Highball

My mother's highball was a bourbon, Jim Beam or something cheaper, and 7-Up or Coke. My best memory of it is when we drove the Santa Fe Trail together on one of my trips back home, going the full length from Independence, Mo. to Santa Fe. We'd check into the motel each evening and repair to the swimming pool with the bourbon, the mixer and ice.

Turns out, however, that the original highball is whiskey and ginger ale -- and that's a heckuva a good drink. I used Crown Royal and Fever Tree ginger ale and it made a refreshing, balanced drink, not too sweet and very smooth. Even in this day of craft spirits and homemade mixers, sometimes that's all you need.