When the weather warms up, many of us instantly grab for bottles of vodka, gin, tequila, and rum. We just assume that sunny, hot days were made for cocktails using these spirits. But, if we do that, we’re missing out on one of the best warm-weather refreshers ever invented: the whiskey highball.

So, what is a whiskey highball? The whiskey highball is a tall drink made with whiskey, ice, a lime wedge, and your choice of ginger ale, soda, water, seltzer, or pretty much any sparkling water you enjoy. It’s simple, delicious, and always refreshing, especially when the sun’s out.

You’d also be remised to forget to mention Japan when enjoying a whiskey highball. When many people think of this thirst-quenching drink, they’re thoughts instantly go to Japan. Suntory founder Shinjiro Torii opened a chain of whisky highball bars referred to as “Torys” all over Japan more than 60 years ago. In recent years, the Japanese version has seen a bit of a resurgence with Suntory Toki being the go-to whisky for true fans of the drink.

Since we’re all about broadening our horizons whenever possible, we asked some of our favorite bartenders to tell us their go-to whiskeys to mix into a whisk(e)y highball.

Sazerac Rye

Zack Musick, beverage director at Merriman’s Hawaii

My personal favorite is Sazerac Rye because it complements the ginger ale in a classic highball. But if you decide just to use soda water, Sazerac has enough complexity to keep the drink exciting.

Shackleton Blended Malt Scotch Whisky

Christopher Chamberlain, national beverage development manager at E. & J. Gallo Winery in Modesto, California

I love a good blended scotch & soda. Shackleton Blended Malt Scotch Whisky is a beautifully crafted spirit. When combined with Q Mixers Light Ginger Beer, it offers both a hint of smoke and ginger spice for a very refreshing highball. Add the expressed citrus oils of a freshly cut lemon peel to create a bright aromatic to mirror those sunny summer days.

Heaven Hill Bourbon

Kenneth McCoy, chief creative officer at The Rum House in New Orleans

Heaven Hill Bourbon 80 proof is perfect for the summer. It’s everything you want in bourbon but at a mild 80 proof. It won’t beat you up, making it perfect with ginger ale as a summer refresher.

Crown Royal Apple

Robert Swain Jr., owner of OnTheRoX Bartending Services in the British Virgin Islands

A glass of Crown Royal Apple a day keeps the doctor away! Talk about refreshing, Crown Apple and ginger ale is a perfect combination for the summer with its sweet and tart flavors.

Monkey Shoulder

Anna Mains, brand ambassador at Monkey Shoulder

Monkey Shoulder highballs are my go-to. Monkey Shoulder is made for mixing, so the bubbles from the soda really bring out the orange, ginger, and vanilla notes from the whisky. If you want to be a baller, Monkey Shoulder is pretty much a slam dunk.

Suntory Toki

James Simpson, beverage director at Espita in Washington, DC

Toki Japanese Whisky from House Suntory is the perfect whisky for highball sippin’ this Summer. It’s slightly malty, subtle, and one of those bottles that shows you new layers drink after drink. Experiment with the sparkling water to find that perfect combination. I recommend starting (or ending) with Topo Chico from Mexico.

West Fork All Or Nothing

Jacob Cantu, tasting room manager for West Fork Whiskey Co. in Indianapolis

West Fork Whiskey Co.’s All or Nothing Corn Whiskey mixes perfectly with soda water and a splash of lemon for the perfect highball. With 100 percent corn in the mash bill, the sweetness comes through minimizing the whiskey intensity. The perfect refreshing combo for summer.

Hibiki Harmony

Hayden Miller, head bartender at Bodega Taqueria y Tequila in Miami

Once you mix it into an ice-filled Collins glass topped with soda, you’ll know why. This whiskey exudes smoothness.

Hakushu 12

Tim Wiggins, co-owner and beverage director of Yellowbelly in St. Louis

Hakushu 12 Japanese whisky is an obvious but stunning whisky to use in a highball. I don’t typically like American whiskey highballs so I would stay away from bourbon. For a budget highball that tastes expensive, I would recommend a Highland Queen highball.

Hudson Manhattan Rye

David Powell, brand ambassador at Tuthilltown Spirits

I usually make myself a Manhattan-style highball with Hudson Manhattan Rye, sweet vermouth, lime juice, ginger, and soda. It’s almost like a mule highball with the added layer of sweet vermouth to expand the flavor profile a little bit. I’m probably going to be enjoying my fair share of those this summer on my terrace.

Cathead Old Soul Bourbon

Todd Johnston, beverage director for QED in Nashville

Cathead, which is one of my favorite small southern distilleries out of Mississippi, recently released its bourbon. Their bread and butter is their vodka but this bourbon, named Old Soul, is fruity and crushable and would be great for an easy-drinking highball.

