The highball glass is the straight-sided tumbler, eight to twelve ounces, for a spirit and a mixer over ice: the Gin and Tonic, the Whiskey Highball, the Cuba Libre, the Americano, the Dark and Stormy. It is the glass in every kitchen cupboard and the one the simplest cocktails are built in.

What is a highball glass?

A highball glass is a tall, straight, cylindrical tumbler, shorter and a little wider than a Collins glass, holding eight to twelve ounces. The name comes from the drink — the Scotch highball of the 1890s, whisky and soda in a tall "ball" glass — and the glass was the standard American tumbler for anything served with a mixer by 1900. Its proportions suit a two-to-one or three-to-one spirit-and-mixer build: tall enough for a column of ice and four ounces of soda, wide enough to drink from without a straw. Japanese bars have made a cult of it, with hand-carved ice, chilled thin-walled glasses and soda poured so carefully that the Whisky Highball has become a craft drink; the rest of the world uses it for the Gin and Tonic. It is interchangeable with the Collins glass for most drinks; the Collins is simply the taller, narrower cousin.

When to use it

Use it for any built drink of spirit and carbonated mixer: tonics, sodas, ginger-ale and ginger-beer drinks not served in a mug, colas, the Americano and the Campari Soda, and vodka with anything. Chill the glass if you can. Fill it with ice to the top, pour the spirit, add any citrus, pour the mixer slowly down the side so it keeps its gas, stir once from the bottom and garnish. The ice matters more than the glass: large, clear, dry cubes melt slowly and keep the drink crisp; a handful of small wet ones turn a Gin and Tonic to water in ten minutes. A chilled glass straight from the freezer makes a visible difference to a drink this simple; frost on the outside is the sign of a highball made with care, and the first sip is colder for it. For the Japanese highball, the glass is frozen, the ice is a single hand-cut spear, the whisky is stirred over it to chill before the soda goes in, and the soda is poured without touching the ice.

What to use instead

A Collins glass serves every highball drink and is the usual substitute. A large wine glass is the Spanish way with a Gin and Tonic and holds more ice. A pint glass is too big and dilutes the drink. A rocks glass serves a short highball — two ounces of spirit, two of soda — and is how a Scotch and soda was often served. Any straight-sided water glass of ten ounces does the job at home.

Drinks served in it

The tonics and sodas: the Gin and Tonic, the Vodka Tonic, the Vodka Soda, the Whiskey Highball and the Scotch and Soda. The ginger and cola drinks: the Dark and Stormy, the Whiskey Ginger, the Cuba Libre and the Rum and Coke. The bitter highballs: the Americano, the Campari Soda and the Bitter Lemon Highball. The juice highballs: the Vodka Cranberry, the Screwdriver and the Salty Chihuahua. Every drink served in a highball glass is listed below.

Questions

Highball or Collins? The highball is shorter and wider; the drinks are interchangeable.

What size? Eight to twelve ounces.

Why pour the mixer down the side? To keep the carbonation; a hard pour foams and flattens it.

What is a Japanese highball? Whisky and soda built with obsessive care: frozen glass, hand-cut ice, a gentle pour.