Highball

Historical Perspective

Beverage dictionaries despair of identifying the origins of the word ‘highball.’ It is the name of a traditional type of mixed drink composed of a base spirit and a more significant proportion of a non-alcoholic, usually carbonated, mixer. The most common highball in the days of its origin was Scotch whiskey mixed with fizzy water in a half & half formula, still remembered as Scotch & Soda but nowadays hopelessly out of fashion. New York barman Patrick Gavin Duffy, who presided at the bar of Ashland House in 1890, was the author of the famous Official Mixer’s Manual, which was published in 1934. Duffy claimed that British actor Edward Ratcliffe (1863-1948) had brought the Highball to America in 1894. History presents many rivals for the fame of mixing the first Highball. One story dates from around 1890 pointing to John Slaughtery, a barman at a Saint Louis railway saloon. Slaughtery’s railroad employee customers, who enjoyed only short breaks each day, insisted on being served drinks they could consume quickly. At the time the Highball was introduced it was a remarkable novelty. Although the classic drink is no longer fashionable, the glass named after it is still one of the most commonly used glasses in bars around the world. The Highball was subsequently popularized by Patrick Gavin Duffy and enjoyed a long period of popularity starting in 1890.