Coconut Collins – Refreshing Recipe

Coconut Collins
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Coconut Collins

0 from 0 votes Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

200

kcal
Total time

3

minutes

How to make a Coconut Collins.

Ingredients

  • 1 oz 1 Lime Juice

  • 1 oz 1 Cream of Coconut

  • 2 oz 2 White Rum

  • 4 oz 4 Soda Water

Directions

  • Technique: Tiki Dirty Pour
  • Combine all ingredients, except for the soda, into a shaker with crushed ice.
  • Vigorously shake the shaker for 10 seconds.
  • Dirty pour the whole shaker into a glass. Crushed ice and all.
  • Top the drink off with soda.
  • Garnish:
  • Squeezed lime hull

Featured Video

A Fantastic Coconut Collins Cocktail.

The coconut collins is a fantastic cocktail that tastes similar to the Coco Loco. Adding soda water in the coconut collins instead of coconut water like in the coco loco gives this drink a lighter, bubbly, and more refreshing taste. A quick look online will show other coconut collins recipes, but I tried to model this recipe using the traditional collins cocktail structure, and it works well.

The History Of The Collins Cocktail.

While probably not invented by Harry Johnson, his 1882 Bartenders Manual is the oldest printed book I could find to mention the Collins cocktail. The oldest concrete evidence of this cocktail is the Harry Johnson one. It seems both the John Collins and Tom Collins are invented around the same time, and the Bartenders Manual gives a pretty definitive recipe for both the John and Tom Collins. His John Collins recipe calls for genever (dry gin doesn’t start to get mixed into cocktails till the end of the 1800s/early 1900s), and his recipe for the Tom Collins calls for Old Tom gin. Harry Johnson’s collins recipes and names are clearly defined, but unlike Harry Johnson, Jerry Thomas’s 1887 Bartenders Guide does not follow his recipes. The Bartender’s Guide doesn’t even mention the John Collins but instead uses the name Tom Collins for every variation of the collins. It has three different recipes for Tom Collins. A Tom Collins whiskey, a Tom Collins brandy, and a Tom Collins genever. It doesn’t mention the Tom Collins with Old Tom gin and calls the one made with genever a Tom Collins.

To further complicate this, in 1885, a British cocktail book called “The New guide for the hotel, bar, restaurant, butler, and chef” by Bacchus and Cordon Bleu has a recipe for what they call a Fred Collins. Their Fred Collins Recipe is a Whiskey Collins with orange liqueur instead of simple syrup. Their Collins section states, “I should be glad if our caterers would agree what it is to be perpetually named. One Barkeeper calls it a John Collins – another Tom Collins. Harry and Fred are all members of the same family.” They then say they prefer the Fred Collins name, thus credence to Jerry Thomas’s version of the Collins in that the name is more a style than a specific drink. Hell, there was a Harry Collins we have never seen. The Savoy Cocktail Book does the same thing and has both a Dry Gin and Whiskey Tom Collins. Although The Savoy does say that a Tom Collins made with genever is instead called a John Collins.

While Harry Johnson uses the names as specific cocktails, the Bartenders guide and others seemed to use the collins as a cocktail structure more than a particular recipe. Like the Rickey, Daisy, or Fizz, the collins describe a structure of 2 parts base spirit, 1 part citrus, 1 part sweetener, and 4 or 5 parts carbonated beverage. Harry Johnson’s influence has been permanent, and the collins is ultimately both. It is a specific cocktail that Harry Johnson pushed and a cocktail archetype like others believed. Looking at its influence as an archetype, many popular cocktails are structurally collins that you would not think of as a Collins. The Mojito, French 75, Paloma, etc., are just fun variations on the Collins form.

Recipe Resources

The link below does not contain the coconut collins recipe, but the classic John collins this cocktail is modeled off.

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Violet Sling – Floral And Refreshing

Violet Sling
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Violet Sling

0 from 0 votes Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

208

kcal
ABV

7%

Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make the Violet Sling.

