You may not often think of cocktails as being seasonal, but consumers often prefer spiced, bright drinks during the biting winter and cool, refreshing drinks during sultry summer — blame the weather. On the summer side of things, there’s a simple, refreshing drink called a summer Collins cocktail, a two-ingredient gin cocktail that features a simple mix of gin and lemonade, often carbonated with soda water. Basically, it’s a citrusy spin on the Tom Collins. However, if you want something with a little more flavor, or if you’re just not a gin drinker, you might be more interested in Tom’s more American relative: the John Collins, made with bourbon whiskey.
A John Collins can be as simple as you want it to be. Bourbon and lemon juice are the two crucial mixers, and it’s often carbonated with soda water and sweetened with a simple syrup for cocktails (which is just sugar and water). Substituting bourbon whiskey for gin will change the flavor and color pretty significantly. Gin is typically a neutral spirit (although not always) which is flavored with juniper berries. On the other hand, bourbon has a stronger flavor with notes of vanilla and oak. A summer Collins is sometimes called a fancy version of spiked lemonade, while a John Collins is more of a sparkling whiskey sour. You should expect the whiskey sour’s sharp flavors, with the extra fizz of carbonated water.
A tale of two Collins cocktails
The Tom Collins and John Collins are old cocktails, and the John Collins didn’t always contain bourbon. Originally, both included a type of gin. An 1882 recipe book lists a Tom Collins as using Old Tom gin in a tall glass now known as a Collins glass, while a John Collins includes Holland gin instead. Over time, the big focus on gin distinctions has faded a little and the different Collins cocktails have come to refer to different spirits. In any case, the drink benefits from the Collins cocktail glass, which should be used with iced, sparkling drinks. The slender, tall glass allows ice cubes to stack and last longer, while the small opening makes the aromas coming from the drink more intense. This helps a lot with a modern John Collins, because you’ll get that smell of bourbon immediately.
The Collins family of drinks is quite large, and they always have a spirit, citrus, and carbonation. You’ve got the more tropical Ron Collins with rum and pineapple soda, or you can make a Phil Collins with cucumber vodka and lime juice, which appears to have no connection to the drummer and lead singer of Genesis. However, this sparkling bourbon cocktail is somewhat unique, and one of the few similar drinks is the Bourbon Rickey, which uses lime juice instead of lemonade.
