Mixology Monday is back again. And not a moment to soon. We have some resolutions that need breaking….(who are we kidding, they are long gone). Anyway, here is the theme from the excellent food, booze and cigar blog Southern Ash:

Highball – n. 1. a long iced drink consisting of a spirit base with water, soda water, etc. -Collins English Dictionary Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition…  For this month’s theme, I thought we could strip away the complexities of cocktails and relax with a nice highball… Most cocktails are at least three ingredients with the highball relegated to emergency or last resort status, but in those highballs we will seek refuge. The end of the day is sometimes better served by a simple liquor plus mixer combination than an artfully measured Corpse Reviver No. 2 This month, tell us what you’ll do with a liquor and a mixer (with maybe a wee bit of garnish) to ease into the new year.

Ah, highballs. Not only are highballs easy to make (a good thing after all the holiday festivities), but they are a favorite here at the farm. The Florodora is a favorite (our house punch is a variation), the Diablo is another welcome sip and we have a love affair with Gin and Tonics. This was going to be fun, and we knew just where to go- a Buck.

Bucks are a variety of highball using spirits and ginger ale or ginger beer as the mixer, you can add juices, sweeteners, liqueurs and/or bitters as well. My sister Tina introduced us to Gin Bucks years ago and we have played with Bucks ever since (the Folordora and Diablo are Buck variants). Might as well keep playing…

After a little research we found Dale DeGroff’s famous Anejo Highball, a combination of anejo (aged) rum, Curaçao, lime juice, ginger beer and bitters with a citrus garnish. Good stuff, but it got us thinking that we should use the “other” anejo, tequila. Tequila plays well with ginger, so this wasn’t much of a stretch. And after a few trials, we got something we like.

The Other Anejo Highball combines anejo tequila, lime juice, agave nectar, ginger ale and orange bitters garnished with lime and orange wheels. We went with ginger ale for cleaner flavor. And let’s face it- ginger beer gets funky sometimes, great with a vodka-based Moscow Mule, not so great with aged tequila. We also went to orange bitters and agave to keep the tequila from fighting with heavier Curaçao.

What did we get? Basically, the Other Anejo Highball tastes like a sparking ginger margarita made with really good tequila. That works for us, plus it’s easy to make. And while we usually save anejo tequila for sipping, the extra depth and richness of the anejo does shine though. Worth a try, and certainly worth the effort.

Thanks again to Southern Ash and Fred Yarm at Cocktail Virgin Slut for keeping the party going….

The Other Anejo Highball:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 oz. Anejo tequila
• 3/4 oz. Fresh lime juice
• 1/2 oz. Agave nectar
• 3 Dashes orange bitters
• 4 oz. Ginger ale
• Lime and orange wheels, for garnish

Assemble:

1. Add ice to a highball glass. Add the liquid ingredients and stir gently to combine. Garnish with the citrus wheels. Sever with a straw, if you like.

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