Cocktails › Classics › Tom Collins
Tom Collins
Tall, bright, and built for a slow afternoon. A Tom Collins takes a sharp gin sour and stretches it with sparkling soda, so the glass opens with juniper, turns lemon bright in the middle, and finishes clean and fizzy over plenty of ice.
Ingredients
- 2oz (60ml) gin
- 1oz (30ml) fresh lemon juice
- 0.5oz (15ml) simple syrup
- 3oz (90ml) soda water, well chilled
- Plenty of fresh ice
- 1 lemon wheel, for garnish
- 1 cocktail cherry, for garnish
Method
- Fill a tall Collins glass right to the top with fresh ice.
- Add the gin, the fresh lemon juice, and the simple syrup over the ice.
- Stir briefly with a long spoon to chill the mix and blend the lemon through the gin.
- Top with the well chilled soda water, pouring it in slowly to keep the bubbles alive.
- Stir once from the bottom to lift the mix through the soda without knocking out the fizz.
- Garnish with the lemon wheel and the cocktail cherry.
Tip: Cold is the whole game in a long drink like this. Chill the soda hard, use plenty of fresh ice, and pour the soda last and slowly. Warm soda and tired ice turn a bright and sparkling glass flat in minutes, while a cold build stays lively to the last sip.
Serve It With
Our sister site Cooking with Dade pairs it with Buffalo Chicken Fingers.
Variations
- Vodka Collins. Swap the gin for vodka and keep every other measure the same. The lemon and soda stay in charge, the botanical edge softens, and the glass reads cleaner and lighter from the first sip.
- Old Tom Collins. Use an Old Tom style gin, which pours a touch sweeter and rounder than a dry gin, and pull the simple syrup back a little. The result is softer and closer to the pour that made the drink famous.
Questions
What is in a Tom Collins?
Gin, fresh lemon juice, simple syrup, and soda water. The gin, lemon, and syrup are built over ice in a tall Collins glass, topped with soda, and garnished with a lemon wheel and a cocktail cherry.
Where does the Tom Collins come from?
The drink grew out of a famous bar joke that swept American cities in 1874, where strangers were told a man named Tom Collins was talking about them in a nearby bar. A printed recipe followed in 1876, and the tall lemon and soda serve has stayed a classic ever since.
What is the difference between a Tom Collins and a Gin Fizz?
A Tom Collins is built in a tall glass over ice and served long with soda. A Gin Fizz is shaken, strained into a smaller glass with no ice, and drank down quickly while the soda is still lively on top.
What gin works best in a Tom Collins?
A classic dry gin with clear juniper and bright citrus works best, because the lemon is bold and the soda stretches the drink out, so the gin needs a firm backbone to stay present. An Old Tom style gin makes a softer and slightly sweeter glass.
Why does my Tom Collins taste flat?
The soda was warm, the ice was tired, or the drink sat too long before serving. Use hard chilled soda, fill the glass right up with fresh ice, pour the soda last, and serve the glass at once.