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Tom Collins

Highballs · Gin

Tom Collins

Gin, lemon and sugar stretched tall with soda – a grown-up lemonade

Gin, fresh lemon and sugar, lengthened with soda water in a tall glass full of ice. Bright, tart and lightly sweet, with the gin's botanicals lifted by the bubbles. A sunny-afternoon cooler and an easy first step into gin cocktails.

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Glass
Collins glass
Ice
Ice cubes
Technique
Built in the glass
Difficulty
Easy
Time
2 min
Strength
≈ 12% ABV

Ingredients

Collins glass
  • 45 mlLondon dry gin1½ oz
  • 30 mlFresh lemon juice1 oz
  • 15 mlSimple syrup (1:1)½ oz
  • 60 mlSoda waterto top2 oz
  • GarnishLemon wheel + Cocktail cherry

≈ 162 ml served · 1.5 standard drinks

Substitutes: Fresh lime juice can stand in for Fresh lemon juice. Rich demerara syrup (2:1) can stand in for Simple syrup (1:1).

Method

  1. 1

    Fill a collins glass with ice cubes.

  2. 2

    Add the gin, lemon juice and simple syrup and stir briefly to combine.

  3. 3

    Top with soda water and give one gentle lift with the bar spoon.

  4. 4

    Garnish with a lemon wheel and a cocktail cherry.

Learn it step by step

History

A Tom Collins recipe appears in the 1876 edition of Jerry Thomas's bartender's guide. Its fame was boosted by the “Tom Collins hoax” of 1874, when New Yorkers told friends that a man named Tom Collins had been badmouthing them in a nearby bar. An earlier John Collins, linked to a London head waiter, is often cited as its ancestor.

First recorded
1876

Bartender's notes

  • For a livelier texture, shake the gin, lemon and syrup with ice, strain over fresh ice and then top with soda.
  • Old Tom gin, slightly sweeter than London dry, is the historical choice – trim the syrup a little if you use it.
CitrusRefreshingSparklingSour

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