Tom Collins

The Collins family drinks appear in Jerry Thomas's 1876 edition of the Bartender's Guide. The Tom Collins specifically uses Old Tom gin (a sweeter, pre-London Dry style) — the 'Tom' may refer to the gin style. A popular theory connects the drink to a 1874 'Tom Collins Hoax' in New York, where a friend would claim 'Tom Collins has been saying awful things about you at the bar down the street' — the victim would rush to the bar asking for Tom Collins, only to be served the drink.

The Tom Collins is one of the most important cocktails in history — gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, and soda water in a tall glass, the template from which the entire Collins family (John Collins, Vodka Collins, Rum Collins) descends. It is a long drink, built for refreshment over a sitting, and its gentle 10–12% ABV delivery makes it one of the most sessionable spirit-forward cocktails in the canon. The drink was possibly inspired by an 1874 parlour prank in New York ('Have you seen Tom Collins? He's been talking about you at the bar around the corner!'), but the cocktail itself — the gin fizz in a tall glass with ice — predates the story.

FOOD PAIRING: The Tom Collins's clean gin-lemon profile pairs with light, fresh, and herbal preparations. Provenance 1000 pairings: smoked salmon with capers and cream cheese (the lemon-gin mirrors the cure), cucumber sandwiches (the Collins's cucumber botanical notes in Hendrick's is a direct pairing), grilled fish with herb salsa verde (the gin's botanicals echo the herbs), garden salad with lemon vinaigrette (shared citrus structure), and fresh oysters.