Tom Collins Recipe

Before you start

The Tom Collins is a gin sour stretched into a tall, cold highball with soda water. It is meant to be refreshing rather than strong: the soda opens the gin's botanicals and softens the citrus, and the drink is sipped slowly over plenty of ice. Old recipes called for Old Tom gin, a slightly sweeter style; London dry is more common today and makes a crisper drink.

Two things decide whether a Collins is good or limp. First, the sour base must be balanced before the soda goes in, because soda only dilutes, it does not fix. Second, carbonation is fragile: cold soda, a cold glass, solid ice and a gentle stir keep the fizz. You can shake the base or simply build it in the glass; shaking chills and blends it faster, which makes a livelier finished drink.

Ingredients

• 60 ml (2 oz) gin — London dry or Old Tom
• 30 ml (1 oz) fresh lemon juice — strained
• 22 ml (¾ oz) simple syrup (1:1) — 15 ml if using Old Tom gin
• 90 to 120 ml (3 to 4 oz) soda water — very cold, freshly opened
• 2 cups (about 300 g) ice cubes — half for shaking, half for the glass
• 1 lemon wheel — plus a cocktail cherry, optional

Method

1. Fill the Collins glass with ice cubes and leave it to chill while you mix. If the ice melts down, top it up before pouring.
2. Shake the gin, lemon juice and simple syrup with ice for about 8 seconds. Taste the base; it should be a pleasant, slightly sweet sour.
3. Strain the base over the fresh ice in the glass.
4. Pour the soda water slowly down the side of the glass until it is nearly full. Start with 90 ml and add more if the drink still tastes strong.
5. Slide the bar spoon down to the bottom and lift it once or twice to mix the base with the soda without stirring out the bubbles.
6. Garnish with a lemon wheel tucked against the side of the glass, and a cherry if you like the traditional look.

Tips for success

• Use small bottles or cans of soda so each drink gets fully carbonated water instead of a half-flat liter.
• Long, clear ice spears or large cubes melt slower than small cubes and keep the Collins fizzy for longer.
• To batch for a crowd, mix gin, lemon and syrup in a pitcher, keep it cold, and add soda to each glass individually.

Substitutions

Gin

Vodka makes a cleaner, plainer drink sometimes called a Vodka Collins. Bourbon gives a rounder, spicier take.

Simple syrup

Use superfine sugar stirred into the lemon until dissolved before adding ice. Agave syrup works at 15 ml but adds an earthy note.

Soda water

Sparkling mineral water adds a faint salinity that many people like. Avoid tonic, which adds bitterness and sugar and changes the drink entirely.

Variations

John Collins

Use bourbon in place of gin. Keep the same lemon and syrup and garnish with an orange slice.

Berry Collins

Muddle 4 raspberries in the shaker before adding the base, then double-strain over ice and top with soda.

Troubleshooting

It goes flat quickly

Warm soda, warm glass or too much stirring. Keep the soda in the fridge, chill the glass with ice, and mix with a gentle lift only.

It tastes watery

Too much soda or the ice melted before serving. Use 90 ml soda first and replace any melted ice before pouring.

It tastes too sharp

The sour base was unbalanced before the soda went in. Add 5 ml syrup to the next drink and taste the base before topping.

Storage

Serve immediately. Lemon and syrup can be pre-mixed with the gin up to a few hours ahead and kept refrigerated; add soda only at serving time.

Safety notes

One Tom Collins made with 60 ml of 40% gin contains about 1.4 U.S. standard drinks (around 14 g of alcohol per standard drink), even though it tastes light. For adults of legal drinking age only. Do not drink and drive.