Jeff’s Ginger Whiskey Highball (My Leftover Hangover)

Start your party with Jeff’s Ginger Whiskey Highball. It’s secret ingredients are a hand-made, man-made, kick-ass, at-last, drink-fast, what-a-blast ginger ale and a splash of lime. Add a couple cases of beer and you have the makings of a fancy Polish wedding. Na zdrowie!

"Jeff's Ginger Whiskey Highball," from Make It Like a Man!

Jeff’s Ginger Whiskey Highball

(I’m exaggerating, of course. A couple cases of beer wouldn’t get you much further than the rehearsal dinner.)

"Jeff's Ginger Whiskey Highball," from Make It Like a Man!

Makes four 8-oz liquid servings, which fit neatly into 10-oz glasses with plenty of room for ice.

Ingredients

Candied Ginger leftover cooking liquid
½ tsp ground ginger
4 tsp freshly-squeezed lime juice
1 liter sparkling or soda water
4 shots good quality whiskey, such as Jack Daniel’s

Directions

  1. Measure out 1 cup of the cooking liquid. If you have less than that – as little as ¾ cup – add water to bring the total amount to 1 cup.[1]  Place the syrup in a small saucepan and heat it just until it begins to simmer. Off heat.
  2. Place ground ginger in a very small container, like an espresso cup or teacup your double-size Batman shotglass. Add 1 Tbs syrup and stir vigorously until combined. Add the ginger mixture to the pot of syrup and stir to combine. Allow syrup to cool until it’s no longer hot. (Warm is a bit better than room temperature, but both are OK.)
  3. Fill four 10-oz tumblers with ice. Into a glass measuring cup, pour 2 oz. ginger syrup. Add 1 tsp lime juice. Add soda to bring the total amount of liquid to 6 oz. Stir thoroughly, albeit somewhat on the gentle side. Add more soda to bring the total amount to 8 oz. Add a shot of whiskey (more or less, to taste). Pour into 1 tumbler. Repeat process to fill remaining glasses.

A Ginger Whiskey Highball makes a great companion to Kumquat Sours.

Of course, the big question is, “Can you make this without having to candy ginger first?” No. My answer is no. I’ve never tasted an ale or beer with the same balance of sweet and peppery, and the same ticklish effervescence. Still, can you make something similar that you might enjoy? Of course.

“Highball,” Somewhat Defined

"Jeff's Ginger Whiskey Highballs," via Make It Like a Man!

Whiskey and ginger ale is such a popular highball, that some people accept it as the definition of the word. But in fact a “highball” is any type alcoholic mixed drink[2] served in a relatively tall, straight(ish)-sided glass. Although that is the definition, and I’m sticking with it, I feel confident that if I were to walk into a bar and ask for a highball, I’d get

  1. a blank stare
  2. a blank stare barely masking a bad attitude, followed by some kind of aggressive behavior
  3. “Did my grandfather put you up to this?”
  4. Jesteś krewny panny młodej? Czy pana młodego?

Or, I’d get whiskey and ginger ale.

Bar terminology, like sex, has clear-cut and tidy definitions, but when you start searching for real-life examples you discover that actual practices are quite messy. If you were going to be very strict, you wouldn’t call whiskey and ginger ale a “highball” if you served it in a red Solo cup, would you? I would. I guess I’m not a real stickler on straight-sidedness. But what about height? Just how tall does a glass have to be to garner the name “highball?” Well, just as in other matters where size is important, people make all kind of claims and most of them are probably bullshit. But maybe you’re one of those people who thinks that height is not nearly as important as circumference. Touché, my friend. Now we’re talking like experienced professionals. The thicker ones are highballs, and the thinner ones are Collins glasses.[3]

End result: If it holds somewhere between 8-12 oz of liquid and it seems unlikely that it could be reasonably described as “short and squat,” you have my endorsement.

Notes:

[1] Smaller Portions: If you have less than ¾ cup of cooking liquid before adding water, you don’t have enough for a full recipe. Adding too much water will overly dilute the mixture. Instead, halve the recipe and distribute the drinks into 4 small old-fashioned glasses. Or, just make two 10-oz drinks. Or, just make one 20-oz drink; I mean, who are you trying to kid?
[2] Mixed Drink: If you mix any two beverages, like cranberry juice and lemonade, what you have can be called a “mixed drink.” Usually, though, we only use that term if at least one of those beverages is an alcohol. The other beverage (the mixer) is often carbonated – so much so, in fact, that many highball definitions specify it. There is no single, universally-recognized authority on these matters; as you sift through drink recipes and bartender’s guides, you’ll notice a certain amount of variety with regard to the definitions I’m presenting here. Having said that, if you’re looking for info, I do like this guy.
[3] Collins: the glass I used for the pictures in this post is indeed a Collins glass. See the Bar Mix Master.

See Also:

Sweet Cherry Cocktail, via Make It Like a Man!

Sweet Cherry
Cocktail

Vernors from Great Lakes Gazette, via Make It Like a Man "Ginger Whiskey Highball"

If you have to use pop, use Vernors

Adios Motherfucker by Vodka Only, via Make It Like a Man!

Adios
Motherfucker

Make Your Own Ginger Beer by Down to Earth, via Make It Like a Man!

Make Your Own Ginger Beer

Batman Shot Glass from Boy Wonder on Etsy, via Make It Like a Man!

Batman 3.5 oz Shot Glass

Last Words:

"Drink All Day," from The Chive, via Make It Like a Man! Ginger Whiskey Highball
Happy TBOX!
Free Wi-Fi in Uptown Chicago, Pt. 1
Fruit Strudel Cookies

6 thoughts on “Jeff’s Ginger Whiskey Highball (My Leftover Hangover)

  1. My wife likes to make candied ginger. She uses it in holiday gingerbread that she gives out as Christmas presents. Anyway, she usually tosses the syrup, but I noticed your post and intercepted the syrup this year. Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you! We both loved it!

  2. Believe it or not, I recently read an article in Details that suggested boiling some ginger just to get something like this started.

    • That’s so funny. So did I. When I wrote the post, I wrote it because I was so excited about the flavor of this drink, and also I just love the hell out of finding uses for things that you otherwise might consider tossing. But I was fully aware that, who in the hell makes candied ginger? Then I saw Details and though, either I’m ahead of the curve, or I’ve become as preposterous at a men’s fashion magazine.

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