Ingredients

  • 5 dashes 5 Cardamom Bitters

  • 1/3 oz 1/3 Honey Syrup

  • 1.5 oz 1.5 Creme De Violette

  • 1 oz 1 Vodka

  • 6 oz 6 Soda Water

Directions

  • Technique: Simple Stir
  • Combine all ingredients in the mixing glass, except for the soda water.
  • Add ice to the mixing glass.
  • Stir the ingredients for 10 – 15 seconds. Try to avoid over-diluting the drink.
  • Strain into a glass and top with soda water.

Featured Video

What Does The Violet Sling Taste Like?

The violet sling has a lovely mild lavender and cardamom flavor that is quite nice. The cardamom adds a pleasant herbal warmth to the drink that compliments the Creme De Violette and keeps the drink from being one-dimensional. The small addition of honey had a lovely floral and earthy sweetness.

This is one of my recipes, and I hope you like it. I got the idea from an ice cream I had in Seattle, Washington, blowing me away. Lavender, honey, and cardamom sounded fun, and it was one of the best ice creams I’ve ever had. I structured it this way because I felt an old-time sling/toddy would express the flavors well and not make the drink too strong or boozy. Normal still water works well, too, but the carbonation gives the drink a more refreshing effervescent quality.

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Tequila Sunrise – Original Recipe & History

Original Tequila Sunrise
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Tequila Sunrise (1930s Recipe)

5 from 1 vote Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

303

kcal
ABV

11%

Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make the original tequila sunrise.

Ingredients

  • 2/3 oz 2/3 Lime Juice

  • 2/3 oz 2/3 Creme De Cassis

  • 1.5 oz 1.5 Silver Tequila

  • 5 oz 5 Soda Water

Directions

  • Technique: Tiki Dirty Pour
  • Combine all ingredients, except for the soda water, into a shaker with crushed ice.
  • Vigorously shake the shaker for 10 seconds.
  • Dirty pour the whole shaker into a glass. Crushed ice and all.
  • Top the drink off with soda water.
  • Garnish:
  • Squeezed lime hull

Featured Video

The History Of The Tequila Sunrise.

The Original tequila sunrise is commonly believed to be invented by Gene Sulit in the 1930s at the Baltimore Hotel in Pheonix, Arizona. The Original Baltimore Hotel tequila sunrise is entirely different from the orange juice one most are familiar with. The recipe most are familiar with is the 1970s Trident Hotel recipe. In my opinion, the original Baltimore hotel recipe is delicious and superior to the Trident recipe.

The original tequila sunrise recipe was not widely published from what I can find, but I did find a recipe for it in the 1972 edition of the Trader Vic’s Bartender guide. That recipe is slightly different from the one I have here, but it is still structurally a collins and has creme de cassis as the sweetener and soda water as the lengthener. The more common orange juice version by Trident was invented around the 1970s. The bartender credited with creating this newer version was Bob Lozoff. In an ad for Jose Cuervo, bob stated the tequila sunrise was too complicated for them to make, so they made their own variation of tequila, orange juice, and grenadine. I’m not sure if he literally means it was too hard to make it, or he instead means maybe the creme de cassis was hard to keep stock, which I could see being an issue. But if that is the case, why change the soda water to orange juice, and why not just give it a different name? Who knows.

What Does The Tequila Sunrise Taste Like?

The original Baltimore Hotel tequila sunrise recipe is fantastic. It is so much better than the orange juice one. It tastes like a jolly rancher and is sweet, tart, and refreshing. It’s so easy to drink a couple of these, and I’m a little sad I only just learned of this great classic.

