Tom Collins
A Gin Sour lengthened with soda — the original tall drink.
- Lemon wheel + cherryin the glass
- Soda water toppoured slowly to preserve carbonation
- Gin + lemon + syrup shakenstrained in
- Chilled Collins glass with fresh ice
How to make it
- Shake gin, lemon juice, and syrup with ice for 8 seconds — enough to chill but not fully dilute.
- Strain into a chilled Collins glass filled with fresh ice.
- Top with cold soda water, pouring down a bar spoon to preserve the bubbles.
- Garnish with a lemon wheel and a brandied cherry.
The history
The Tom Collins is named for Old Tom gin — a slightly sweetened English gin style — and appeared in the second edition of Jerry Thomas's Bartender's Guide in 1876 as the 'Tom Collins Gin.' It grew out of the 'Great Tom Collins Hoax' of that year, a running practical joke in which people were told a stranger named Tom Collins was insulting them at a nearby bar.
The John Collins is the same drink with genever or later with rye/bourbon; the Vodka Collins is 20th-century American. The Collins glass — tall, narrow, holding ~10 oz — is named after the drink.
The Collins is the archetype of the Highball category: a short cocktail base (spirit + citrus + sugar) lengthened with carbonated water over ice. Once you understand the template you understand the Paloma, the Mojito's cousins, and every gin-and-tonic-adjacent long drink.
Common mistakes
- Over-shaking
The soda will further dilute the drink. Shake only 6–8 seconds so the Sour base arrives cold but not watery.
- Warm soda
Warm soda flattens on impact with ice. Keep the bottle cold.
- No ice in the glass
The Collins needs a full column of fresh ice — not the used shaker ice — to hold the top-up soda cold and preserve carbonation.
Variations
- John Collins
Substitute bourbon or genever for gin. Older, richer, more American.
- Paloma
Same shape — spirit + citrus + soda — with tequila, lime, and grapefruit soda. Mexico's answer to the Collins.
- French 75
Same skeleton with dry Champagne in place of soda. Same drink at higher volume and pressure.
Frequently asked
- Old Tom or London Dry?
- Old Tom is historically correct and slightly sweet; London Dry is drier and more juniper-forward. Both work; Old Tom nudges you to use less syrup.
- Club soda or seltzer?
- Either. Club soda has added minerals for a rounder mouthfeel; seltzer is neutral. Avoid tonic — the quinine changes the drink.
- How much soda?
- Enough to fill — usually 60–90 ml. The finished drink should read as a long, dry, effervescent Sour, not a spritzer.