John Collins
Highballs & Fizzes · Gin
- Strength
- 10.9%
- Std. drinks
- 1.01
- Calories
- 142
- Sugar
- 10.0 g
- 1½ ozGin45 ml
- 1 ozLemon juice30 ml
- ½ ozSimple syrup15 ml
- 2 ozSoda water60 ml
The ratio · 3 : 2 : 1 : 4
Highlighted: not in the Tom Collins.
Head to head
John Collins and Tom Collins side by side: what changes in the recipe, the balance, the strength and the calories.
The difference
Gin, lemon, sugar and soda in both, and the two names have long been swapped. Here the John Collins is built over ice with more syrup and lemon; the Tom Collins, as Jerry Thomas wrote it in 1876, is shaken, served without ice and much less sweet, with more gin.
By the numbers
They use the same ingredients, in different amounts and built differently. In parts, a John Collins is 3 gin, 2 lemon, 1 syrup and 4 soda; a Tom Collins is 1 lemon, 2 gin and 2 soda. By volume, the John Collins is 40% mixer and juice, 30% spirit, 20% citrus and 10% syrup and sugar; the Tom Collins is 39% mixer and juice, 39% spirit, 19% citrus and 3% syrup and sugar.
They are about equally strong in the glass (10.9% and 11.1% ABV), but the Tom Collins is the bigger drink, so it holds more alcohol (1.35 standard drinks against 1.01). Calories are close (about 142 and 150), but the John Collins has more sugar (10.0 g against 3.5 g). Both are served in a highball; the John Collins is built, the Tom Collins shaken.
Highballs & Fizzes · Gin
The ratio · 3 : 2 : 1 : 4
Highlighted: not in the Tom Collins.
Highballs & Fizzes · Gin
The ratio · 1 : 2 : 2
Highlighted: not in the John Collins.
Each drink sits nearer the corners it has more of: spirit, vermouth and bitter, citrus, mixer, syrup or liqueur. The gray dots are the other classics. Explore the full ratio map.