Recipe Resources

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Paloma – Classic Recipe & History

Paloma
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Paloma (Classic Recipe)

0 from 0 votes Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: Mexican
Servings

1

servings
Calories

214

kcal
ABV

10%

Total time

3

minutes

Make a classic Mexican Paloma cocktail

Ingredients

  • 2/3 oz 2/3 Lime Juice

  • 5 oz 5 Grapefruit Soda

  • 2 2 Silver Tequila

Directions

  • Technique: Build In Glass
  • Combine all ingredients except for the soda in a glass.
  • Fill the glass with ice.
  • Stir to combine and chill the ingredients.
  • Gently add the soda and give the drink a couple of last stirs to mix it fully.
  • Option Garnish:
  • Tajin and chamoy rim

Featured Video

History Of The Paloma.

It isn’t easy to pin the Paloma down to any singular creation, and the truth is it most likely started as a simple, ubiquitous everyman’s drink. It is very uncommon to see tequila cocktails before the 1970s, except that being the margarita and a few other tiki drinks. Scanning through many Spanish, Mexican, American, and British cocktail books from 1909 to 1972, I could not find the Paloma or any grapefruit and tequila cocktail. David Wondrich points out in an article he wrote for the Daily Beast that some of the first mentions of this drink appear in the 1997 Mexican cookbook “A Cook’s Tour of Mexico” by Nancy Zaslavsky, where it is called a lazy man’s margarita and common in the town’s plaza.

The exciting takeaway from this is the drink didn’t seem to have a solid name yet (At least from what we know). This implies that this cocktail is still relatively new and, while popular with locals, has flown under the radar of those who write about Mexican food and drinks. I don’t want to assume this was the locals’ attempt at making an easy margarita. I believe they invented something unique with what was available. Structurally the Paloma is a rickey which is nothing like a margarita. The margarita falls into the sour style, so I will assume this is entirely a new drink. Obviously, with such limited information, assumptions have to be made. Still, from what I can tell, the local population was using cheap Squirt soda and limes to make cheap tequila taste better. If that history is somewhat correct, then I like that. That is the true cocktail creation story. Just a bunch of locals trying to find ways to make some bottom-shelf booze taste better, which is the origin of most of the famous old cocktails.

Dave Wondrich mentions in the article that one of the earliest places selling this cocktail with the name “Paloma” (Which means dove in Spanish) was the Tlaquepaque Restaurant in Orange County, California. Located about 20 minutes north of Disneyland (with no traffic, of course), this traditional Mexican restaurant and the local Mexican immigrant population helped bring this fantastic cocktail to California. The Paloma has since spread to the rest of the United States, but it is most popular in the southwest. As a southwest resident and someone who has been drinking since the early 2000s, I noticed the Paloma start to appear on Mexican menus around the mid to late 2000s. Today, every Mexican bar or restaurant in the city I live in has a Paloma.

Grapefruit Soda And Paloma Variations.

The oldest known way to make a Paloma is with grapefruit soda. Squirt was the first soda to be used in a Paloma, but many different brands all make excellent products. Some of the best options are:

  • Fever-Tree Pink Grapefruit
  • Jarritos Grapefruit
  • Schweppes Grapefruit
  • Fresca
  • San Pellegrino Grapefruit
  • Izze Grapefruit

The list goes on and on, but I think you get the idea. These are just some of the more common ones found at stores. So find a brand you like and go with that.

The other option for making a Paloma is to use fresh grapefruit juice. Using this method, you would substitute the 4 or 5 oz of grapefruit soda with a 1 oz grapefruit juice (Usually, white grapefruit juice is too tart in cocktails, but since there is a bit of syrup added, then white, pink, or red grapefruit works well), 1/2 oz simple syrup, and 3-4 oz soda water. Both ways are reasonable; it depends on your taste which you prefer. The soda version is sweeter, appeals more to the rum and coke crowd and the fresh grapefruit juice is much less sweet and appeals more to the sour cocktail crowd. Try both and see which you prefer. Also, keep in mind that this changes the structure of the cocktail. The soda version is structurally a rickey, and the fresh juice version is a collins. Rickey’s are a soda (sweetness is not a variable for the soda), citrus juice, and base spirit. Collins is soda (sweetness is not a variable for the soda), citrus juice, syrup, and sweetener. Ultimately, the final products of these two versions of the Paloma are similar enough, but if the structure is essential, that is something to keep in mind.

