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Collins cocktails

Remember the Tom or John Collins? If you're getting tired of Gin & Tonics, this is an old classic of a gin cocktail worth revisiting. It's easy to make and easy to vary.

What is a Collins?

A Collins is actually little more than a concentrated and sparkling lemonade flavoured with a spirit, typically Gin, and served over ice. The spirit is shaken with sugar syrup and lemon juice before being poured into a Collins glass filled with ice, topped with soda and garnished. While Gin & Tonic is a relatively dry and slightly bitter drink, the Collins offers a balance between sour and sweet.

Classic Collins Recipe

6 cl Gin
Juice of half a lemon
A dash of sugar syrup
A splash of soda
Lemon peel/lemon slice
Shake the spirit, lemon juice and sugar syrup with ice.
Pour into a Collins glass filled with ice.
Top with soda. Stir gently. Garnish with lemon peel or lemon slice.

Tip! If you don't have a shaker or Collins glass, you can stir the ingredients with ice and use a tall kitchen glass; sugar syrup is easily made by boiling and cooling 2/3 sugar and 1/3 water.

Tom or John?

Some people know the drink as Tom Collins, others as John Collins. Scholars argue about which name is correct, but apparently John was the original, using Genever, a slightly thicker spirit from the Netherlands that, like Gin, is flavoured with juniper berries. The Tom Collins probably originated as a twist on this with Old-Tom Gin, a sweeter variety of gin with a fairly pure juniper flavour. As London Dry Gin became more common and Genever became rarer, John was transformed, while Tom often retained its original composition, although recipes with London Dry Gin also existed here. London Dry Gin is drier and typically more complex in its spice composition.

Or Pedro?

The combination of lemonade and spirits has proven to be so catchy that a number of variations on the Collins have emerged. A popular way to vary it is to replace the base spirit, hence drinks like the Pedro Collins with Rum, the Colonel Collins with Bourbon and the Pierre Collins with Cognac.

For a Norwegian twist, replace Gin with blank Aquavit (a spirit that is hardly distinguishable from Gin other than the spices it is flavoured with, i.e. caraway and/or dill instead of juniper berries). An appropriate name might be Ola Collins!

Another popular twist is to replace some of the sugar syrup with a fruit liqueur. For example, try berry liqueurs like Crème de Mûre or Framboise for a little extra fruitiness and complexity.