Tom Collins

Scientific Bar-Keeping by E. N. Cook & Co. (1884, p.13)

1. Add the gum syrup, lemon juice, and whisky to a glass half full of shaved ice.
2. Shake up well and strain into a large bar glass.
3. Fill up with plain soda water and drink while it is lively.

Ice: Shaved ice

The Police Gazette Bartenders Guide by Richard K. Fox (1888, p.15) — 1888 Brandy

1. Put the gum syrup, maraschino, lemon juice, brandy, and ice into a large bar glass.
2. Fill up with plain soda and do not shake if the soda is cold.

Ice: 1 or 2 lumps

Summary

A brandy Collins showing the family still open to base-spirit translation in 1888.

This is useful because it widens Collins beyond gin and keeps the long-drink family visibly plural.

The warning not to shake cold soda is a practical service note worth preserving.

Compared with John Collins, this is richer and softer because of the brandy base and maraschino touch.

Cocktail Boothby's American Bar-Tender by Wm. T. Boothby (1891, p.49)

1. Make the same as John Collins with Old Tom gin substituted for Holland gin.
2. Serve as a very long soda drink.

Ice: Large ice piece

This is a useful Collins branch because it preserves the Old Tom split explicitly rather than leaving it to inference.

Its service identity is inherited directly from Boothby's unusually long John Collins build.

Drinks a La Mode by Mrs de Salis (1891, p.16) — Drinks a La Mode 1891

1. Make as John Collins, substituting Plymouth gin for Holland gin.

Garnish: Pineapple slice

Ice: Ice

Wehman's Bartender's Guide by Henry J. Wehman (1891, p.43) — Brandy (Henry J. Wehman 1891)

1. Take the gum syrup, maraschino, juice of small lemon, brandy, and one or two lumps of ice in a large bar glass.
2. Fill up with plain soda.
3. Do not shake if the soda is cold.

Ice: Small ice lumps

Nose

Lemon and soda lead, with brandy and maraschino beneath.

Palate

It is recognisably Collins logic rather than sour logic: longer, looser, and more oriented toward soda refreshment.

Finish

The finish is cool, citrusy, and lightly sweet.

Summary

A brandy Tom Collins variant that helps show how widely the Collins template could travel.

Wehman's naming is historically useful because he distinguishes `Tom Collins Brandy` and then notes gin and whiskey versions made the same way. That makes the family transfer explicit rather than inferred.

The instruction not to shake if the soda is cold is a revealing service detail and should be preserved.

Compared with John Collins, this is more liqueur-seasoned and explicitly formulaic. Compared with daisies, it is more clearly soda-led and Collins-shaped.

Wehman's Bartender's Guide by Henry J. Wehman (1891, p.43) — Gin (Henry J. Wehman 1891)

1. Concoct the drink the same as Tom Collins Brandy, substituting gin.

Ice: Small ice lumps

Nose

Gin and lemon rise brightly over the soda.

Palate

It is sharper and more botanical than the brandy version, but still clearly part of the same Collins family logic.

Finish

The finish is herbal, citrusy, and sparkling.

Summary

A gin branch of the Collins line with distinctly late nineteenth-century seasoning.

This entry helps make explicit what later cocktail memory often obscures: Collinses were not yet morally tied to only one spirit or one exact formula.

Because the recipe is given by substitution, the brandy template remains the structural key.

Compared with the brandy version, this is brighter and more botanical. Compared with John Collins, it feels more formulaically codified.

Wehman's Bartender's Guide by Henry J. Wehman (1891, p.43) — Whiskey (Henry J. Wehman 1891)

1. Concoct the drink the same as Tom Collins Brandy, substituting whiskey.

Ice: Small ice lumps

Nose

Whiskey and lemon rise over the soda with a sweeter edge from gum and maraschino.

Palate

It is broader than the gin form and more obviously connected to whiskey long-drink evolution, while still remaining clearly Collins rather than sour.

Finish

The finish is grainy, citrusy, and brisk.

Summary

A whiskey branch of the Collins line showing how broadly the template could apply in the period.

This variant is especially useful for the ontology because it helps connect Collins logic to the whiskey long-drink line without forcing those histories to stay separate.

As with the other Collins variants, do not over-agitate cold soda.

Compared with the gin version, this is rounder and more grain-led. Compared with whiskey highballs, it is more citric and more structured.