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Whiskey Fizz – Classic Recipe & History

Whiskey Fizz
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Whiskey Fizz

0 from 0 votes Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

247

kcal
ABV

13%

Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make the a Whiskey Fizz.1

Ingredients

  • 1 Whole 1 Egg White

  • 2/3 oz 2/3 Lemon Juice

  • 2/3 oz 2/3 Simple Syrup

  • 2 oz 2 Bourbon

  • 1.5 oz 1.5 Soda Water

Directions

  • Technique: Saxe Soda Shake
  • Combine all ingredients except for the soda water in a cocktail shaker.
  • Add one medium or two small ice cubes to the cocktail shaker and shake till the ice has fully melted.
  • Without a strainer, pour the chilled and aerated drink into a collins glass.
  • Slowly pour the soda water in, and the bubbles from the water will expand all bubbles in the drink to form a large foam head.

Featured Video

The History Of The Whiskey Fizz.

First appearing in the 1887 edition of the Bartenders Guide by Jerry Thomas, the whiskey fizz is a fantastic cocktail. A combination of a whiskey sour with egg whites and a whiskey daisy, the whiskey fizz is both lights, airy and refreshing.

What Does The Whiskey Fizz Taste Like?

The taste of a whiskey fizz is like a mousse whiskey sour. Incredible, and the texture feels like the first few sips of a tap served Guinness. The egg foam gives a velvet texture similar to nitrogen bubbles, but the soda water adds a refreshing carbonated beverage feel. I believe the tongue cannot distinguish bubbles below 30 microns, which gives a fine egg foam a velvety texture in cocktails. Above 30 microns, bubbles have a more refreshing texture, which the soda water provides to the cocktail. Combine those with a classic whiskey sour, and you have one of the best-tasting cocktails.

How To Get Great Foam On Cocktails With Egg Whites.

Egg Whites are challenging to get right in cocktails. Everyone struggles with them at some point, and bartenders search for any way to make whipping them into a fluffy meringue easier. Henry Ramos hired “shaker boys” to shake for him. Some use the dry shake or reverse dry shake, others swear by only using one large ice cube, and some say you have to shake till your arms fall off. The method I like is called the Saxe Shake, and De Forest Saxe invented it in the 1880s.

The Saxe Shake is largely unknown in the cocktail world because De Forest Saxe was a soda fountain operator in Chicago, Illinois. His 1890 book “Saxe’s New Guide Hints to Soda Water Dispensers” details his shaking technique for egg drinks that produces the best foam and can be accomplished with minimal effort. Saxe states to shake drinks with eggs with only one chestnut-sized ice cube. An Ice cube from a standard ice tray is about chestnut-sized, so one or two small cubes will work. Then shake until the ice fully melts, and pour into the serving glass without straining. The small amount of ice is just enough to cool and dilute the drink, and since there are no remaining bits of ice left in the shaker, there is nothing to strain. Passing the mixture through a strainer destroys most of the bubbles you worked so hard to make. As you add soda water, the escaping carbon dioxide fills the tiny bubbles in the drink, forcing them to expand and form a large fluffy foam. Give it a try. Using the Saxe Shake, I have turned out Ramos Gin Fizzes as fast and efficiently as any other shaken cocktail with excellent results.

Recipe Resources

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Brandy Rickey – Recipe & History

Brandy Rickey
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Brandy Rickey

0 from 0 votes Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

135

kcal
ABV

10%

Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make the a Brandy Rickey.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 oz 1/2 Lime Juice

  • 2 oz 2 Brandy

  • 5 oz 5 Soda Water

Directions

  • Technique: Build In Glass
  • Combine all ingredients except for the soda water in a glass.
  • Fill the glass with crushed ice.
  • Stir to combine and chill the ingredients.
  • Gently add the soda water and give the drink a couple of last stirs to mix it fully.

