Average
Sweet, Sour & Fruity
3 minutes
Highball Glass
Ingredients
This highball drink mixes vanilla-flavored vodka, lemon juice, and strawberry syrup, topped with soda water.
Despite its seemingly decadent flavors, it’s actually a crisp, bubbly, and only subtly sweet drink, perfect for sunny days and lazy afternoons.
How to Make a Strawberry and Cream Highball
Bar tools you’ll need
Jigger
Citrus Press
Bar Spoon
Knife
How to Mix
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Fill a highball glass with ice cubes.
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Cut a Lemon in half, then use a citrus press (or citrus elbow) to juice the Lemon halves.
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Use a jigger to measure and pour the Lemon Juice into the glass.
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Measure and add Strawberry Syrup.
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Measure and add Absolut Vanilia.
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Use a bar spoon to give the drink a gentle stir.
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Top with Soda Water.
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Garnish your drink by adding a Lemon Twist to the glass and using a bar spoon to push it down so that it spirals inside of the glass.
All about the Strawberry and Cream Highball
The Strawberry and Cream Highball is an easy-to-make built cocktail made with vanilla-flavored vodka, lemon juice, and strawberry syrup topped with crisp soda water. Served in a highball glass with ice cubes, it’s then garnished with a lemon twist.
Contrary to what you might expect, the Strawberry and Cream Highball isn’t a dessert cocktail nor hardly sweet.
While the strawberry syrup does add some sweetness, the vanilla-flavored vodka contributes warm vanilla notes without extra sweetness. Lemon juice adds a sourness and acidity to balance the syrup, while the soda water brings a crisp, mineral quality to the drink.
All in all, the Strawberry and Cream Highball is a crisp and balanced summer drink.
The Strawberry and Cream Highball is a modern cocktail and a twist on classic highball drinks, which are said to have originated in the 1890s. It also draws inspiration from the traditional British pairing of strawberries and cream, a beloved combination dating back to the early 1500s.
The exact history and origin of this Strawberry and Cream Highball is unknown but it’s most almost certainly a 21st century creation, which is also when Absolut Vanilia was launched.
- Fresh lemon juice
Be sure to make your own lemon juice. The vibrancy, acidity and sourness are essentially to all highball drinks and you’ll only get this from real lemon juice – not that bottled stuff. - Bottled soda water
While you can use carbonated tap water, we suggest opting for a premium bottled soda water. Premium bottled soda water usually contains purified water, carbon dioxide for bubbles, and added mineral salts that provide a subtle, mineral-like taste and give your Strawberry and Cream Highball a lovely crisp effervescence. - Make your own strawberry simple syrup
Even if you can find strawberry simple syrup in at store, be sure to make your own from scratch. Nothing beats the taste of real strawberries. Imitation strawberry will result in an inferior and artificial tasting drink. Jump to the FAQ to see how to make strawberry simple syrup
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Being a modern highball drink, we recommend serving the Strawberry and Cream Highball in a highball glass or Collins glass.
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To garnish, we recommend a long strip of lemon zest, pushed down into the glass to create a spiral-like twist.
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To accentuate the strawberry flavors, garnish with a couple of strawberry halves placed directly in your drink or cut a slit into a strawberry and perch it on the rim of your glass.
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Prefer to highlight the vanilla notes instead? Garnish with a vanilla pod.
Strawberry and Cream Highball FAQ
Making homemade strawberry simple syrup is easy. Here’s how to do it:
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Grab some fresh strawberries, remove the stems and slice them in half. You can also use frozen strawberries if you can’t find fresh ones.
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Place the strawberries into a saucepan and add equal parts sugar and water.
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Cook the mixture for about 20 minutes, until the strawberries soften and the liquid turns a deep red.
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Pour the syrup through a fine mesh strainer.
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Transfer the syrup to a container and chill it in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it.
No, not technically. But if you plan to make strawberry syrup, which we highly recommend, you’ll need fresh strawberries. However, if you decide to use store-bought strawberry syrup, then no, you don’t need fresh strawberries.
However, to garnish your drink, you may like to use a fresh strawberry or two.
Nope. No, muddling is required to make a Strawberry and Cream Highball.