Modern American Drinks by George J. Kappeler (1895, p.47) — George J. Kappeler 1895

1. Prepare the drink in the same manner as John Collins, using Tom gin in place of Holland gin.

Ice: One piece

Nose

Lemon oil and sweeter gin botanicals sit in a bright sparkling frame.

Palate

Old Tom makes the drink softer and more openly sweet-toned than the John Collins, nudging the Collins family toward the profile that would become more broadly recognisable later.

Finish

The finish is lively, lemony, and gently sweet.

Summary

A crucial Collins-family variant on the road toward the more familiar modern Tom Collins line.

This is one of the most historically important long drinks in the book because it shows the Collins family at a stage where its relation to John Collins and older gin practice is still explicit rather than obscured by later standardisation.

The drink's identity still rests on the muddled lemon-and-sugar base as much as on the spirit choice. It is not simply gin plus soda.

Compared with the Holland-gin John Collins, this version is softer and more modern-feeling, and much closer to the line that would endure.

The Cocktail Book a Sideboard Manual for Gentlemen (1901, p.63)

1. Make the same as John Collins, using Tom gin instead of Holland.

Ice: Three or four lumps

This keeps the John/Tom Collins split explicit inside a private-house 1901 source.

The structure is unchanged; the base gin swap is the whole point.

The Complete Buffet Manual or How to Mix Fancy Drinks by J. E. Sheridan (1901, p.97)

1. Build the sugar, citrus, broken ice, and Old Tom gin in an extra large bar glass.
2. Add a bottle of plain soda, mix with a spoon, strain, and serve at once.

Ice: Broken ice

This is a useful 1901 Tom Collins checkpoint because Sheridan still treats the drink as a delicate foam-managed direct service rather than a casual generic highball.

Sheridan's explicit foam warning is part of the drink's service logic, not just fussy advice.

Daly's Bartenders' Encyclopedia by Tim Daly (1903, p.41)

1. Add the sugar, lemon juice, ice, and Tom gin to a mixing glass.
2. Fill with plain soda, spoon well but slowly, and serve at once.

Ice: Two or three small lumps

Daly explicitly warns that the drink should not stand or the foam will run over, which makes the service timing historically notable.

Immediate service and slow spooning are part of the drink's identity here.

Applegreen's Bar Book by John Applegreen (1904, p.28) — Applegreen 1904

1. Crush the lemon and powdered sugar well with a muddler, add the Tom gin and shaved ice, and shake well.
2. Strain into a large thin glass, fill with bottled Delatour soda, and serve.

Ice: Shaved ice

Nose

Fresh lemon and gin botanicals rise through the soda.

Palate

This is a useful Collins checkpoint because it retains the muddled whole-lemon style rather than simplifying into a purely measured juice formula.

Finish

The finish is brisk, sweet-tart, and refreshing.

Summary

A muddled-lemon Tom Collins from the mature long-drink line.

Louis' Mixed Drinks with Hints for the Care & Serving of Wines by Louis Muckensturm (1906, p.98)

1. Dissolve the sugar with a spoon, add the ice, pour in the remaining ingredients, fill with Club soda, and serve.

Ice: Ice

The Buffet Blue Book by John H. Considine (1912, p.55) — Gin

1. Build the drink in a large bar glass with ice, sugar, lemon juice, Old Tom gin, and plain soda.
2. Stir with a spoon, take out the ice, and serve.

Ice: Ice

The Buffet Blue Book by John H. Considine (1912, p.55) — Brandy

1. Prepare the drink in the same manner as Tom Collins Gin, substituting brandy for gin.
2. Serve after stirring with a spoon and removing the ice.

Ice: Ice

This entry is explicitly substitution-based in the source.

The Buffet Blue Book by John H. Considine (1912, p.55) — Whiskey

1. Prepare the drink in the same manner as Tom Collins Gin, substituting whiskey for the base spirit.
2. Serve after stirring with a spoon and removing the ice.

Ice: Ice

This entry is explicitly substitution-based in the source.

The Buffet Blue Book by John H. Considine (1912, p.55) — Rum

1. Prepare the drink in the same manner as Tom Collins Gin, substituting rum for the base spirit.
2. Serve after stirring with a spoon and removing the ice.

