There are few alcoholic beverages as refreshing as a whiskey Highball. They’re easy to make and allow for fun experimentation. I used Nikka Taketsuru, a blended malt as many Japanese whiskies are, and it works perfectly in a highball (haibōru).
The type of whiskey you choose is up to you. You can use single malt scotch, Irish whiskey, Canadian whisky, bourbon, rye…I think you get the picture. Try it with your preferred whiskey style, then do some experimenting to see which you like best.
Whiskey Highball
An easy-to-make cocktail that is super delicious and refreshing.
Ingredients
2 oz. Whiskey
Soda Water
Lemon Peel for Garnish
Directions
Fill a tall glass at least half full of ice.
Add whisky.
Top with soda water. There should be at least twice as much soda as whisky, and more is fine.
Give it a gentle stir, then garnish with a lemon peel, if desired.
Stuffed full of 112 recipes for drinks of all kinds, Professor Cocktail’s Holiday Drinks is your secret weapon for dazzling the taste buds of everyone you know by making professional-quality cocktails from the comfort of your home bar.
If you do download it, and like what you see, please consider leaving a review on Amazon. It helps other people find the book and would mean a lot to me.
Shake all ingredients with crushed ice, then pour unstrained into a bucket glass or Tiki mug. Add more crushed ice to fill, if necessary. Garnish with a mint sprig.
Notes
Trader Vic's original recipe.
Photo courtesy of Helena Tiare Olsen, amountainofcrushedice.com.
In cocktail bars and lounges around the world, people will be gathering during the holiday season to enjoy a drink or two with family and friends. Now you can enjoy the same great drinks at home with the recipes included in Professor Cocktail’s Holiday Drinks: Recipes for Mixed Drinks and More.
Stuffed full of 112 recipes for drinks of all kinds, Professor Cocktail’s Holiday Drinks is your secret weapon for dazzling the taste buds of everyone you know by making professional-quality cocktails from the comfort of your home bar.
From the classic to the contemporary, sweet to spicy, and hot to cold, this collection of festive drinks is sure to make your holidays very merry. If you’re in the party mood, there are several recipes for “large format” drinks that would be perfect for your holiday gatherings. It even includes a selection of non-alcoholic drinks for those who don’t imbibe.
Professor Cocktail’s Holiday Drinks includes recipes for traditional holiday favorites ranging from Eggnog to Wassail, Hot Buttered Rum to the Kir Royale. It also features drinks from top bartender like Jim Meehan (PDT), Dale DeGroff, H. Joseph Ehrmann (Elixir), Jack McGarry (The Dead Rabbit), Brian MacGregor (Wingtip), Jeffery Morgenthaler (Clyde Common), Bobby Heugel (Anvil), Dushan Zaric (Employees Only), Chantal Tseng (Mockingbird Hill), and Derek Brown (Columbia Room).
With a variety of recipes to suit all occasions, tastes, and skill levels, Professor Cocktail’s Holiday Drinks is the book every cocktail lover, bartender, and mixologist would love to see under their virtual tree.
About the Author David J. Montgomery combines his knowledge of history and alcohol into one potent libation of love through his work at ProfessorCocktail.com. He is also a nationally renowned book critic and commentator on writing and the publishing industry. Mr. Montgomery is an emeritus columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and The Daily Beast, and has written for USA Today, The Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, and other fine publications. His ebook, Professor Cocktail’s Zombie Horde: Recipes for the World’s Most Lethal Drink, was the #1 best-selling bartending book on Amazon. A former Professor of History, Mr. Montgomery lives in the Washington, D.C. suburbs with his wife and two daughters.
Shake ingredients with ice, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Can also be served on the rocks. Garnish with a lime wheel and a sprig of cilantro.
*Cilantro-Orange Liqueur
In a clean bottle, combine a good quality triple sec with several sprigs of fresh cilantro. (The exact amount will depend on how much liqueur you're infusing, and how strong you want to the cilantro flavor to be.) Let the cilantro macerate for at least 2 to 3 days, shaking the bottle periodically. Once ready, it should last in the refrigerator for several weeks, if not longer.
Coming soon to Amazon is my first ebook: Professor Cocktail’s Zombie Horde: Recipes for the World’s Most Lethal Drink.