Notes

Featured Video

The History Of The Rickey.

Invented in the Late 19th century by D.C. lobbyist Joe Rickey (At least that’s who is credited with having invented it), the rickey is a refreshing and slightly tart cocktail. This recipe is a brandy variation of the original whiskey-based rickey. More than just a recipe, the rickey became an archetype for many popular cocktails, even if you don’t realize they are structurally a rickey. The rickey cocktail structure is simple: 1/2 ounce (15 mls) citrus, 2 oz (60 mls) base spirit, and 5 oz (150 mls) carbonated beverage. For example, the rum and coke with a lime is a rickey, Dark ‘N’ Stormy, gin, and tonic; are all based on rickey structures.

What Does a Brandy Rickey Taste Like?

The Brandy Rickey has a refreshing and slightly tart taste with the taste of brandy coming through. A perfect sipper for a warm day.

Properly Adding Soda Water.

The essential ingredient in a rickey, I feel, is the soda water and how the cocktail is prepared. Of course, the spirit and citrus are the flavors you taste, but the soda water is what provides all the texture. If you prepare it to stay as bubbly as possible, you will have an outstanding cocktail. Still, if you don’t cool the ingredients or glass properly and stir it too violently, you will end up with a flat lame cocktail, similar to drinking a flat soda. Sure the flavor will be there, but it will be flat. So here is what you do. The two things you have control over are 1). the temperature, and 2). how violently you add the soda water. First, add the spirit and citrus to a glass filled with ice. Stir them together so that they get cold and the inside of the glass chills. Even better, you could chill the glass in the freezer first, but that requires forethought. Stirring with ice works well enough on the spot. Next, when you add the soda water, do it gently and only give the drink a couple of turns to mix the soda water with the spirit and citrus. Adding and stirring the soda water like this helps maintain as much carbonation as possible, and the bubblier it is, the more refreshing it will be.

Recipe Resources

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Jean Collins – Recipe

Jean Collins
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Jean Collins

0 from 0 votes Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

243

kcal
ABV

11%

Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make the a Jean Collins.

Ingredients

  • 1 oz 1 Lemon Juice

  • 1 oz 1 Orange Liqueur

  • 2 oz 2 Brandy

  • 5 oz 5 Soda Water

Directions

  • Technique: Build In Glass
  • Combine all ingredients except for the soda water in a glass.
  • Fill the glass with ice.
  • Stir to combine and chill the ingredients.
  • Gently add the soda water and give the drink a couple of last stirs to mix it fully.

Notes

Featured Video

The History Of The Collins Cocktail.

While probably not invented by Harry Johnson, his 1882 Bartenders Manual is the oldest printed book I could find to mention the Collins cocktail. The oldest concrete evidence of this cocktail is the Harry Johnson one. It seems both the John Collins and Tom Collins are invented around the same time, and the Bartenders Manual gives a pretty definitive recipe for both the John and Tom Collins. His John Collins recipe calls for genever (dry gin doesn’t start to get mixed into cocktails till the end of the 1800s/early 1900s), and his recipe for the Tom Collins calls for Old Tom gin. Harry Johnson’s collins recipes and names are clearly defined, but unlike Harry Johnson, Jerry Thomas’s 1887 Bartenders Guide does not follow his recipes. The Bartender’s Guide doesn’t even mention the John Collins but instead uses the name Tom Collins for every variation of the collins. It has three different recipes for Tom Collins. A Tom Collins whiskey, a Tom Collins brandy, and a Tom Collins genever. It doesn’t mention the Tom Collins with Old Tom gin and calls the one made with genever a Tom Collins.

