June 10-11, 2025
Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

Highball Recipe Index

“Sesame Highball”

By Carlos Ruiz

@cocktailsbyc

  • 1.5 oz. rum
  • 1/4 oz. lime juice
  • 2 drops sesame oil
  • Top off with cucumber tonic 

In a Collins glass add all ingredients. add ice stir and garnish with a lime wheel.

“Cascara Highball”

By Cesar Perez II

@redwolf56

  • Build in a highball glass over 1 inch cubes
  • 1.5oz monkey shoulder
  • 5.5oz cascara soda**
  • Garnish with expressed and manicured orange peel

Prep:
Clay-unfused water:
Fill a clay jar (jarron) with water and allow to infuse overnight (8-10) hours. Bottle and store for future use.

Cascara tea (for cordial)
Gently boil (covered)
600ml Clay-infused water
20G Tamarind Pods (no shell)
20G Cascara shells
Strain off liquids and measure yield. (Should be about 500 ml)

Cascara cordial-
500ml cascara tea
500ml Natural Cane Sugar
30g Acid Blend (33% each Citric/Malic/Tartaric)
Blend, bottle and store.
Estimated shelf life (refrigerated) 6-8 months

Cascara soda
**Using a soda siphon, add 8oz clay-infused water with 3oz cascara cordial to the soda siphon, cap/shake/charge

Note: before serving, purge excess CO2 and pour directly out of the soda siphon opening.

“Pleasantly PLUMp Highball”

By Chelsea Solkowski

@Solkowskirae

  • Tarragon Infused Litchfield Bourbon
  • Homemade Ginger Syrup, Red Plum, Tarragon Syrup
  • Soda water
  • Applewood smoked Collins glass
  • Plum Flower

“Mighty Monk”

By Jonathan Stanyard

@thebittergringo

  • 1 oz Yellow Chartreuse
  • 1 oz Olive Oil wash Gin*
  • 5 oz Vanilla Spiced Soda**
  • Garnish: Scorched Star Anise Pod

Add the Chartreuse and Gin to a highball glass. Add ice cubes, and add Vanilla Spiced Soda to the top. Give a gentle stir to fully incorporate the ingredients. Take a star anise pod and carefully scorch it with a torch, and place the smoking pod onto the cocktail. Enjoy!

*Olive Oil washed Gin
Add 60ml of extra virgin olive oil to a glass jar. Add 375ml of gin to the jar, add the top. Shake every hour or so, and keep at room temperature for 48 hours. Freeze the jar overnight, then strain and filter the gin through paper coffee filters.

**Vanilla Spiced Soda
Add 5 oz each of Cream Soda and Root Beer (I used New York Seltzer for the clarity) to an ISI canister, drop in half of a split vanilla bean, a cinnamon stick, and a couple of star anise pods. Screw the top on and charge twice with C02 (shake it after the first charge), let it chill in the fridge for a couple of hours before dispensing. If you do not have an ISI, just infuse the chartreuse, add room temp for a few days.

“Sip and Swill”

By Jorge Vallejo

@wecocktail

  • 1oz Mezcal Union
  • 1oz Ancho Reyes
  • Pinch of sea salt
  • 6oz Fever Tree Pink Grapefruit
  • Garnish: Discarded grapefruit peel(oils) and Torched Rosemary
  • Glass: Highball
  • Ice: Cubed

Add Mezcal, Ancho Reyes and Sea salt to your glass, mix the ingredients with a bar spoon, add ice to your glass, Top off with Fever Tree Pink Grapefruit, expresses grapefruit oils from grapefruit peel and discard, garnish your drink with a torched rosemary sprig and serve!

“Yuki Highball”

By Joseph Grimshaw

@Trinidon76

  • 2 oz Oat washed Haku Vodka
  • .5 oz Don Ciccio & Figli Cerasum Aperitivo
  • Add Passion Fruit Yerba Mate Ice Cubes
  • Top w/ Belvoir fruit farms carbonated organic elderflower lemonade
  • Garnish: Brandy Cherries, Orange peel

Build in glass

“Mermaid Ave”

By Keri Mckelvey

@wickedliquidellc

  • 1.5 oz Silver Tequila
  • 1 oz Blue Curacao
  • 1.5 oz Wicked Liquid Pineapple Cilantro Simple Syrup
  • 4 oz Italian Lemon Soda
  • 2 oz Pineapple Juice
  • Dash of Chili Powder
  • Fresh Pineapple Wedge
  • Pineapple Leaves
  • Ice

Put Blue Curacao at the bottom of the glass.
Use tongs to place ice in the glass.
In a shaker, add simple syrup, tequila, pineapple juice, and 1 oz of lemon soda (save remaining) and shake until shaker pops!
Use bar spoon to layer into glass on top of Blue Curacao.
Use bar spoon to layer the remaining Italian Lemon soda to the top of the glass.
Sprinkle chili powder onto the fresh pineapple wedge.
Garnish and serve!

“Exótico Carnaval”

By Marco Montaguano

@marco.montaguanobarshow

  • 2 oz. Iichiko shochu®
  • 1 oz. Carnival cordial*
  • Top 4 oz. topo chico grapefruit  

Shake, throwing and strain into a Collins glass w/ ice top with grapefruit soda.
Garnish: Reuse dehydrated mango manicure strips, lime peel manicure skewer.                        

*Carnival Cordial:
Boiled 250 ml coconut water, 5 gr oregano, 5 gr butterflies pea flowers, 5 gr roses buds, 5 avocado leaves, 50 gr dehydrated mango we will reuse this mango, 150 ml sugar. Strain and add 5 gr citric acid the save in the fridge until use.
Take out the mango and dehydrate in the dehydrator to make the garnish.