When the coronavirus became a life-changing international concern, music festivals across the world made the decision to postpone their events until later in the summer, or even into the fall. Now it appears that these delays may not be enough. Primavera Sound, for instance, was initially pushed back to August, but has since been rescheduled to 2021. Now it looks like Coachella is preparing for the possibility that they may need to cancel this year’s festival.

Coachella was originally set to go down in April, but in March, it was pushed back to October. Bloomberg reports, however, that Coachella is getting ready to abandon the idea of a festival happening this year: Organizers are apparently asking artists scheduled to play the 2020 festival if they could perform in 2021 instead. While Goldenvoice hasn’t made any sort of public statement about canceling/postponing this year’s festival, this report appears to be a strong sign that at the very least, Coachella 2020 is in jeopardy.

At the top of 2020, Coachella revealed its lineup for this year’s festival, and it features Travis Scott, Frank Ocean, Rage Against The Machine, Thom Yorke, Lana Del Rey, Calvin Harris, Run The Jewels, Megan Thee Stallion, Disclosure, Brockhampton, Charli XCX, Lil Uzi Vert, FKA Twigs, Lil Nas X, Carly Rae Jepsen, and others.

Notably, Coachella was one of the first major festivals to announce a postponement earlier this year, which set a precedent for other festivals to do the same. So, if Coachella really is pushed back to 2021, the 2020 festival season more broadly could be in big trouble.

If Coachella is actually delayed to 2021, maybe the delay will give the festival a chance to “stop sucking,” as Elon Musk put it.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

John David Washington had dreams of playing in the National Football League; he was even signed by the then-St. Louis Rams in 2006, and bounced around NFL Europe and United Football League, before an achilles injury ended his career. Luckily, he had a backup plan: Washington is now the leading man in a Christopher Nolan movie, like Leonardo DiCaprio, Christian Bale, and Matthew McConaughey before him. It helps that his father is Oscar-winner Denzel Washington, but as everyone who saw BlacKkKlansman can attest, Washington is a damn fine actor in his own right.

It was actually at the BlacKkKlansman world premiere where Nolan took note of his future-star. Esquire recently spoke to Spike Lee, who told journalist Kate Storey to pass this message to Nolan: “Dear Chris, this is your cinema brother, Spike Lee. I’m looking forward to seeing Tenet, starring the great, great John David Washington. Thank you for casting him and making yourself look good. Thank you for casting him, for hoisting him into the stratosphere. My question for you is: Did you decide that you’re going to cast John David Washington at the world premiere of BlacKkKlansman?”

Nolan responded:

“Oh, very much. By the way, it was a pretty intense experience to sit in front of Spike Lee at the premiere. And no, it very much sort of felt like destiny to me. That was an extraordinary screening, and the audience response to Spike’s movie was really electric in that room at Cannes; it was quite something. And I just felt a sort of magnetism there. It really was an important thing for me in terms of feeling like it was meant to be somehow.”

Nolan also said that he had previously seen Washington on Ballers, where he played Ricky Jerret, and it’s fun to imagine the super-serious filmmaker cracking open some cold ones with the boys (Leo) to watch Ballers. Make that into a $200 million movie.

Tenet comes out on July 17.

(Via Esquire)

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When the tracklist for Lady Gaga’s Chromatica leaked a month ago, the headline was that the album features an Ariana Grande collaboration, “Rain On Me.” K-pop fans were surely more excited to see, though, that Blackpink also features on Chromatica, via the track “Sour Candy.” Now, one day before the album’s release, Gaga has shared the song.

On the dance-ready electro-pop tune, Gaga and Blackpink use the titular confection to illustrate how they function in a relationship. Blackpink’s Jennie sings on the chorus, “I’m sour candy, so sweet then I get a little angry.” Gaga also sings during the refrain, “I’m hard on the outside / But if you give me time / Then I could make time for your love.”

Lady Gaga told Japanese entertainment site TV Groove of the collaboration (translated via Google):

“When I called them and asked if they wanted to write a song with me, they were so happy and motivated. It was a really exciting collaboration. I wanted to celebrate them because they love powerful women like us, and they also wanted to celebrate me, and we had a great time together with this song. I was excited to hear them interpret the song in Korean, and told them that the part was so creative and fun. I was impressed when I heard their singing voice. I’m a woman, really talented and proud to be the fifth member of Blackpink (in this song).”

Listen to “Sour Candy” above.

Chromatica is out 5/29 via Interscope. Pre-order it here.

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A DIY macrame kit, a cushy bath pillow, an unofficial Harry Potter cookbook, sushi socks, and other packages they’ll be delighted to open.

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From soft-as-a-cloud jeggings to the best joggers for lounging. 👖

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Myka Stauffer built her YouTube following partly by sharing every step of her journey to adopt a toddler from China. This week, she revealed why he’d gone missing from her videos.

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