It will contain over 50 recipes for the famed Tiki cocktail, drawn from across the decades and around the world. Professor Cocktail’s Zombie Horde will guide you from the Zombie’s creation by Don the Beachcomber in 1934, all the way to the present day.
You’ll be able to see how it was made back then, how it was made over the years, and how it’s being made today. And then you’ll get to try the recipes yourself!
It will also feature recipes for Zombie-inspired cocktails and variants, allowing you to broaden your mixological repertoire — and enjoy some very tasty cocktails.
Here’s a sneak peek at the cover. Let me know what you think!
p.s. If you’re a professional bartender and would like to contribute a recipe to this collection, please
let me know.
Boardwalk Empire, HBO's Emmy-winning show about Atlantic City gangsters during Prohibition, returns this Sunday for its fourth season. Naturally, there's a lot of bootlegging involved.
Given Atlantic City's location, it was a prime location for rumrunners bringing illicit liquor into the country from Canada. And Canadian hooch usually meant whisky. Canadian Club, then produced by the Hiram Walker Company, was a particular favorite. (It was also the choice of Don Draper, for you Mad Men fans.) Crown Royal, produced by the Seagram company, was also born during this time.
Gin became increasingly popular with Americans (and bootleggers) during Prohibition. There was plenty of it to be had in England and Canada for organized crime syndicates to import. And unlike whiskey, which has to be aged, gin can be produced in an illegal still and immediately sold. There was also the infamous "bathtub gin" — gin made at home — which came with significant dangers due to the possibility of methanol in the final product.
Although not as desirable as whiskey or gin, rum was still a popular spirit to bootleg (thus the name "rumrunning"), with most of the supply coming from Cuba, the Bahamas and other Caribbean locales. Much of the bootleg rum ended up further south than Atlantic City, but a fair share of Bacardi still made its way to "The World's Playground."
So if you're planning to watch this weekend, who can blame you if you want to enjoy a drink along with the show? Here are some suggestions.
Crown Royal Black Manhattan
1 1/2 oz. of Crown Royal Black Blended Whisky 1/2 oz. Sweet Vermouth 1 tsp. Simple Syrup 1 Dash Angostura Bitters
Combine ingredients in a mixing glass with ice and stir. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a maraschino cherry.
Canadian Club Highball
2 oz. Canadian Club Classic 12 Year Old Whisky 4 oz. 7-Up or Ginger Ale 2 Dashes Angostura Bitters
Build in an old-fashioned glass over ice. Garnish with a maraschino cherry.
Mary Pickford
1 1/2 oz. Bacardi White Rum 1 oz. Unsweetened Pineapple Juice 1 tsp. Grenadine
Combine ingredients in a mixing glass with cracked ice and stir. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
French 75
1 1/2 oz. London Dry Gin 1/2 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice 3/4 oz. Simple Syrup
Shake with cracked ice, then strain into a flute. Top with chilled Champagne. Garnish with a lemon peel spiral (aka a horse's neck).
Shot of Rotgut
1 1/2 oz. of Rotgut, Moonshine or Other Cheap Liquor
Fill a shot glass with rotgut. Pray you don't go blind.
I'm currently putting together an ebook of Zombie recipes, and one of the people kind enough to share his recipe with me was Georgi Radev of Mahiki, a popular Tiki bar in London.
Georgi also shared this video demonstration of how they prepare and serve their version of the Zombie. Don't try this at home! (Seriously: don't try this.)
A demonstration from Val, a bartender at the recently closed PKNY Tiki bar in New York City. He has a somewhat unusual method regarding the shaking and the ice, although what he's doing makes sense. I tend to prefer a little less lime juice in mine — 3/4 ounce — but I'm not as big a fan of tartness as some people.*
Shake ingredients with ice, then strain into a rocks glass filled with ice.
Here's another of those National XYZ Days that I love so much. This time it's the Whiskey Sour's turn, a classic cocktail and one of the easiest drinks to make. I made mine with Four Roses Single Barrel Bourbon and it was quite tasty. (I did alter the ratio from the above recipe, though, instead using equal parts lemon juice and simple syrup. I don't like my sours quite that sour.)