“Bishop’s Birch Highball”

By Marshall Minaya

@marshallvincent

  • ¾ oz Monkey Shoulder Blended Scotch
  • ¾ oz Spring 44 Old Tom Gin
  • ½ oz Verjus
  • ½ oz Bishop’s Birch Beer Syrup
  • 1 Barspoon St. George Bruto Americano
  • 2 dash Cherry Birch Bitters (homemade)
  • 2 drops Ginger Bitters
  • Soda
  • Glassware: Highball
  • Garnish: Orange & Lemon Twist

Build in glass. Add scotch, old tom gin, verjus, birch syrup, bruto americano, and bitters to a high ball with ice, stir slightly and pour cold soda into glass, stir to incorporate all ingredients.

Bishop’s Birch Beer Syrup
2 Cup Water
4 Cups Dark Brown Sugar
4 tsp White Birch Bark
1 Vanilla Bean (Stripped)

Add water, birch bark, and vanilla bean to a small pot on medium-high heat. Once water is close to boil add in dark brown sugar and stir until sugar is fully dissolved. Allow mixture to simmer for 10 min before removing from heat. Once cooled strain through a cheesecloth and store in a non-reactive container.
Yield: approx. 1 qt

“Sunny Dayz Highball”

By Marshelle Sanders

@mtheebartender

  • Ciroc Mango
  • Blue Curacao
  • Orangina Sparkling Citrus

“ApeBall”

By Michele Alfonso

@liquid_talent

  • 2 oz Thai chili infused Aperol
  • ¾ oz Clarified lemon juice
  • ½ oz Lapsang Souchong tea syrup
  • 2 dashes of chocolate bitters
  • Top with chilled club soda
  • Garnishes: Orange peel and key lime paint

Build directly in a highball glass.

“Konohanasakuya Highball”

By Nicole Salicetti

@denadacocktail

  • 1.75 oz Nikka Gin
  • .75 oz Salted Lime Blueberry Lavender Oleo Saccharum
  • .5 oz Yuzu Juice
  • 3 oz Club Soda
  • 4 Spritz Lavender Tea Concentrate
  • Serve in Tall Glass with ice and garnish with dehydrated candied Shiso leaf

Add Gin, Oleo and Yuzu to a shaker and fill with ice to shake. Strain into a tall glass and add tall rectangle cubr or Kold Draft ice. Finish with soda, spritz and garnish.

Salted Lime Blueberry Lavender Oleo
1 cup lime peels
1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 tsp lavender seeds
Put all ingredients into bowl, muddle and let sit for six hours until oleo is formed and strain

Lavender Tea Concentrate
Boil one cup water and add 1/4 cup lavender seeds and begin to let cool. Strain and store. Add to atomizer for spritzing.

Candied Shiso Leaf
Gently coat both sides of shiso leaf with 3:1 simple syrup. Dehydrate on wax paper on one side for 3 hours, flip and do the other side for 3 hours then remove from wax paper to finish dehydrating overnight.

“Kyūka Highball”

By Nigal Vann

@nigalofalltrade

  • 1.75oz Junmai Sake
  • .5oz toasted coconut infused blanc vermouth*
  • 2 dashes of cardamom bitters
  • Top with tonic water
  • Garnished with toasted coconut and brown sugar crystals**

Build into your drinking glass and give a quick stir. Add more coconut to garnish.

Preheat the oven at 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Over a medium silicon baking sheet, add three cups of coconut flakes and spread out evenly. Add several pinches of brown sugar over the coconut flakes and bake in the oven for around 10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and mix coconut and sugar and let cool.* in the oven at 250 degrees until brown. Set one cup of mix aside.

**Take the 2 cups of coconut and sugar mix and place in large container and add 750mL of vermouth blanc. Cover and let infuse at room temperature for at least 24 hours. Strain when ready to use.

“Clarified White Russian Highball”

By Steve Yang

@whiskeynoodletango

  • 2oz Clarified White Russian
  • 4oz Tonic

Add 2oz of the Clarified White Russian to a collins glass. Add the 4oz tonic. Add ice.

Clarified White Russian
1oz vodka (Ketel One)
1oz rum (Zacapa 23)
1oz simple syrup (1:1)
.5oz lemon juice
1.5oz coffee
1.5oz whole milk

Combine all ingredients except for milk. In a separate container, add the milk. Pour the combined ingredients into the milk. This will slowly raise the pH and curdle the milk more effectively. Strain with a french press to get rid of the large milk solids. Strain again through a coffee filter to clarify.
(This recipe makes 2)

“So Fresh, So Clean”

By Alex Lazardis

@alexlazaridisnyc

  • 2oz Castle and Key Roots of Ruin Gin
  • .25 oz Pear liqueur         
  • .75oz Lemon grass peppercorn syrup
  • .5 oz Lemon Juice            
  • 5 leaves Chinese Parsley (cilantro)
  • Fill Club Soda

Shaken, double strained into Collins glass. Lemon wheel and Cilantro garnish.

Lemongrass Vanilla Peppercorn Syrup

Clean and chop 5 pounds of lemongrass. Place in Sautee pan and toast until the aroma fills the air on medium low heat. Fill pan with ½ cup of peppercorns and 3 ounces vanilla extract. Continue to toast on medium low heat until peppercorn aroma fills the air. Add 1 cup of sugar and 2 cups of water. Stir until sugar dissolves. Cut heat off. Let steep for 10 min. Strain into clean container.

“Parasol Highball”

By Celeste Dittamo

@luckyceleste

  • 0.25 oz Salted Watermelon Syrup
  • 0.5 oz Pineapple Cordial
  • 0.5 oz Lime Juice
  • 1 oz Campari
  • 1 oz Codigo 1530 Blanco Tequila