To further complicate this, in 1885, a British cocktail book called “The New guide for the hotel, bar, restaurant, butler, and chef” by Bacchus and Cordon Bleu has a recipe for what they call a Fred Collins. Their Fred Collins Recipe is a Whiskey Collins with orange liqueur instead of simple syrup. Their Collins section states, “I should be glad if our caterers would agree what it is to be perpetually named. One Barkeeper calls it a John Collins – another Tom Collins. Harry and Fred are all members of the same family.” They then say they prefer the Fred Collins name, thus credence to Jerry Thomas’s version of the Collins in that the name is more a style than a specific drink. Hell, there was a Harry Collins we have never seen. The Savoy Cocktail Book does the same thing and has both a Dry Gin and Whiskey Tom Collins. Although The Savoy does say that a Tom Collins made with genever is instead called a John Collins.

While Harry Johnson uses the names as specific cocktails, the Bartenders guide and others seemed to use the collins as a cocktail structure more than a particular recipe. Like the Rickey, Daisy, or Fizz, the collins describe a structure of 2 parts base spirit, 1 part citrus, 1 part sweetener, and 4 or 5 parts carbonated beverage. Harry Johnson’s influence has been permanent, and the collins is ultimately both. It is a specific cocktail that Harry Johnson pushed and a cocktail archetype like others believed. Looking at its influence as an archetype, many popular cocktails are structurally collins that you would not think of as a Collins. The Adios Motherfucker, Mojito, French 75, Paloma, etc., are just fun variations on the Collins form.

What Does the Jean Collins Taste Like?

The Jean Collins is a brandy variation of the John Collins and good. The mellow-aged sweetness of the brandy perfectly blends with the orange liqueur and lemon juice into a bubbly, refreshing cocktail. Imagine this as a lengthened and more refreshing Side Car.

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Rum Rickey – Recipe & History

Rum Rickey
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Rum Rickey

0 from 0 votes Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

123

kcal
ABV

10%

Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make the a Rum Rickey.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 oz 1/2 Lime Juice

  • 2 oz 2 White Rum

  • 5 oz 5 Soda Water

Directions

  • Technique: Build In Glass
  • Combine all ingredients except for the soda water in a glass.
  • Fill the glass with crushed ice.
  • Stir to combine and chill the ingredients.
  • Gently add the soda water and give the drink a couple of last stirs to mix it fully.
  • Garnish:
  • Squeezed lime hull

Notes

Featured Video

The History Of The Rickey.

Invented in the Late 19th century by D.C. lobbyist Joe Rickey (At least that’s who is credited with having invented it), the rickey is a refreshing and slightly tart cocktail. This recipe is a brandy variation of the original whiskey-based rickey. More than just a recipe, the rickey became an archetype for many popular cocktails, even if you don’t realize they are structurally a rickey. The rickey cocktail structure is simple: 1/2 ounce (15 mls) citrus, 2 oz (60 mls) base spirit, and 5 oz (150 mls) carbonated beverage. For example, the rum and coke with a lime is a rickey, Dark ‘N’ Stormy, gin, and tonic; are all based on rickey structures.

What Does A Rum Rickey Taste Like?

This is my favorite version of the rickey. Something about rum and lime just goes together so well. The rum rickey has notes of molasses, toasted caramel, and lime is refreshing and delicious cocktail.

Properly Adding Soda Water.

The essential ingredient in a rickey, I feel, is the soda water and how the cocktail is prepared. Of course, the spirit and citrus are the flavors you taste, but the soda water is what provides all the texture. If you prepare it to stay as bubbly as possible, you will have an outstanding cocktail. Still, if you don’t cool the ingredients or glass properly and stir it too violently, you will end up with a flat lame cocktail, similar to drinking a flat soda. Sure the flavor will be there, but it will be flat. So here is what you do. The two things you have control over are 1). the temperature, and 2). how violently you add the soda water. First, add the spirit and citrus to a glass filled with ice. Stir them together so that they get cold and the inside of the glass chills. Even better, you could chill the glass in the freezer first, but that requires forethought. Stirring with ice works well enough on the spot. Next, when you add the soda water, do it gently and only give the drink a couple of turns to mix the soda water with the spirit and citrus. Adding and stirring the soda water like this helps maintain as much carbonation as possible, and the bubblier it is, the more refreshing it will be.

