Tom Collins
Gin, lemon and sugar shaken, poured over ice in a tall glass and lengthened with soda: a sparkling lemonade for grownups, named, maybe, after a newspaper hoax.
The Collins family starts in London. Wikipedia says the John Collins existed by the 1860s and is traditionally linked to a head waiter named John Collins at Limmer's Old House, a hotel on Conduit Street in Mayfair. The "Tom" is American. In 1874 people in New York, Pennsylvania and elsewhere played a prank: they asked a friend "Have you seen Tom Collins?", claimed Collins was nearby badmouthing him, and sent him off to find a man who did not exist. Newspapers printed fake sightings and music halls wrote songs about it, and drinks writer George Sinclair thought the hoax was the most plausible source of the drink's name (Wikipedia, citing Sinclair 2007). Jerry Thomas's 1876 bar guide, written right after the hoax, included the drink; Harry Johnson's 1882 manual called for Old Tom gin, a sweetened gin, which is the other explanation for the name (Wikipedia; Difford's Guide).
🇺🇸 This one is American
Gin, lemon and sugar shaken, poured over ice in a tall glass and lengthened with soda: a sparkling lemonade for grownups, named, maybe, after a newspaper hoax.
🇨🇺 The original
The original daiquiri is three things shaken hard with ice: Cuban white rum, fresh lime juice and sugar, served straight up and very cold. See the Cuban Daiquiri recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
Shake the base, add the bubbles last
Shaking soda would flatten it and could blow the shaker open; pouring it on top keeps the drink lively.
A sour stretched long
The same lemon, sugar and spirit balance as a gin sour, opened up with soda so it drinks like lemonade.
Step by step
- Step 1
Method: Shaken, then built. Fill a tall Collins glass with ice cubes and set it in the freezer for 5 minutes.
- Step 2
Add the gin, lemon juice and simple syrup to a shaker and fill it two-thirds with ice cubes.
- Step 3
Shake hard for 10 seconds; just long enough to chill, since the soda will add dilution.
- Step 4
Strain into the ice-filled Collins glass.
- Step 5
Top with the club soda, pouring it down the inside of the glass so it keeps its fizz.
- Step 6
Lift once from the bottom with a bar spoon to mix, add the orange wheel and cherry, and serve with a straw.
Tom Collins
Serves 1 · 1 drink · 3 min total
Drink
- 2 oz (60 ml) gin (Old Tom or London dry)
- 3/4 oz (22 ml) fresh lemon juice
- 3/4 oz (22 ml) simple syrup (1:1); use 1/2 oz with Old Tom gin
- 3 oz (90 ml) cold club soda
- Ice cubes, for shaking and serving
Garnish
- 1 orange or lemon wheel and 1 cocktail cherry, on a pick
Method
- Method: Shaken, then built. Fill a tall Collins glass with ice cubes and set it in the freezer for 5 minutes.
- Add the gin, lemon juice and simple syrup to a shaker and fill it two-thirds with ice cubes.
- Shake hard for 10 seconds; just long enough to chill, since the soda will add dilution.
- Strain into the ice-filled Collins glass.
- Top with the club soda, pouring it down the inside of the glass so it keeps its fizz.
- Lift once from the bottom with a bar spoon to mix, add the orange wheel and cherry, and serve with a straw.
Adapted from Difford's Guide, "Tom Collins": 52 ml Old Tom gin, 22 ml lemon juice and 15 ml rich syrup shaken, strained into an ice-filled Collins glass and topped with 52 ml soda, garnished with an orange wheel and cherry; the infobox in Wikipedia lists 60 ml Old Tom gin, 25 ml lemon, 15 ml simple syrup and 50 ml club soda. We use 2 oz gin, 3/4 oz lemon, 3/4 oz 1:1 syrup (the same sugar as Difford's) and 3 oz soda for a longer drink. diffordsguide.com. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (2)
Tips
- David Embury, quoted by Difford's, called Old Tom "merely a sweetened London gin"; with it, cut the syrup by about half.
- Swap the spirit and the name changes: bourbon makes a John Collins in many American bars (in London the John Collins was the gin original), vodka a Vodka Collins.
- Our math: about 1.5 US standard drinks, assuming 90-proof gin.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- The name comes from the 1874 hoax. Disputed: Sinclair called it the most plausible source (Wikipedia), but Difford's questions the evidence; Old Tom gin is the rival explanation.
- John Collins was a real head waiter at Limmer's. Folklore: the tradition is repeated by Regan and Calabrese (Wikipedia), but no contemporary record is cited.
