When writing this I cannot believe that I have not made a post on the Tom Collins yet. With more than 60 posts I have neglected this cocktail. I have done versions of the cocktail; however, I have not done the all-important basic cocktail which everything is based on. It is not that I don’t like the cocktail because I really do. This is one of my absolute favourite cocktails in the summer. I believe that the reason why I haven’t done this cocktail yet is that I have been focusing on unusual cocktails quite a bit. The classics are scattered between the weird modern creations by others, adaptions by me and original creations. Unfortunately, some important classics are then forgotten among all other cocktails I make.
Traditionally this cocktail has been made with old tom gin. The style of gin is a bit sweeter than the normal London dry style gin. The old tom gin was more common in the past and traditionally some cocktails, mainly those from the 19th century was originally made with old tom gin. Further, the style of gin is also what has given the cocktail its name. Some claim that for a Tom Collins to be a Tom Collins, it needs to have old tom gin. Deviations from the gin style, e.g. by using London dry gin instead produce a John Collins. However, some have the name John Collins designated to a Collins made with bourbon, leaving the Collins with London dry gin nameless. In that case, a name for the Collins with London dry gin would probably be something along the lines of Gin Collins. In my personal opinion, I think it is fine to call any Collins with gin Tom Collins, even though the one I have made this week uses old tom gin, using a London dry would be fine with me. I think in general the specific name is irrelevant and the Collins is a slightly longer sour, diluted with soda water. One last distinction I need to make is the distinction between a Collins and a Fizz. In general, there are more versions of the fizz where it is not really as tightly held as the Collins. More ingredients may be added such as egg whites, cream or even orange flower water. The last distinction between the two categories is that the Fizzes usually have more soda water making them fizzier than the Collinses.
To conclude this writeup. The Tom Collins is definitely a cocktail I would recommend to me it is a staple cocktail that is never wrong, especially in the summer. If you haven’t tried one you should. This time I can definitely say that it is a great cocktail.
My Recipe:
- 2 oz (6 ci) (Old Tom) Gin
- 1 oz (3 cl) Lemon Juice
- 1 oz (3 cl) Simple Syrup
- 2 oz (6 cl) Soda Water
Add the gin, the lemon, and the simple syrup to a shaker with ice. Shake and train into a chilled Collins glass with ice. Top with 2 oz (6 cl) soda water and garnish with a lemon twist.
