Tom Collins
Gin, lemon, sugar and soda in a tall glass. A gin sour stretched long — and the only cocktail named after a hoax.
Built to the standard modern spec; not yet tested in our kitchen. How we test.
The recipe.
Scaling adjusts quantities only. Prepare shaken drinks in individual portions.
Let’s make a good drink.
Add the gin, lemon juice and simple syrup to a shaker.
Fill with ice and shake for 10-12 seconds.
Strain into an ice-filled collins glass.
Top with cold soda water and stir once, gently, from the bottom.
A thoughtful finish
- Shake the sour, then top with soda in the glass. Shaking the soda is a waste of carbonation and a mess.
- Fill the glass with ice before you strain. A tall drink with too little ice warms and goes flat fast.
- One gentle stir from the bottom after topping. Any more and you knock the bubbles out.
Common mistakes
- Using bottled sour mix, which is what gave this drink its dated reputation.
- Topping with tonic instead of soda. That is a Gin and Tonic with lemon, a different drink entirely.
- Skimping on ice so the soda goes flat and the drink turns warm and sweet.
A few good questions.
What is the difference between a Tom Collins and a John Collins?
Historically the gin: a John Collins used genever or a heavier Dutch-style gin, a Tom Collins used Old Tom. Today the names are often used interchangeably, and a John Collins is sometimes made with whiskey.
What is Old Tom gin?
A lightly sweetened, fuller-bodied style of gin that predates London dry. It makes a rounder Tom Collins and is the historically correct choice, though London dry is the standard modern build.
Is it the same as a Gin Fizz?
Very close. A Gin Fizz is traditionally shaken, served in a smaller glass without ice, and drunk quickly; a Collins is served tall over ice. The ingredients are the same.
Was Tom Collins a real person?
Not in any traceable way. The 1874 hoax turned the name into a running joke across New York, and the drink inherited it.
Variations
- John Collins — Genever or whiskey in place of London dry gin.
- Vodka Collins — Vodka in place of gin.
- Gin Fizz — The same build, no ice in the glass, drunk fast.
- Paloma — Tequila and grapefruit soda — the same long, sour, fizzy idea.
Where it comes from
c. 1874-1876 · London, then New York City · Limmer's Hotel
Contested. More than one origin is claimed for this drink. We show the competing accounts rather than pick one.
The drink descends from the John Collins, a gin punch associated with a head waiter named John Collins at Limmer’s Hotel in London in the early nineteenth century, originally made with Dutch genever or Old Tom gin. The Tom Collins name arrived by a strange route: the Great Tom Collins Hoax of 1874, a New York prank in which people were told that a man named Tom Collins had been insulting them, sending crowds into bars asking for Tom Collins. Jerry Thomas printed a Tom Collins recipe in the 1876 edition of his Bar-Tender’s Guide, which fixed the name. Whether the drink was renamed for the hoax or the hoax simply popularised an existing name is not resolved.
Sources
- Jerry Thomas, The Bar-Tender's Guide, revised edition, 1876 (book)
- New York press coverage of the Tom Collins hoax, 1874 (periodical)
- IBA Official Cocktails list, current (standards body)
Strength. About 1.47 US standard drinks at an estimated 11.8% ABV, estimated from the ingredients and technique, not measured. What that means.
A little character in every sip.
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