{{short description|Type of mixed alcoholic drink}} {{About|the type of mixed alcoholic drink}} [[Image:SheetMusicCoverWmJMcKennaFriendHighball1915.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Sheet music cover for a 1915 song by William J. McKenna celebrating the drink]] A '''highball''' is a mixed alcoholic drink composed of an alcoholic base spirit and a larger proportion (2-to-1 or 3-to-1) of a non-alcoholic mixer, often a carbonated beverage. Examples include the Seven and Seven, Scotch and soda, gin and tonic, screwdriver (a.k.a. vodka and orange juice), ''fernet con coca'', and rum and Coke (a.k.a. ''Cuba libre'' with the addition of lime juice). A highball is typically served over ice in a large straight-sided highball glass or Collins glass.
Highballs are popular in Japan, where the term ''haibōru'' (ハイボール) is synonymous with a whisky and soda (rather than an umbrella term for assorted mixers). Various mixers can be specified by suffixing with -hai (〜ハイ), as in oolong highball (ウーロンハイ, ūron-hai) or Shōchū highball (チューハイ,chūhai) .
==Etymology== The name may have come from early railroad signals with raised globes meaning "clear track ahead", i.e., "you're good to go".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bianculli |first=Anthony J. |url=https://archive.org/details/trainstechnology0000bian/page/134 |title=Trains and Technology: The American Railroad in the Nineteenth Century |publisher=University of Delaware Press |year=2001 |isbn=0-87413-803-5 |volume=4: Bridge and Tunnels Signals |page=[https://archive.org/details/trainstechnology0000bian/page/134 134]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2004-10-03 |title=In Railroading, A 'Highball' Means You're Good To Go |url=https://www.npr.org/2014/10/03/353538145/in-railroading-a-highball-means-youre-good-to-go |access-date=2020-06-18 |website=NPR}}</ref>
==History== Initially, the most common highball was made with Scotch whisky and carbonated water,<ref>{{cite news |work=The New York Times |title=The 'Scotch Highball' |date=March 25, 1904 |page=8 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/03/25/100467335.pdf}}</ref> known simply as a Scotch and soda.
==See also== {{portal|Liquor}} * List of cocktails
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Cocktails}} {{Lists of beverages}}
Category:Cocktails Category:Lists of cocktails Category:Two-ingredient cocktails