Godfather
35 ml Scotch whisky, 35 ml Amaretto, 237 ml Ice
Photo: Jim Beam Special Highball at Nikudonya Yakiniku, Xidan (20210429112203) by N509FZ · CC BY-SA 4.0 · All credits
Ingredients
Measures below are multiplied for 6 drinks. Unmeasurable amounts such as “a splash” are left as written.
- 270 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 270 ml line. Scotch whisky - A light blend is the traditional choice; a smoky one is a different, louder drink
- 810 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 810 ml line. Soda water - As cold as you can get it, and as fizzy as possible
- 6 twists Lemon twist (optional)
Measured in Millilitres (UK). Sign in to read these in American measures. Print a kitchen card at this size.
What the jigger, the spoons and the jug hold, in millilitres and in fluid ounces, is on the measures reference.
Quick version
- Fill a tall glass with ice, pour in the whiskey, then the soda, and stir once.
Method
Pitcher (6 drinks)Pitcher (6 drinks) - about 1.08 l of measured ingredients, before ice and dilution.
Timings and per-glass steps below are written for one drink and are not scaled. A full jug takes longer to chill, so stir or shake until it is properly cold rather than by the clock, and pour over fresh ice one glass at a time.
- Chill a highball glass, then fill it right to the top with ice - large cubes if you have them.
- Pour in the whiskey and stir it through the ice for 15 seconds, until the glass is cold to hold.
- Add the soda water slowly down the inside of the glass, then lift it once with a barspoon.
- Twist a lemon peel over the top and drop it in.
Serve it
Volumes in this story are multiplied for the size above, along with the ingredients. Years, ratios and the capacities of glasses and jugs are left as written.
Whiskey Highball
Whiskey and soda is as old as soda itself, but the version the world copied was made in Japan in the 1950s and 60s, where Suntory spent years telling people to drink their whisky long and cold. It worked, and a whole culture of careful highball-making grew up around it - glasses kept in the freezer, ice carved to fit, and a stir for every single pour.
Getting it right
A highball is mostly ice and soda, which means the ice and the soda are the drink. Warm soda and three sad cubes will give you a flat whiskey and water; a full glass of cold ice and a freshly opened bottle will give you something bracing and bright. Stir the whiskey through the ice before the soda goes in - it cools the spirit and takes the alcohol's sharpness off, which is what makes the drink work at all. And never let it stand: a highball is a ten-minute drink.
Tasting notes
Light and clean, with the whiskey's barley sweetness drifting up through the bubbles. It is the best drink there is for a hot evening, and the only one that genuinely makes good whisky last longer.
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