Brandy Highball

Brandy and soda water in a tall glass — highball entering American bar vocabulary in the 1890s (railroad signal or tall glass, both etymologies competing).

The Brandy Highball is the most direct and unadorned approach to brandy as a long drink — spirit and carbonated mixer in a tall glass over ice — and its history reflects the broader American bar's adoption of the highball as its default casual format from the 1890s onward. The term highball entered American bar vocabulary in that decade, with competing etymologies tracing it to railroad signaling (a ball hoisted high on a signal post meant proceed at full speed) or simply to the tall glass in which the drink was served. The format's appeal was immediate and commercial: it extended expensive spirits across a larger volume of liquid, reduced alcohol content per serving, and required no bartending skill beyond a measure and a pour. Brandy highballs became popular in post-Prohibition American bars as returning drinkers who had spent the dry years without quality spirits gravitated toward approachable, familiar formats that showcased the spirit's character without demanding engagement with complexity. The choice between ginger ale and soda water as the mixer produces meaningfully different results with brandy: ginger ale's sweetness and spice complements cognac's stone-fruit character, while plain soda water allows the spirit to express itself more directly. Post-Prohibition Americanized versions often substituted domestic brandy for cognac, and the Brandy Highball became a standard bar rail item in the casual American drinking culture of the mid-20th century.