Collins Family

The Collins family takes the sour formula — spirit, citrus, sugar — and extends it with soda water served over ice in a tall glass. This makes the Collins refreshing and lower in intensity than a standard sour, a format perfectly suited to warm-weather drinking.

The Tom Collins is the founding member of the family. Jerry Thomas first recorded it in the 1876 edition of his Bar-Tender's Guide under the heading "Collins," where it appeared alongside Whisky Collins and Brandy Collins variations. The recipe at the time called for gin — most likely Old Tom gin or genever rather than modern London Dry — shaken with lemon juice and gum syrup, strained into a large glass, and topped with soda water.

The name Tom Collins may have arrived partly through popular culture. The Great Tom Collins Hoax of 1874 swept through New York City saloons — people rushed from bar to bar searching for a fictional man named Tom Collins who had supposedly been insulting them. According to the story, at least one clever bartender began serving a gin drink by that name to defuse the joke. Two years later the recipe appeared in Thomas's book. By 1878 the Tom Collins was being served in bars across the country.

Earlier versions of the drink may have existed as the John Collins, attributed to a headwaiter named John Collins at Limmer's Hotel in London. The John Collins used Holland gin (genever), and when preference shifted toward Old Tom gin, the name shifted as well.

Today the Collins family includes the Tom Collins (gin), John Collins (often whiskey in modern usage), Vodka Collins, and countless variations using different spirits. The distinguishing features are the tall glass, ice throughout, the longer format with more soda, and the lemon-forward profile.