A highball cocktail is the simplest and easiest of all the cocktails to make. You might be shaking your head, surprised that a delicious cocktail could ever be easy. But a highball drink has just two ingredients, three if you're feeling fancy, four if you want to prove something. Take it easy the next time you're making a cocktail and pick out a highball recipe.
Highball Drinks for the Ultimate Fizz
These highball recipes your nose and your tastebuds. They're a refreshing, fast, and easy way to enjoy a drink.
Scotch and Soda
One of the most iconic highballs is the timeless and smoky scotch and soda. It's simple, flavorful, and always a classic.
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a highball or collins glass, add ice, scotch, and club soda.
- Stir to mix.
Whiskey and Ginger
This basic whiskey highball is an easy go-to, and you can really dress it up with a splash of lime or lemon juice or a few dashes of bitters.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces whiskey, bourbon, or rye
- 4 ounces ginger ale
- Ice
- Lemon wheel for garnish
Instructions
- In a highball or collins glass, add ice, whiskey, and ginger ale.
- Stir to mix.
- Garnish with lemon wheel.
Vodka Tonic
If you're watching your waistline or you want a cocktail that won't skew your palette too much while eating, the vodka tonic has all the answers.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces vodka
- 4 ounces tonic
- Lime slice for garnish
Instructions
- In a highball or collins glass, add ice, vodka, and tonic.
- Stir to mix.
- Garnish with lime slice.
Tequila Soda
There are other, sometimes better, ways to enjoy tequila other than a margarita; when mixed with club soda, tequila gets a chance to truly shine. Opt for a flavored vodka or club soda to really dress things up.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces tequila
- 4 ounces club soda
- Ice
- Lime wedge for garnish
Instructions
- In a highball or collins glass, add ice, tequila, and club soda.
- Stir to mix.
- Garnish with lime wedge.
Gin and Tonic
A classic highball, this one hardly needs an introduction. The right gin will make you a converted highball drinker for the rest of your life.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces gin
- 4 ounces tonic
- Ice
- Lime wheel for garnish
Instructions
- In a highball or collins glass, add ice, gin, and tonic.
- Stir to mix.
- Garnish with lime wheel.
Vodka Soda
The vodka soda is one of the most popular bar drinks to order, its ingredients are readily available, and it can take on the flavor of just about any garnish you give it.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces vodka
- 4 ounces club soda
- Ice
- Lemon wedge for garnish
Instructions
- In a highball or collins glass, add ice, vodka, and club soda.
- Stir to mix.
- Garnish with lemon wedge.
Rum and Cola
The rum and cola is there for you when you want something sweet, but not too sweet, and want something tropical, without a long list of ingredients or a grocery store list.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces spiced rum or coconut rum
- 4 ounces cola
- Ice
- Lime wheel for garnish
Instructions
- In a highball or collins glass, add ice, rum, and cola.
- Stir to mix.
- Garnish with lime wheel.
Root Beer and Coffee Liqueur
Sometimes called a Tootsie Roll cocktail, this strange combination of flavors works like magic.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces coffee liqueur
- 4 ounces root beer
- Ice
Instructions
- In a highball or collins glass, add ice, coffee liqueur, and root beer.
- Stir to mix.
Campari and Soda
Consider this the liter version of the Americano, which adds just over an ounce of sweet vermouth.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces Campari
- 4 ounces club soda
- Ice
- Lime wheel for garnish
Instructions
- In a highball or collins glass, add ice, Campari, and club soda.
- Stir to mix.
- Garnish with lime wheel.
Strawberry Vodka and Lemon-Lime Soda
Make your two-ingredient highball explode with flavors. To punch things up, you can muddle a few strawberry slices before adding your ingredients to the glass.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces strawberry vodka
- 4 ounces lemon-lime soda
- Ice
- Strawberry slices for garnish
Instructions
- In a highball or collins glass, add ice, strawberry vodka, and lemon-lime soda.
- Stir to mix.
- Garnish with strawberry slices.
Raspberry Liqueur and Lemon Club Soda
If you don't want to use lemon club soda, you can always opt for plain soda water. If you have extra fresh fruit, you can muddle a few raspberries, too.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces raspberry liqueur
- 4 ounces club soda
- Ice
- Raspberry for garnish
Instructions
- In a highball or collins glass, add ice, raspberry liqueur, and club soda.
- Stir to mix.
- Garnish with raspberry.
Aperol and Club Soda
Consider this a tall glass of an Aperol spritz; the only thing it skips is the sparkling wine.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces Aperol
- 4 ounces club soda
- Ice
- Orange slice for garnish
Instructions
- In a highball or collins glass, add ice, Aperol, and club soda.
- Stir to mix.
- Garnish with orange slice.
Gin and Lime Club Soda
This highball has all the flavors of a gin rickey without the pain that comes with juicing a lime.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces gin
- 4 ounces lime club soda
- Ice
- Lime wedge for garnish
Instructions
- In a highball or collins glass, add ice, gin, and lime club soda.
- Stir to mix.
- Garnish with lime wedge.