Recipe Resources

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John Collins – Classic Recipe & History

John Collins Cocktail
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John Collins (Dry Gin)

0 from 0 votes Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

279

kcal
ABV

8%

Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make the a classic John Collins with dry gin.

Ingredients

  • 1 oz 1 Lemon Juice

  • 1 oz 1 Simple Syrup

  • 2 oz 2 Dry Gin

  • 5 oz 5 Soda Water

Directions

  • Technique: Saxe Soda Shake
  • Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker except for the soda water.
  • Add one medium or two small ice cubes to the cocktail shaker and shake until the ice fully melts.
  • Without a strainer, pour the chilled and aerated drink into a glass with ice.
  • Top with soda water.

Notes

Featured Video

The History Of The Collins Cocktail.

While probably not invented by Harry Johnson, his 1882 Bartenders Manual is the oldest printed book I could find to mention the Collins cocktail. The oldest concrete evidence of this cocktail is the Harry Johnson one. It seems both the John Collins and Tom Collins are invented around the same time, and the Bartenders Manual gives a pretty definitive recipe for both the John and Tom Collins. His John Collins recipe calls for genever (dry gin doesn’t start to get mixed into cocktails till the end of the 1800s/early 1900s), and his recipe for the Tom Collins calls for Old Tom gin. Harry Johnson’s collins recipes and names are clearly defined, but unlike Harry Johnson, Jerry Thomas’s 1887 Bartenders Guide does not follow his recipes. The Bartender’s Guide doesn’t even mention the John Collins but instead uses the name Tom Collins for every variation of the collins. It has three different recipes for Tom Collins. A Tom Collins whiskey, a Tom Collins brandy, and a Tom Collins genever. It doesn’t mention the Tom Collins with Old Tom gin and calls the one made with genever a Tom Collins.

To further complicate this, in 1885, a British cocktail book called “The New guide for the hotel, bar, restaurant, butler, and chef” by Bacchus and Cordon Bleu has a recipe for what they call a Fred Collins. Their Fred Collins Recipe is a Whiskey Collins with orange liqueur instead of simple syrup. Their Collins section states, “I should be glad if our caterers would agree what it is to be perpetually named. One Barkeeper calls it a John Collins – another Tom Collins. Harry and Fred are all members of the same family.” They then say they prefer the Fred Collins name, thus credence to Jerry Thomas’s version of the Collins in that the name is more a style than a specific drink. Hell, there was a Harry Collins we have never seen. The Savoy Cocktail Book does the same thing and has both a Dry Gin and Whiskey Tom Collins. Although The Savoy does say that a Tom Collins made with genever is instead called a John Collins.

While Harry Johnson uses the names as specific cocktails, the Bartenders guide and others seemed to use the collins as a cocktail structure more than a particular recipe. Like the Rickey, Daisy, or Fizz, the collins describe a structure of 2 parts base spirit, 1 part citrus, 1 part sweetener, and 4 or 5 parts carbonated beverage. Harry Johnson’s influence has been permanent, and the collins is ultimately both. It is a specific cocktail that Harry Johnson pushed and a cocktail archetype like others believed. Looking at its influence as an archetype, many popular cocktails are structurally collins that you would not think of as a Collins. The Adios Motherfucker, Mojito, French 75, Paloma, etc., are just fun variations on the Collins form.

The Dry Gin Variation Of The John Collins.

Once genever fell out of fashion, and dry gin became a popular spirit to mix with, it was only a matter of time before the John Collins became a dry gin cocktail. This is the most refreshing of all the collins cocktails as the dry gin and lemon give it a very clean and crisp flavor. It tastes very much like lemonade.

