Tom Collins
The Tom Collins is a cocktail made from gin, lemon juice, sugar and carbonated water. Served in a Collins glass over ice. The recipe for the Tom Collins first appeared in the 1876 edition of Jerry Thomas’ “The Bartender’s Guide”
Jerry Thomas’ Tom Collins Gin (1876)
2 part gin, 1 part lemon juice, 1 part gomme syrup, Carbonated water
Fill up the glass with ice, add the ingredients and carefully stir it. Garnish with lemon peel.
Gin fizz
A Fizz is a type of mixed drink—a variation on the older Sours family. The defining features of the fizz are an acidic juice (such as lemon or lime juice) and carbonated water.
The first printed reference to a fizz is in the 1887 edition of Jerry Thomas’ “The Bartender’s Guide”, which contains six fizz recipes. The Fizz became widely popular in America between 1900 and the 1940s.
The recipe is the same as in the Tom Collins cocktail, however the Gin fizz is served in a shorter glass, and can sometimes include egg white and angostura bitters.
Gin fizz vs tom Collins
Few people know the difference between these two drinks because they both contain gin, lemon and soda water.
So what is the difference between the two drinks?
The Gin Fizz stems from the 19th century and is a “sour” based cocktail with the addition of soda water. When soda water became widely available, and popular, bartenders obviously used it to provide new tastes and experiences for their guests.
By taking a basic gin sour and adding the soda water, this cocktail became a new and interesting variation. Well at least in the mid 1800′s.
The Tom Collins is very similar to the Gin Fizz but here are the differences. First, the original Tom Collins is technically made with “Old Tom Gin” which is a nickname for a sweetened variety of gin (Genever Gin).
Also, the Tom Collins is served with ice in a 12 oz glass; where as the Gin Fizz is served in a smaller glass (8 oz). One other difference that is historically noted is that Gin Fizz’s are made using a soda siphon, because it creates small gas bubbles.
If you order a Gin Fizz or Tom Collins today, you’ll get it in an ice packed 12oz or larger glass with commercial sour mix and soda off a gun.
