A True Classic – the “Tom Collins” cocktail

The Tom Collins cocktail is one of the best known drinks with gin and the original recipe was a classic mix of gin, lemon juice, sugar and carbonated water. The first recipe for the Tom Collins appeared in the 1876 edition of “The Bartenders Guide” by famous mixologist Jerry Thomas. There are several other drinks classed as a Collins Cocktails, made in exactly the same way as the Tom Collins cocktail, differing only in the base spirit, these include the Brandy Collins, the Juan Collins and the popular John Collins. The cocktail is ideally served in a Collins glass, which is the same shape as a highball glass, the Collins glass is bigger, holding from 10 to 14 oz – although many bars today substitute this for a standard highball-type glass.

The Tom Collins drink owes its birth to a bizarre hoax which spread across New York during the summer of 1874. Tom Collins was a loud, rude man who would sit in bars speaking ill of people. When the person heard of what this Tom Collins was saying about them they would race to the bar to confront them, only to find out that they had left for a bar several blocks away. As you would chase this infamous Tom Collins all over town, your friends would be laughing behind your back.The hoax became so widespread that the cities newspapers began to run features about it in their publications. Two years later, Jerry Thomas included a new drink named after the hoax, in “The Bartender’s Guide.” It was then that those desperately looking for their revenge would walk into a bar asking for Tom Collins, and instead receive the sour cocktail.

There are several cocktail made in the exact fashion of the Tom Collins, although these are not drinks with gin but use an alternative base spirit. The Juan Collins replaces gin with tequila whereas the Jack Collins replaces the gin with applejack.The Ron Collins replaces gin with rum whilst the slightly more complex Grand Orange Collins replaces the gin with Grand Marnier as the base spirit and adds orange juice as well as lemon juice. Possibly the most popular alternative to the Tom Collins cocktail is the John Collins drink, which use bourbon as the base spirit.

Cocktail Ingredients

37 1/2 ml Gin, 25 ml Lemon Juice, 12 1/2 ml Sugar Syrup, splash Soda Water

How to make a Tom Collins Cocktail

Chill highball glass with soda. Add the three ingredients into a mixing tin and fill tin up with ice. Shake for 10 -15 seconds. Taste. Fill highball with ice. Single strain into highball glass. Top up with soda and add straw. Garnish with lemon wedge.