How to make ...
Twisted Collins
The Tom Collins is one of those cocktails with a long and storied history, a drink so effortless and natural in its combination that it seems almost impossible to have come from just one source, and by most accounts, it didn’t.
We’ve included a recipe for a classic Tom Collins below as well as a few more fruity and boozy twists utilising some of our favourite local ingredients.
Ingredients
50ml Cabby’s Gin
25ml Lemon Juice
Syrup of your Choice (see Method)
Sparkling Top of your Choice (see Method)
Garnish
Times:
Prep: 2 Minutes
Make: 30 Seconds
Total: 2 Minutes and 30 Seconds
Calories:
141 calories
Allergens:
No common allergens to be found, although, since every body is different, we advise you check out this recipe's ingredients list just to be sure!
Servings:
Serves 1
Method
Classic Collins:
In a shaker or Boston glass, add the gin, lemon juice and sugar syrup.
Fill with cubed ice and seal.
Shake vigorously for 15-20 seconds.
Strain into a Collins glass filled with cubed ice.
Top with soda water and garnish with lemon wedge or twist.
Serve and enjoy.
Time for Your Twist:
Rhubarb and Custard Collins:
- In the shaker, along with your gin and lemon, add 20ml of vanilla syrup.
- Shake with ice and strain over cubed ice.
- Top with Umbrella London Rhubarb Cider, garnish and serve.
Elderflower and Ginger Collins:
- In the shaker, along with your gin and lemon, add 20ml of elderflower cordial.
- Shake with ice and strain over cubes.
- Top with Umbrella London Ginger Beer, garnish and serve.
Cucumber and Apple Collins:
- In the shaker along with your gin and lemon add 20ml of cucumber syrup.
- Shake with ice and strain over cubes.
- Top with Umbrella London Apple Cider, garnish and serve.
Equipment
Jigger/measure
Hawthorne strainer
Fine Strainer
Ice
History
Cocktail writers and historians have been debating the origins of this cocktail for well over a hundred years, and it has existed in some form for even longer. What does seem likely though is that it takes its name from the ‘Old Tom’ style gin that would have originally been used in its recipe. These days, London dry gin is far more popular and readily available than Old Tom and is used more widely, though either works beautifully.
This drink is a timeless combination of gin, lemon juice, sugar and soda water, served long, and like so many other old classics it has provided the basis and inspiration for a whole host of other fizzes and gin cocktails. Its ubiquity meant that the Collins has now become a kind of cocktail category of its own, referring to any tall, gin based fizz, and the glass it’s served in, a tall straight-sided tumbler, is now often referred to as a Collins glass.
