Highball glasses

A highball glass is a tall, straight-sided tumbler holding roughly 300 to 400ml. It suits long drinks built over ice and topped with mixer, such as a gin and tonic, a mojito or a rum and coke.

  • Most highball glasses hold between 300ml and 400ml
  • Tall straight sides help a long drink keep its fizz
  • A Collins glass is traditionally taller and narrower than a highball
  • Toughened versions suit bars, gardens and events

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Showing 1–24 of 130 results

The highball is the glass most home bars reach for more than any other, because most of what people actually drink is a spirit lengthened with a mixer. Tall straight sides hold plenty of ice, which keeps the drink cold without needing much liquid to fill the gaps, and the narrow shape leaves less surface area for the bubbles to escape from.nnSize is the main thing to get right. Around 300ml suits a single with a small bottle of tonic. Between 350 and 400ml gives room for a double, a full-size mixer and a proper amount of ice. If you often make mojitos, or drinks with a lot of garnish, the larger end is the safer buy.

Which type do you need?

Tall tumblers go by several names, and the differences come down to height, width and how tough the glass is.

TypeBest forWorth knowing
Highball, around 300ml A single spirit with a small mixer, for everyday use Fills up quickly once you add enough ice to keep it cold
Highball, 350 to 400ml Doubles, mojitos and anything served over plenty of ice Can look under-filled if you only ever pour a single
Collins glass Tom Collins and other long drinks served tall Narrower than a highball, so it holds less than its height suggests
Toughened highball Bars, events, gardens and anywhere glasses get knocked Heavier in the hand than a thin-walled glass

How to choose

What is the difference between a highball and a Collins glass?

Very little in practice, and plenty of retailers use the two names interchangeably. Traditionally a highball is the shorter and slightly wider of the two, around 300 to 350ml, while a Collins glass is taller and narrower at a similar or slightly greater capacity. Both are straight-sided tumblers designed for long drinks built over ice. If you already own one, there is no real need to buy the other, since the difference shows in how a drink looks rather than in how it tastes.

What size highball glass is best for a gin and tonic?

Between 350 and 400ml is the most flexible size. A standard gin and tonic is 50ml of gin with a 150ml or 200ml bottle of tonic, and the glass also has to hold enough ice to keep it cold to the last mouthful. Fill the glass with ice first, then pour, and you will find 300ml feels tight once a wedge of lime or a slice of grapefruit goes in. If you mostly pour singles with small mixers, 300ml is perfectly workable.

Do highball glasses really keep drinks fizzier?

The shape helps. A tall narrow glass exposes less liquid surface to the air than a wide tumbler holding the same amount, so carbonation escapes more slowly. Filling the glass properly with ice matters just as much: a full glass of ice leaves less room for the drink to slosh about and warm up, and cold liquid holds its bubbles better than warm liquid does. Pouring the mixer gently down the inside of the glass rather than straight onto the ice also loses noticeably less fizz.

Common questions

How big is a highball glass?

Most hold between 300ml and 400ml. The smaller end suits a single spirit with a small bottle of mixer, while 350 to 400ml leaves room for a double, a full-size mixer, a garnish and enough ice to keep the drink cold throughout. Anything much taller than that is usually sold as a Collins, a zombie or a sling glass instead.

Is a highball glass the same as a Collins glass?

They overlap heavily and many shops list them together. A Collins glass is traditionally taller and narrower, a highball slightly shorter and wider, but both are straight-sided tumblers made for long drinks over ice. Either works for a gin and tonic, a mojito or a Tom Collins, so the distinction rarely matters when you are buying for home.

What drinks go in a highball glass?

Anything built over ice and topped with a mixer: gin and tonic, rum and coke, whisky and soda, a mojito, a Paloma or a Dark and Stormy. The shape is just as useful for soft drinks and long alcohol-free serves, which is part of why most people get more use out of a set of highballs than any other glass they own.

Should I buy toughened highball glasses?

For a bar, an event or a garden table, yes. Toughening treats the glass so it copes better with knocks, stacking and repeated dishwasher cycles, which is why the trade specifies it as standard. Indoors at home it matters less, though it is still worth considering if you have children around or you tend to catch glasses on the tap.

How much ice should go in a highball?

Fill it. A glass packed with ice melts more slowly than a glass with three or four cubes rattling around in it, because the cubes chill each other as well as the drink. Less ice means faster dilution and a warmer, weaker drink by the end of it. Use fresh cubes rather than the half-melted ones sitting in a bucket.

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