 Seeking a name, for example, for a mixture of whiskey and soda- water, the best they could achieve was whiskey-and-soda.The Americans, introduced to the same drink, at once gave it the far more original name of high-ball.A drink known as a John Collins has existed since the 1860s at the very least and is believed to have originated with a headwaiter of that name who worked at Limmer's Old House in Conduit Street in Mayfair, which was a popular London hotel and coffee house around 1790–1817.