, and the longer your drink will [retain its] fizz,” he explains.

To keep things cold and carbonated, Dunne calls upon a number of tactics. A slender Collins glass designed to hold fizz remains inside a freezer until it’s time to build. The whiskey and soda water, too, are chilled to an almost freezing temperature — “soda water at 32 degrees retains five times more carbon dioxide than soda water at 70 or 80 degrees,” he says — and the ice used in the drink is purposefully made for the job. (More on this shortly.)

Consider the profile of the base whiskey.

For Chad Vogel, the owner of three bars in Madison, Wis., and co-founder of the drinks consultancy group Three Count Beverage Co., the Whiskey Highball’s ingredients are just as important as its preparation.

“The most important thing is choosing the right whiskey,” he says. With the driving effervescence of the cocktail, a dram with an attractive nose will immediately stimulate the palate, before any sip is taken.

Given the inherent acidity of sparkling water (which arrives in the subtle form of carbonic acid), Vogel recommends whiskeys with a perceived sweetness. Something that’s heavily oaked with prominent caramel notes will counteract the water’s hint of acid, he explains.

Despite the fact that the spirit will be cut with sparkling water, Vogel recommends whiskeys in the “lower” proof range of 90 and below, rather than the overproof bottlings that are so prominent nowadays. Alcohol doesn’t equate to flavor, he says, and the effervescence only amplifies the spirit’s character, even as water dilutes it.

Understand that water matters.

When it comes to the drink’s other main component, sparkling water, Vogel and Deke agree there’s no substitute for Topo Chico. The much-loved Mexican mineral water finds a home in another highball, Texas’s Ranch Water, and enjoys a reputation as being the fizziest on the market.

Dunne also favors it for its slight salinity (Topo Chico contains 41 milligrams of sodium per liter) and says this acts as the finishing seasoning touch for the cocktail. “It's almost like throwing a pinch of salt into your cooking,” he says. “It enhances all the flavors.”

Best Practices: Whiskey Highball

What Not to Do When Making a Whiskey Highball

Don’t underestimate the importance of ice.

Sparkling water only represents part of the dilution of the Whiskey Highball; there’s ice to consider, too, which also plays an important role in keeping the drink chilled and maintaining carbonation.

In the case of the latter, it’s not just temperature that plays a part. Pointing to the principle of nucleation, Dunne explains that bubbles are not naturally present in carbonated drinks, and form only when carbon dioxide comes in contact with solids, otherwise known as nucleation points.

The greater the surface area of solids inside a drink — i.e., ice — the more bubbles will form, and the quicker the cocktail will lose its fizz. For this reason, Deke prepares long “ice spears'' that are perfectly clear and hand cut to the dimensions of his Collins glasses. (For more information on how to make your own, see VinePair’s guide here.) Using filtered water ensures that any dilution does not compromise the taste of the drink.

For those who don’t have time to freeze and carve hand-cut ice, there are a few simpler tips to consider that can elevate the drink.

Avoid fridge-made pebble or crushed ice, as this will dilute the drink too quickly. Instead, use cube trays and pay close attention to the conditions inside the freezer.

“You don't want to use ice that already has an old, expired taste to it,” says Lucinda Sterling, bartender and co-owner of New York’s Middle Branch and Seaborne bars. “So make sure it's a new ice — do your whiskey that favor.” And if you are making batches ahead of time, store inside a Ziploc bag once frozen to stop the ice taking on any aromas from the freezer’s other contents.

Don’t be afraid to color outside the lines.

Sterling approaches the Whiskey Highball with an experimental focus while also maintaining the “soul” of the drink. Where traditional recipes call for 2 ounces of whiskey, she encourages drinkers to taste for themselves. “Find out what your palate prefers,” she says.

Sterling doesn’t shy away from adding an extra ingredient or two, either. If mineral water provides a sprinkle of salt, a dash of bitters can play the role of pepper, bringing spice and an extra dimension to the drink, she says.

Be guided on which brand of bitters to use by the profile of the base whiskey. Angostura is rich in baking spice notes and a natural partner for bourbon. Peychaud’s serves a pop of cherry that marries with rye. “And you can’t go wrong with orange bitters,” she adds.

Switching up the mineral water for tonic is another surefire method for adding character and depth, and a bitter note many may appreciate. Beyond regular tonic water, for which she recommends Fever Tree, Sterling also sings the praises of flavored iterations, with London Essence Elderflower tonic and Town Branch bourbon a particular favorite combination. “Elderflower-flavor bourbon is the next big thing,” she says.

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Whiskey Highball Variations To Try:

  • New School - Whiskey, lemon, and ginger are almost a holy triumverate. Together, they give you everything you need from a cocktail.
  • The S&S Highball - This recipe is inspired by the classic, two-part Scotch and soda — adding a fino sherry for some salinity and balance.
  • Johnnie Walker Harvest Highball - As the seasons start to turn, consider a twist that also celebrates nature’s bounty: the Harvest Apple Highball.
  • Classic Jim Beam Highball - Like the name says, this one is as classic as it gets.
  • The Herbal Highball - For an easy, seasonal riff on a Japanese whisky highball, cocktail columnist Natalie Migliarini blends pumpkin spice syrup with whisky and soda over crushed ice.