10 Best Refreshing Highballs to Make This Summer

This article is a part of Classic Summer Drinks Week, a week of content celebrating the arrival of summer. With its tank-top weather and long days, Summer can be one of the best seasons of the year. However, the scorching heat can make it tough to spend your days outside — even if you want to bathe in the sunlight before the cooler months confine you to the indoors. A refreshing, ice-cold drink can be of great assistance when it comes to bearing the sun rays. That’s why, from July 7–11, we’re celebrating Classic Summer Drinks Week with a series of recipes, recommendations, tips & tricks to help you beat the heat. Check out more Classic Summer Drinks Week content here!

Spritzes — looking at you, Aperol! — have been all the rage for the past several summers (and we do love a spritz), but this summer, highballs are making a comeback.

A highball is one of the simplest — and most refreshing — cocktail formats out there. Traditionally, it’s made by combining a base spirit with a nonalcoholic mixer (often soda water, ginger ale or tonic) and serving it in a tall glass over ice. The proportions can range heavily, but the most common is one part spirit to two parts mixer. The formula is broad and thus endlessly adaptable.

We’re here to break down 10 of our favorite refreshing highball recipes for summer sipping. Most of these can be built right in the glass. Here are 10 must-try highballs for summer 2025, from light classics to bold innovations. Whether you want to build your highball around gin, tequila, vodka, whiskey or flavored whiskey, there’s something for everyone in this list.

Red Bells Paloma

(Photo: Tequila Ocho)

The paloma is a highly popular form of highball made with grapefruit juice and tequila. This bittersweet variant from Tequila Ocho is spiked with pomegranate and a whisper of Green Chartreuse — a delicious combo.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz Tequila Ocho Plata (or comparable blanco tequila)
• 0.5 oz Pama Pomegranate
• 0.25 oz Green Chartreuse
• 0.5 oz Lime Juice
• 2 oz Grapefruit Soda

Directions:

Stir in a highball glass with ice. Garnish with a mint sprig dusted in powdered sugar.

Madagascar Mule

(Photo: Edmond’s Honor)

Mules are one of the most popular forms of highball. This recipe uses Edmond’s Honor, a vanilla-infused, cognac-finished bourbon, paired with lime juice, pineapple syrup and ginger beer. The resulting mule is tropical, sweet and spicy.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz Edmond’s Honor Vanilla Bourbon
• 0.75 oz Fresh Lime Juice
• 0.75 oz Pineapple Syrup (Instructions below)
• 3 oz Ginger Beer

Directions: Shake all ingredients except the ginger beer with ice. Strain into rocks glass with fresh ice. Top with ginger beer. Garnish with pineapple slice or leaf.

Pineapple Syrup

1:1 Pineapple juice and Demerara sugar heated until dissolved.

Mint Rickey

(Photo: Gray Whale Gin)

A mint-laden gin rickey variation from Gray Whale Gin, this easy, herbaceous refresher mixes up gin, fresh mint and bubbly club soda.

Ingredients:

• 2 oz Gray Whale Gin (or comparable gin)
• 0.5 oz Fresh Lime Juice
• Top with Club Soda
• Garnish: Mint Sprig, Lime Wheel

Directions: Build in a highball or Collins glass over ice and garnish.

El Diablo Highball

(Photo: YouTube/Anders Erickson)

A devilishly sweet ginger-spiked tequila highball with a tart blackcurrant twist.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz Reposado Tequila
• 0.5 oz Crème de Cassis
• 0.5 oz Lime Juice
• 3 oz Ginger Beer

Directions: Build over ice in a highball glass. Stir gently and garnish with a lime wedge.

Click here to read more on the El Diablo.

The Reid Martini Highball

(Photo: Cardrona Distillery)

Clean, crisp and Martini-adjacent — this one’s for vodka lovers who like their bubbles dry. The Reid is a fantastic vodka produced by Cardrona, a woman-owned distillery in New Zealand. Click here to read our review of The Reid Vodka.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz The Reid Single Malt Vodka (or comparable vodka)
• 0.5 oz Dry Vermouth
• Soda or Tonic Water

Directions: Build over ice and garnish with a lemon peel.

Wise Up

(Photo: Megan Rainwater)

By far most laborious option on our list is the Wise Up. This one will take some foresight and prep, so if you’re looking for something quick to whip up, there are better options on this list. However, if you take the time, this delicious highball is worth the effort.

Crafted by renowned bartender, bar owner and Speed Rack co-founder Ivy Mix, this cocktail is bold, refreshing and complex, with a lovely blend of pineapple and sage.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz clear spirit of choice (Mix recommends a Blanco Tequila)
• 0.5 oz Giffard Caribbean Pineapple liqueur
• 0.5 oz Sage Syrup (Instructions below)
• 0.5 oz “Fake Lime” Acid Mix (Instructions below)
• 2 oz Soda Water

Directions: Build in a highball glass over ice. Top with soda, stir to integrate.

Sage Syrup (makes about 1.5 cups / 360ml):

• ¼ cup fresh sage leaves
• 1 cup superfine sugar

Prepare a small ice bath. Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and submerge the sage leaves in the hot water for about 10 seconds. Remove the leaves from the hot water and immediately dunk in the ice bath. Add the sugar and sage leaves, plus 1 cup of water to a blender pitcher. Blend until fully integrated. Fine strain using a chinois, coffee filter or nut bag into an airtight container. Can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.

“Fake Lime” (makes about 1 cup / 240ml)

• 2 tablespoons citric acid powder
• 4 teaspoons malic acid powder
• 6 ½ tablespoons phosphoric acid 1.25% solution

Combine all ingredients with 2 ounces water in a food-safe container. Whisk until dissolved. Can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.

Jim Beam Pineapple & Lemon Lime Soda

(Photo: Jim Beam)

Pineapple-flavored whiskey and lemon-lime soda make this backyard-ready bourbon highball a crowd-pleaser.

Ingredients:

• 1 part Jim Beam Pineapple
• 3 parts Lemon Lime Soda
• Garnish: Pineapple Slice

Directions: Pour over ice, stir and garnish.

Grapefruit Highball

(Photo: Balcones)

Texan single malt meets the bracing bitterness of grapefruit in this ultra-simple serve from the Waco-based Balcones. This whiskey-laced riff on a paloma is a juicy, refreshing delight.

Ingredients:

• 1.25 oz Balcones Lineage (or comparable American single malt)
• 4 oz Grapefruit Soda
• Garnish: Grapefruit Wheel

Directions: Build over ice in a highball glass and stir. Garnish with wheel.

Salute to Summer

(Photo: Teeling Irish Whiskey)

Another option involving pineapple, this balanced, beachy Irish whiskey highball is both bright and sessionable.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz Teeling Small Batch (or comparable Irish whiskey)
• 2 oz Soda Water
• 1 oz Pineapple Juice

Directions: Build in a highball glass over ice. Garnish with pineapple slices.

Hibiscus Highball

A floral, delightfully refreshing scotch highball developed by Dewar’s that layers lemonade and elderflower with vibrant hibiscus tea.

Ingredients:

• 1 oz Dewar’s 12 Year Old (or comparable scotch whisky)
• 0.75 oz St-Germain
• 2 oz Lemonade
• Unsweetened Hibiscus Tea

Directions: Shake all except for the tea with ice, strain over fresh ice. Top with hibiscus tea.