Recipe Resources

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John Collins – Original Recipe & History

Classic John Collins Cocktail
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John Collins (Genever)

0 from 0 votes Only logged in users can rate recipes
Course: DrinksCuisine: American
Servings

1

servings
Calories

363

kcal
ABV

7%

Total time

3

minutes

Learn how to make the a classic John Collins.

Ingredients

  • 1 oz 1 Lemon Juice

  • 1 oz 1 Simple Syrup

  • 2 oz 2 Genever

  • 5 oz 5 Soda Water

Directions

  • Technique: Saxe Soda Shake
  • Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker except for the soda water.
  • Add one medium or two small ice cubes to the cocktail shaker and shake until the ice fully melts.
  • Without a strainer, pour the chilled and aerated drink into a glass with ice.
  • Top with soda water.

Notes

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The Classic Genever John Collins.

The classic genever John Collins is one of the best. While the John Collins made with dry gin is very refreshing and has a bright lemon flavor, the John Collins made with genever still has a pleasant clean lemon taste, but it also has a little bit of a mellow aged oak flavor. Kind of like it’s halfway between a collins made with gin and a collins made with whiskey. Genever is a very underappreciated and underutilized spirit that is worth exploring.

The History Of The Collins Cocktail.

While probably not invented by Harry Johnson, his 1882 Bartenders Manual is the oldest printed book I could find to mention the Collins cocktail. The oldest concrete evidence of this cocktail is the Harry Johnson one. It seems both the John Collins and Tom Collins are invented around the same time, and the Bartenders Manual gives a pretty definitive recipe for both the John and Tom Collins. His John Collins recipe calls for genever (dry gin doesn’t start to get mixed into cocktails till the end of the 1800s/early 1900s), and his recipe for the Tom Collins calls for Old Tom gin. Harry Johnson’s collins recipes and names are clearly defined, but unlike Harry Johnson, Jerry Thomas’s 1887 Bartenders Guide does not follow his recipes. The Bartender’s Guide doesn’t even mention the John Collins but instead uses the name Tom Collins for every variation of the collins. It has three different recipes for Tom Collins. A Tom Collins whiskey, a Tom Collins brandy, and a Tom Collins genever. It doesn’t mention the Tom Collins with Old Tom gin and calls the one made with genever a Tom Collins.

To further complicate this, in 1885, a British cocktail book called “The New guide for the hotel, bar, restaurant, butler, and chef” by Bacchus and Cordon Bleu has a recipe for what they call a Fred Collins. Their Fred Collins Recipe is a Whiskey Collins with orange liqueur instead of simple syrup. Their Collins section states, “I should be glad if our caterers would agree what it is to be perpetually named. One Barkeeper calls it a John Collins – another Tom Collins. Harry and Fred are all members of the same family.” They then say they prefer the Fred Collins name, thus credence to Jerry Thomas’s version of the Collins in that the name is more a style than a specific drink. Hell, there was a Harry Collins we have never seen. The Savoy Cocktail Book does the same thing and has both a Dry Gin and Whiskey Tom Collins. Although The Savoy does say that a Tom Collins made with genever is instead called a John Collins.

While Harry Johnson uses the names as specific cocktails, the Bartenders guide and others seemed to use the collins as a cocktail structure more than a particular recipe. Like the Rickey, Daisy, or Fizz, the collins describe a structure of 2 parts base spirit, 1 part citrus, 1 part sweetener, and 4 or 5 parts carbonated beverage. Harry Johnson’s influence has been permanent, and the collins is ultimately both. It is a specific cocktail that Harry Johnson pushed and a cocktail archetype like others believed. Looking at its influence as an archetype, many popular cocktails are structurally collins that you would not think of as a Collins. The Adios Motherfucker, Mojito, French 75, Paloma, etc., are just fun variations on the Collins form.

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