- Jerry Thomas published it in 1876. Documented by Wikipedia; his 1887 recipe called for "gin" without naming the style.
- A Tom Collins must use Old Tom gin. Disputed: Johnson (1882) specified Old Tom; most modern bars use London dry.
Every other cocktail
Classic Margarita
Blanco tequila, orange liqueur and fresh lime, shaken hard and poured over fresh ice in a half salt-rimmed glass: the sour that Mexico, Texas and California all claim.
Frozen Margarita (Dallas, 1971)
The margarita as Texas made it famous: tequila, orange liqueur, lime and a little syrup blended with crushed ice into a smooth, spoonable slush, the drink a Dallas restaurateur put in a machine in 1971.
Cuban Daiquiri
The original daiquiri is not pink and not frozen: white rum, fresh lime and a little sugar, shaken ice cold and strained into a chilled coupe, the way it was made in Cuba before America put it in a blender.
Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri
How America remade the Cuban daiquiri: white rum, lime and sugar blended with frozen strawberries and crushed ice into a thick red slush, the version that came with the electric blender.
Cuban Mojito
Havana's highball: mint pressed gently with lime and sugar, white rum, a mound of crushed ice and a splash of soda, built and churned right in the glass.
Negroni (and the Americano)
Equal parts gin, red bitter aperitivo and sweet vermouth, stirred cold and served over one big cube with orange: Italy's bittersweet classic, plus the older "American-style" Americano it came from.
Old Fashioned (the Whiskey Cocktail)
The drink that defined the word cocktail: whiskey, a little sugar, bitters and water, stirred over one big cube with an orange peel, before fruit salad got muddled into it.
Manhattan
Rye whiskey, sweet vermouth and bitters stirred ice cold and served up with a cherry: New York's whiskey classic, and a famous origin story that cannot be true.
Moscow Mule
Vodka, fresh lime and spicy ginger beer over ice in a cold copper mug: the 1940s American drink that sold a nation on vodka, and its famous mug.
Piña Colada (Caribe Hilton style)
Puerto Rico's official drink: white rum, sweet cream of coconut, a splash of heavy cream and fresh pineapple juice blended with ice, the way the Caribe Hilton shares its 1954 recipe.
Mai Tai (Trader Vic, 1944)
The real mai tai is not pink and has no pineapple juice: aged rum, lime, orange curaçao, almond orgeat and a touch of syrup, shaken and poured over crushed ice with mint and a spent lime shell.
Paloma
Mexico's everyday highball: blanco tequila, a squeeze of lime and a pinch of salt topped with cold grapefruit soda over ice, built in the glass in under two minutes.
Gin and Tonic
London dry gin and cold tonic water over plenty of ice with a squeeze of lime: the two-ingredient highball with a malaria-medicine backstory that is half history and half legend.
Virgin Mojito (Nojito)
All the mint, lime and fizz of a mojito with no alcohol at all: mint pressed with lime and syrup, crushed ice and plenty of club soda, built in the glass in four minutes.
Shirley Temple
The original American mocktail: cold ginger ale and a pour of grenadine over ice, with two maraschino cherries, the pink drink named for a child star who said she never liked it.
Meatballs of the World
Italian-American Meatballs
Big, tender meatballs braised for an hour in red sauce over spaghetti. The one most Americans grew up with.
Pallottine (Abruzzo Meatballs)
Tiny meatballs, smaller than a marble, tossed right through square spaghetti alla chitarra. No bread at all.
Swedish Meatballs (Köttbullar)
Small, soft meatballs browned in butter, in a cream sauce made from the same pan, with lingonberry jam on the plate.
Danish Frikadeller
Pork meatballs shaped with a spoon and fried slowly in butter, crusty outside and soft in the middle.
Königsberger Klopse
German meatballs that are never fried: poached, then served in a creamy white sauce with capers.
Spanish Albóndigas in Almond Saffron Sauce
The tapas bar classic: small meatballs in a golden sauce thickened with fried almonds and bread.
Mexican Albóndigas with Chipotle and Mint
Soft meatballs with rice and fresh mint inside, simmered in a smoky tomato and chipotle broth.
Izgara Köfte (Turkish Grilled Meatballs)
Small, flat meatballs kneaded hard, rested cold, and charred on a hot grill pan.
Lion's Head Meatballs
Big, soft pork meatballs, stirred into a sticky paste, fried to set, then braised in a savory sauce.
Chicken Tsukune
Japan's chicken meatball: kneaded sticky, grilled on skewers, glazed with sweet soy tare, dipped in egg yolk.