Highball

A highball is a mixed alcoholic drink composed of an alcoholic base spirit and a larger proportion of a non-alcoholic mixer, often a carbonated beverage. Examples include the Seven and Seven, Scotch and soda, and rum and Coke. A highball is typically served over ice in a large straight-sided highball glass or Collins glass.

This article is about the type of mixed alcoholic drink. For other uses, see Highball (disambiguation).
Sheet music cover for a 1915 song by William J. McKenna celebrating the drink

Etymology

The name may refer to the practice of serving drinks in tall glasses, on the dining cars of trains powered by steam locomotives, where the engine would get up to speed and the ball that showed boiler pressure was at its high level, known as "highballing". Alternatively, the name may have come from early railroad signals with raised globes meaning "clear track ahead".[1][2]

History

Initially, the most common highball was made with Scotch whisky and carbonated water,[3] known simply as a 'Scotch and soda'.

There are many rivals for the fame of mixing the first highball, including the Adams House in Boston.[4] New York barman Patrick Duffy claimed the highball was brought to the U.S. in 1894 from England by actor E. J. Ratcliffe.[5]

Highballs are popular in Japan, often made with Japanese whisky as a haibōru (ハイボール), or mixed with shōchū as a chūhai (チューハイ). Various mixers can be specified by suffixing with -hai (〜ハイ), as in oolong highball (ウーロンハイ, ūron-hai). These are consumed similarly to beer, often with food or at parties.

See also

References
  1. Bianculli, Anthony J. (2001). Trains and Technology: The American Railroad in the Nineteenth Century. 4: Bridge and Tunnels Signals. University of Delaware Press. p. 134. ISBN 0-87413-803-5.
  2. "In Railroading, A 'Highball' Means You're Good To Go". NPR. 2004-10-03. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  3. "The 'Scotch Highball'" (PDF). The New York Times. March 25, 1904. p. 8.
  4. "Topics of the Times". New York Times. October 22, 1927. p. 16.
  5. Patrick J. Duffy (October 25, 1927). "The First Scotch Highball" (PDF). The New York Times.
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