Tom Collins Cocktail: A Refreshing Twist on Lemonade

Simultaneously sweet and tart, the Tom Collins cocktail is a delightful drink that tastes like spiked lemonade. It's also super simple to craft at home with just a few ingredients.

Tom Collins CocktailPhoto by2foodtrippers

After recently crafting and drinking our first Tom Collins cocktails, we had to wonder why the classic cocktail isn't more popular.

We started smiling after just one sip. It didn't take much longer for the summer sipper to earn a year-round spot in our cocktail rotation.

What Is the Tom Collins Cocktail?

Crafted with four key ingredients (gin, lemon juice, simple syrup and club soda), the Tom Collins fits into multiple cocktail categories.

It's both a classic cocktail and a pre-prohibition cocktail that dates back to the 19th century. However, despite its advance age, the Tom Collins is neither stodgy nor old fashioned.

The Tom Collins qualifies as a sour cocktail based on its ingredients. It also qualifies as a collins cocktail. And, while all collins cocktails are sour cocktails, not all sour cocktails are collins cocktails.

Collins Cocktails vs. Sour Cocktails: Both collins cocktails and sour cocktails include three specific elements - a liquor, citrus juice and a sweetener. Collins cocktails take the concept one step further with the addition of soda water. Plus, collins cocktails are typically served in either highball glasses or collins glasses.

History of the Tom Collins Cocktail

While Tom Collins may be a common name, it's unlikely that a person named Tom Collins invented the Tom Collins recipe. Some cocktail historians link the drink to a British bartender named John Collins but that's just one hypothesis.

Regardless of its inventor, the drink gained fame when Jerry Thomas included a Tom Collins recipe in the 1876 edition of his iconic bartender's guide. That recipe specifically called for Old Tom gin. Dry gin, more common today, is used in crafting the modern Tom Collins recipe.

The cocktail has since appeared in various Hollywood movies including Chinatown and Meet the Parents. Now, with just a few simple pours and a stir, it's appearing at our home bar.

Ingredients

Sure, you could buy bottled Tom Collins mix to quickly craft Tom Collins cocktails at home. We say don't do it. The better option is to quickly craft the sour gin cocktail with the following ingredients:

• 2 ounces gin
• 1 ounce lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
• ½ ounce simple syrup
• club soda or seltzer
• ice cubes
• lemon wheel (garnish)

You probably already have these ingredients in your kitchen and liquor cabinet. If not, you should be able to find them all at your local market and/or liquor store.

While bartenders used Old Tom gin to craft Tom Collins cocktails back in the day, you should use your favorite dry gin for this recipe. Bonus points to you if your favorite gin is Old Tom gin.

We like to use Citadelle dry gin from France to craft this and other gin cocktails. Produced in Cognac, the premium gin features 19 botanicals and has an ABV of 44%.

How to Craft a Tom Collins Cocktail

Once you gather the necessary ingredients and tools, the first step is to fill a highball class (or better yet a Tom Collins glass) with ice cubes.

Measure the gin, freshly squeezed lemon juice and simple syrup. We use a Japanese jigger to minimize spillage and ensure accuracy.

Immediately pour the three liquids into the highball or Tom Collins glass.

Top off the glass with club soda or seltzer.

Gently stir with a bar spoon or another long utensil.

Garnish with a lemon wheel.

While some recipes add a maraschino cherry garnish, we choose to skip that element since we're going for more of an 'adult lemonade' vibe. Whether you add a sweet red orb to your Tom Collins is up to you.

Variations

Similar to non-alcoholic lemonade, the Tom Collins can be modified in a myriad of ways. Here are a few ideas to get your mixology juices going:

• Add additional simple syrup to craft a sweeter Tom Collins cocktail.
• Add egg white to craft a Gin Fizz cocktail.
• Add a splash of maraschino cherry syrup to craft a pink Tom Collins cocktail.
• Replace the gin with bourbon to craft a Captain Collins cocktail.
• Replace the gin with rum to craft a Pedro Collins cocktail.
• Replace the gin with tequila to craft a Pepito Collins cocktail.
• Replace the gin with vodka to craft a Vodka Collins cocktail.
• Replace the gin with whiskey to craft a John Collins cocktail.
• Replace the soda water with egg white to craft a Gin Sour cocktail.
• Keep things simple and craft a Gin + Tonic cocktail instead.

This recipe was originally published on 2foodtrippers. Consider subscribing to 2foodtrippers if you enjoyed it.