Highballs: The Poor Man’s Cocktail

When I was growing up my father and his friends were avid rye drinkers. And not just rye, it was rye and coke. Wisers and Coke. Gibsons and Coke. Canadian Club and Coke. You get the picture.

The classic highball. What I like to call the “poor man’s cocktail”.

Usually, it was a plenty of rye and a ‘dash’ of Coke for a bit of colour, so rye and coke is a bit misleading in this context. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree, and I have found myself enjoying this classic beverage many a night during the cold Saskatchewan winters. Truth be told, when I sit in the old ice fishing shack, I shamelessly pound the rye and coke. As I like to say “If I don’t catch any fish, I might as well catch a buzz!” I actually love the stuff.

Not to date myself, but I was born in the 70’s, so my introduction to cocktail culture is embedded in that magical decade of the 90's. While I realize that there were some excellent classic cocktails around at that time, I have to say that as a young man strolling into a nightclub during that period, Hi-Balls were absolutely a beverage of choice. In fact, Hi-Ball specials were, if memory serves me correctly, a pretty big draw during the decadent 90’s. At least for a young punk like me. In a lot of ways, not much has changed, although I’ve stepped it up a notch and moved on to Crown Royal as my rye of choice. That and spiced rum. And coke. Together.

Old habits die hard. Cliché but very appropriate in this case.

Everything was great. I loved rye and coke, and it loved me…most of the time. Then in the summer of 2010, I visited my brother-in-law in Vancouver. He’s a really bad influence on me, and I blame him for the shit I received when I returned home to my wife and infant daughter and was forced to sleep on a hardwood floor. But, I digress.

And, it was kind of worth it.

Anyways, he took me on a bit of a tour of his favourite watering holes. We started at L’Abbatoir, a great restaurant in the heart of Gas Town, and one that I highly recommend. We sat down and he ordered a Don Draper.

“A what?!” I said.

I perused the cocktail menu, and I sure as hell didn’t see highballs on the menu. What I did see was something that sounded very interesting. A banana daiquiri.

Please don’t judge. I know how it sounds. But, it was fucking DELICIOUS. Not to mention potent.

Wow I thought to myself Now this is a cocktail.

Now, although I say that I love rye and coke, it’s not like I’d never tried a Martini or Caesar in my life. However, the cocktails on this menu were nothing like what I’d seen or tasted before. Honestly, I can’t remember the names of half of the cocktails that I tried that night. But, I guarantee that they were all foreign to me, especially considering my cloistered life back in Saskatoon drinking rye and coke on the middle of a frozen lake. I also recall Bourban Sours at Bao Bei, but it starts getting fuzzy around that point.

To wrap things up, since that night back in 2010, I’ve been a lot more experimental with my choice of cocktails when I go out. I also notice that a lot of restaurants, lounges, and bars carry a much more diverse lineup when it comes to cocktails and that having new, exciting and original cocktails is a big draw for patrons. However, it begs the question:

Is there a place for the highball in this new fandangled era of premium cocktails?

I almost feel embarrassed to order a good old fashioned rye and coke if I go out.

The poor man’s cocktail.

I can already see my server’s right eyebrow raise and the barely concealed smirk forming at the corner of his mouth as he politely says “Of course. Should I make that a double?”