A long, dry highball where the warmth of Cognac meets the bite of ginger ale, with a single lemon peel spiralling down the glass and draped over the rim like a horse's neck. The citrus oils lift the nose, an optional dash of Angostura adds a faint spiced edge, and it drinks cold, brisk and effortlessly refreshing.
Garnish: Lemon Peel
Built · Highball · On the Rocks
build
Fill a highball glass with ice cubes.
add
Pour the Cognac and ginger ale directly into the glass; add a dash of aromatic bitters if desired.
stir
Stir gently to combine.
garnish
Drape a long spiral of lemon peel over the rim so it hangs into the glass like a horse's neck.
No single inventor is on record for this American highball, which started out in the late nineteenth century as a soft drink of ginger ale poured over ice with lemon peel, the alcohol-free version Franklin Roosevelt is said to have favoured. Its name comes from that trailing spiral of rind. Around the 1910s bartenders began giving it a "kick" of brandy or bourbon, and by the 1960s it had settled in as a regular in Royal Navy wardrooms. The IBA now counts it among its Contemporary Classics.