Latest news with #highball
South China Morning Post
18-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- South China Morning Post
How whisky took its name from the Gaelic ‘water of life' and what drinking it neat means
Around the world, aficionados may sip on a wee dram, ask for a Scotch on the rocks, or grab a ハイボール haibōru, Japanese for 'highball', even in a can from a kombini (Japanese convenience store). Advertisement This spirituous liquor, originally distilled in Ireland and Scotland from malted barley – with or without unmalted barley or other cereals – is, of course, whisky, or whiskey, the latter the spelling common in Ireland and the United States. Whisky is a clipped version of whiskybae, which is a borrowing from Gaelic uisge beatha – literally 'water of life'. Old Irish uisce 'water' traces back to the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) root *wed- meaning 'water, wet', plus bethu meaning 'life', from a suffixed form of PIE root *gwei- 'to live'. The earliest appearance in English of the word is in 1715, in A Book of Scottish Pasquils 1568 to 1715, a collection of satirical poems, songs, and sayings from Scotland, in what seems an apt description of the drink: 'Whiskie shall put our brains in rage'. A Scotch whisky distillery. Photo: Port Ellen The use of distillation, and the term for such 'water of life', however, both date much further back.
The Guardian
16-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- The Guardian
Cocktail of the week: The Seafood Restaurant's teal & orange – recipe
We've all got the odd dusty bottle of liqueur hidden away at the back of the cupboard, so let's give them a better home in super-tasty and easy highballs, which are having a bit of a moment right now. The bright flavours and rich, silky texture of single malt make it the perfect canvas to build upon and help make the most of these forgotten half-empty bottles. 40ml single malt scotch whisky – we use Nc'nean15ml blue curaçao – we use Briottet; alternatively, use Cointreau or any other orange liqueur you have knocking about, though of course then the finished drink won't be blue15ml fresh lemon juice 100ml soda water 1 orange wedge, to garnish Measure all the liquids into a highball glass filled with ice, stir and garnish with the orange slice. Norbert Drozdowski, bartender, The Seafood Restaurant, Padstow, Cornwall
