Tom Collins

Taste

Two ounces of gin against a full ounce of lemon, half an ounce of simple, and soda to the top over ice. A gin sour stretched long, and that much lemon stays loud through the dilution, with the syrup a thin coat under it. Lemon twist and a cherry on top.

History

The drink is named for John Collins, head waiter at Limmer's Hotel on Conduit Street in London, whose gin punch was famous by 1814 and who got his own limerick out of it. The split is in the gin: Harry Johnson's 1882 Bartenders' Manual prints a Tom Collins on Old Tom, the sweetened style, and a John Collins on Holland gin. There is also the Great Tom Collins Hoax of 1874, a New York joke in which a man was sent across town to confront a Tom Collins who had been insulting him; whether the joke named the drink or the drink named the joke has never been settled. The pour here is two ounces of gin, an ounce of lemon, half an ounce of simple, and soda over ice, with a lemon twist and a cherry.

• Difford's Guide, Tom Collins
• Difford's Guide, Collins cocktails

Same shape, other bottles

The Highball family, with the bottle that changed.

• Gin Fizzthe same pour
• Elderflower Collinswith elderflower liqueur
• Mojitolight rum and lime juice for gin and lemon juice
• Palomatequila, grapefruit juice, and lime juice for gin and lemon juice
• Dark and Stormyaged rum and lime juice for gin and lemon juice
• Gin Rickeylime juice for lemon juice