• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Ruhlman
  • About
  • My Books
  • My Kitchen Essentials
  • Press
  • CV
  • Contact
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • About
  • My Books
  • My Kitchen Essentials
  • Press
  • CV
  • Contact
×

Tom Collins Cocktail (and more for The Firday Cocktail hour)

Published: Feb 26, 2021 by Michael Ruhlman · Leave a Comment

Two of them. The traditional Tom Collins cocktail and a Whiskey Collins, sometimes called a Colonel Collins.

collins cocktails

It was high time I did a Tom Collins for the cocktail hour, and as I'd been obsessively reading our great poet, Billy Collins, it seemed the perfect time.

A Tom Collins, the most common kind of Collins, uses gin. But a Collins is properly defined as a sour, over ice, topped with seltzer. Served up, it would be called a fizz, as in a Ramos Gin Fizz.

I hadn't really thought much about the Tom Collins, a truly refreshing drink, until I began to look into it and discovered, as I'm wont, that it is another superlative template drink: spirit, citrus, simple syrup, and seltzer.

A little delving will provide names for Collinses which use rum, vodka, calvados, tequila, you name it. But all of them testify to the solid template of the Collins.

I will, whenever possible, stick to simple, unfinicky ratios, as I do here with the sour ratio. 2 parts, spirit, one part each citrus juice and simple syrup topped with seltzer, the later to taste. (Whiskey Sours of course have an egg white.)

Follow other guidelines for making other Tom Collins-style drinks. If you're using tequila, add triple sec or cointreau instead of the simple. I did a post a couple weeks ago on applejack—this would make a great collins.

There's really no end to what you can do with the Tom Collins template. We're in the middle of winter now, so you folk in Florida, it's always time for a Collins because it's so hot there. But even so, with daylight savings not too far away, it's not too early to enjoy a Tom Collins cocktail.

It's a lovely refreshing cocktail, regardless of the spirit and especially when enjoyed with some of Billy Collins's straight-at-you and lovely poems. Watch our video here of both the drink and the poem.

Whiskey Collins

A Tom Collins made with whiskey rather than gin, aka a Colonel Collins
Print Recipe
Prep Time 2 minutes mins
Course Cocktail
Cuisine English
Servings 1

Ingredients
  

  • 2 ounces bourbon (or spirit of your choice)
  • ice
  • 1 ounce lemon juice
  • 1 ounce simple syrup (1 part sugar dissolved in 1 part water)
  • 1 lemon twist

Instructions
 

  • Pour the bourbon over ice in a tall, or collins, glass. Add the lemon juice and simple syrup, stir or swirl top with seltzer, not too much. Garnish with the lemon twist.
Keyword applejack cocktail, tom collins, whiskey collins
« Friday Cocktail Hour: The Sazerac
Marinated Lamb Chops, from Jimmy Bradley »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Hi, I'm Michael Ruhlman, an award-winning author and cook who writes about chefs, food and cooking, among other things.

More about me →

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram

See my books!

Ratio App for iPhone

After I wrote my book Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking, a colleague and I built a ratio calculator for iPhones that allows you to cook without recipes. For doughs, batters, custards, sauces, stocks and more, simply plug in the amount of one ingredient and the amounts of the other ingredients are instantly calculated. It's also a handy reference for dozens of our most common preparations. ($4.99 in the app store.)

Collaborate

I’ve collaborated on a dozen books, including cookbooks and a memoir. If you'd like to collaborate on a project, please contact my agent, Gail Hochman, [email protected], at Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents, Inc.

For speaking engagements contact, Kip Ludwig, [email protected].

Hi, I'm Michael Ruhlman, an award-winning author and cook who writes about chefs, food and cooking, among other things.

More about me →

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram

See my books!

Ratio App for iPhone

After I wrote my book Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking, a colleague and I built a ratio calculator for iPhones that allows you to cook without recipes. For doughs, batters, custards, sauces, stocks and more, simply plug in the amount of one ingredient and the amounts of the other ingredients are instantly calculated. It's also a handy reference for dozens of our most common preparations. ($4.99 in the app store.)

Collaborate

I’ve collaborated on a dozen books, including cookbooks and a memoir. If you'd like to collaborate on a project, please contact my agent, Gail Hochman, [email protected], at Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents, Inc.

For speaking engagements contact, Kip Ludwig, [email protected].

Footer

↑ back to top

About

  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Accessibility Policy

Newsletter

  • Sign Up for my bimonthly newsletter.

Contact

  • Contact
  • FAQ

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Copyright © 2020 Brunch Pro on the Brunch Pro Theme