Rum and Ginger Ale
The spiced notes of ginger ale play so well with the sweet notes of rum.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces rum
- 4 ounces ginger ale
- Ice
- Lime wedge for garnish
Instructions
- In a highball or collins glass, add ice, rum, and ginger ale.
- Stir to mix.
- Garnish with lime wedge.
Fernet and Cola
Sometimes called a fernet con coca, the sweet notes of cola smooth the bitter notes of Fernet just so.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces Fernet
- 4 ounces cola
- Ice
Instructions
- In a highball or collins glass, add ice, Fernet, and cola.
- Stir to mix.
Slightly Stormy: Dark Rum and Ginger Beer
This slightly stormy dark and stormy skips the lime juice for a well-balanced two-ingredient cocktail.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces dark rum
- 4 ounces ginger beer
- Ice
- Lemon wheel for garnish
Instructions
- In a highball or collins glass, add ice and dark rum.
- Top off with ginger beer.
- Garnish with lemon wheel.
Vanilla Vodka and Cherry Cola
There's no reason not to make your highball into a liquid dessert.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces vanilla vodka
- 4 ounces cherry cola
- Ice
- Cherry for garnish, optional
Instructions
- In a highball or collins glass, add ice, vanilla vodka, and cherry cola.
- Stir to mix.
- Garnish with cherry, if desired.
Juicy Highball Recipes
If you like your highballs on the fruitier side, you can't go wrong with these easy breezy highball cocktails.
Gin and Grapefruit Juice
It may raise a few eyebrows to think of juniper gin with bitter notes of grapefruit, but something about these two ingredients together makes them absolutely sing.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces gin
- 4 ounces grapefruit juice
- Ice
- Grapefruit wedge for garnish
Instructions
- In a highball or collins glass, add ice, gin, and grapefruit juice.
- Stir to mix.
- Garnish with grapefruit wedge.
Vodka and Lemonade
Pucker up to this sour citrus highball! For a sweeter spin, use vanilla or whipped cream vodka. If lime is your jam, swap in limeade.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces vodka
- 4 ounces lemonade
- Ice
- Lemon wedge for garnish
Instructions
- In a highball or collins glass, add ice, vodka, and lemonade.
- Stir to mix.
- Garnish with lemon wedge.
Coconut Rum and Pineapple Juice
Love a tasty piña colada but hate trying to keep the ingredients on hand? Welcome to the ultimate shortcut.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces coconut rum
- 4 ounces pineapple juice
- Ice
- Pineapple wedge for garnish, optional
Instructions
- In a highball or collins glass, add ice, coconut rum, and pineapple juice.
- Stir to mix.
- Garnish with pineapple wedge, if desired.
Screwdriver
The screwdriver cocktail is the highball voted most likely to give you your daily dose of vitamin C, and that C is for cocktail.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces vodka
- 4 ounces orange juice
- Ice
- Orange slice for garnish, optional
Instructions
- In a highball or collins glass, add ice, vodka, and orange juice.
- Stir to mix.
- Garnish with orange slice, if desired.
Highball Cocktails With Non-Traditional Mixers
Iced tea, kombucha, and coconut water are all delicious mixers in highballs. So if you've never considered mixing these with a liquor before, give it a try! Your taste buds will thank you.
Whiskey and Iced Green Tea
Take your hot toddy but make it cool by using iced green tea. The antioxidants are just a bonus.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces whiskey
- 4 ounces chilled green tea
- Ice
- Lemon wheel for garnish, optional
Instructions
- In a highball or collins glass, add ice, whiskey, and green tea.
- Stir to mix.
- Garnish with lemon wheel, if desired.
Vodka and Kombucha
Any kombucha flavor works here since vodka offers such a clean, crisp palette.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces vodka
- 4 ounce kombucha
- Ice
- Lime wedge and mint for garnish
Instructions
- In a highball or collins glass, add ice, vodka, and kombucha.
- Stir to mix.
- Garnish with lime wedge and mint.
Tequila and Coconut Water
Rehydrate with coconut water and a little spirit- if tequila isn't for you, then rum and vodka make for excellent choices, too.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces tequila
- 4 ounces coconut water
- Ice
- Lime wheel for garnish, optional
Instructions
- In a highball or collins glass, add ice, tequila, and coconut water.
- Stir to mix.
- Garnish with lime wheel.
The Heart of Highball Cocktail
A highball cocktail follows a simple ratio of 2:4, two-part spirit, be it liquor or liqueur, and four-part nonalcoholic mixer, such as club soda, juice, or even tea. Six ounces of mixer can easily be used as well, depending on the size of the glass.
Basic Highball
Follow this formula to come up with your own highball combos.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces spirit (vodka, rum, gin, tequila, scotch, whiskey, fruit liqueur)
- 4-6 ounces mixer (flavored or plain club soda, flavored or plain cola, fruit juice, chilled tea)
- Ice
- Flavor complementary garnish
Instructions
- In a highball or collins glass, add ice, spirit, and mixer.
- Stir to mix.
- Add garnish.
A Highball Drink to Clink
The highball cocktail might be the most underappreciated of cocktails. With just two ingredients before reaching the cocktail finish line, it is the unsung hero and the undercover worker of the cocktail world. Isn't it time you got in on the secret of the highball?