Ice: Ice

This entry is explicitly substitution-based in the source.

Bartenders' Guide: How to Mix Drinks by Wehman Bros. (1912, p.67)

1. Combine the sugar, lime juice, broken ice, and Old Tom gin, fill with plain soda, mix with a spoon, strain, and serve immediately.

Ice: Ice

Bartenders' Manual by Bartenders Association of America (1913, p.44)

1. Mix well with a spoon, strain, and serve without letting the foam spread over the glass.

Ice: Broken ice

The Up-to-Date Bartender's Guide by Harry Montague (1913, p.45) — Whiskey version

1. Put the cracked ice, gum syrup, lemon juice, maraschino, and whiskey in a small bar glass.
2. Fill up with plain soda, stir, and serve.

Ice: Cracked ice

Straub's Manual of Mixed Drinks by Jacques Straub (1913, p.54) — Straub 1913

1. Shake well with fine ice and strain into a large thin glass.
2. Fill with club soda or domestic soda and stir with a spoon.

Ice: Fine ice for shaking

This is a key service checkpoint because Straub still frames the Collins as a shaken sour lengthened to order rather than a mere spirit-and-soda shortcut.

The shake-then-lengthen structure matters; Straub preserves Collins as a two-stage service rather than simple building in glass.

Cocktail-Ology by Count Benvenito Martini (1916) — Cocktail-Ology, gin drinks section

1. Drop cracked ice into a small bar glass, add ingredients, fill with carbonated water, and serve.

Ice: Cracked ice

Julian's Recipes by Julian Anderson (1919, p.5)

1. Mix the sugar, lemon or lime juice, broken ice, and Old Tom gin with a spoon.
2. Add the soda water and serve.

Ice: Broken ice

Down the Hatch by "Paul" (1920, p.27) — Down the Hatch 1920

1. Shake well, strain, and serve with a squirt of seltzer on top.
2. Add raspberry syrup on top.

This matters because it preserves a still-dressed Tom Collins branch rather than a completely stripped later highball form.

The raspberry-syrup top note is the defining source-specific twist here.

Harry of Ciro's ABC of Mixing Cocktails by Harry of Ciro's (1923, p.84) — Old Tom

1. Build in a large tumbler with ice, sugar, lemon juice, and Old Tom gin.
2. Fill the balance with syphon, stir well, and serve.

Ice: 2-3 lumps ice

This matters because it preserves a very plain late Old Tom Collins service form in a London 1923 source.

L'Art du Shaker by Dominique Migliorero (1925, p.66)

1. Build in the tumbler, stir well, and serve in the same glass.

Ice: Ice

Barflies and Cocktails by Harry McElhone and Wynn (1927, p.80) — Old Tom Gin

1. Build in a large tumbler with ice, sugar, lemon juice, and Old Tom gin.
2. Fill balance with syphon and stir well.

Ice: 2 or 3 lumps ice

This matters because it preserves McElhone's continuing Old Tom Collins service rather than only later dry-gin assumptions.

Cheerio! A Book of Punches and Cocktails by Charles (1928, p.14)

1. Place the gin, lemon juice, powdered sugar, and a few lumps of ice in a long tumbler.
2. Add seltzer water, stir well, and serve.

Ice: Ice

Cocktails by Pedro Chicote (1928, p.383) — Chicote 1928

1. Shake, strain into a water glass, top with soda water, and serve.

Ice: Crushed ice

This matters because it gives us an explicit dry-gin Tom Collins alongside Chicote's separate John Collins / Gin Collins handling.

The source keeps Tom Collins and Gin Collins as separate named service points rather than flattening them together.

The Artistry of Mixing Drinks by Frank Meier (1936, p.49)

1. Fill with soda water or syphon, stir well, and serve.

Café Royal Cocktail Book by W. J. Tarling (1937, p.224)

1. Shake, strain into a large thin glass, and fill with syphon.

Famous New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix 'Em by Stanley Clisby Arthur (1938, p.46)

1. Put sugar in a tall highball glass, squeeze in lemon juice, add orange flower water and about 2 ounces of seltzer, and stir until dissolved.
2. Add lime juice and gin, then several lumps of fine ice.
3. Jiggle with a barspoon, top with just enough seltzer to fill to the brim, jiggle again, and serve in the mixing glass.

Ice: Ice