Question 1

How big is a highball glass?

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 2

Is a highball glass the same as a Collins glass?

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 3

What drinks go in a highball glass?

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 4

Should I buy toughened highball glasses?

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 5

How much ice should go in a highball?

Accepted Answer

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.

Highball glasses

Finesse Hiball 15.75oz (45cl), set of 6

FT Aran HiBall Glass 12.25oz(35cl), set of 12

FT Baztan Hiball 12.25oz(35cl), set of 12

FT Jerte Hiball 12.25oz(35cl), set of 12

FT Merlot Hiball 10oz(28cl), set of 12

FT Merlot Hiball 12.25oz(35cl), set of 12

FT Merlot Hiball 17.5oz(50cl), set of 12

FT Merlot Hiball 6oz(17cl), set of 12

FT Merlot Hiball 8.5oz(24cl), set of 12

Galata Hiball Glass Tumbler 34cl/12oz

Gatsby Hiball 16oz (46cl), set of 12

Handy Hiball 16oz (45cl), set of 6

Hayworth Hiball 12.25oz (35cl) Gold Rim, set of 6

Hayworth Hiball 12.3oz (35cl), set of 6

Hemingway Hiball 11oz (31cl), set of 24

Hepburn Hiball 15oz (43cl), set of 24

Hiball 10oz (28cl) CE Act Max, set of 48

Hiball 12oz (34cl) LCE @10oz, set of 48

Hiball 6oz (17cl), set of 48

Hiball 8.5oz (24cl), set of 48

Invino Hiball Tumbler 48cl (16 8/9oz), set of 12

Joy Hiball 10.5oz (29.5cl), set of 24

Joy Hiball 12.5oz (36cl), set of 24

Joy Hiball 16.5oz (47cl), set of 24