Cucumber Rum Collins
Muddle; Shake ∙ 4 min ∙ 12.2% ABV ∙
The Cucumber Rum Collins is a long, fizzy highball of white rum, muddled fresh cucumber, lemon juice and soda water. Cool cucumber leads on the nose, lemon brightens the middle, and the soda lengthens it into a crisp, faintly sweet finish suited to a warm afternoon.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- In the base of the shaker, muddle: Cucumber 3 cm
- Add the next 4 ingredients: White rum 60 mlLemon juice 25 mlSugar syrup 15 mlSaline solution 1 dash
- Shake with ice
- Fine strain into the ice-filled glass
- Top with Soda water and briefly stir
- Garnish with a cucumber ribbon around the inside of the glass
Tips
- Muddle the 3 cm cucumber piece firmly but briefly in the shaker base to release juice without pulverizing the skin, which turns the drink bitter and pulpy.
- Shake the rum, lemon juice, sugar syrup, saline and muddled cucumber hard with ice, then fine-strain into the Collins glass to leave behind fibrous cucumber solids.
- Add the soda water last over fresh ice in the Collins glass and stir just once to preserve carbonation instead of shaking it flat.
- Cut the garnish as a long, thin cucumber ribbon with a peeler and drape it inside the glass so it stays above the ice for aroma.
History
The Collins family of drinks traces back to a John Collins, a headwaiter at Limmer's Old House, a London hotel and coffee house, where a gin-and-lemon drink bearing his name is documented from at least the 1860s. As the recipe spread, versions made with Old Tom gin became known as the Tom Collins, the name by which the tall, sparkling lemon-and-spirit format is best known today; the switch to whiskey, rum, or other base spirits then gave rise to further named variants of the same template. A rival account holds that the Tom Collins name instead comes from the "Great Tom Collins Hoax of 1874," a prank that swept New York and other American cities in which people were told a man named Tom Collins was gossiping about them, with some historians suggesting a bartender capitalized on the joke by naming the drink after the fictitious troublemaker. The Cucumber Rum Collins follows this same Collins template but swaps the historic gin base for white rum and adds muddled fresh cucumber, a modern twist on the standard formula rather than a separately documented drink.
FAQ
What is a cucumber Collins drink?
A cucumber Collins is a tall, fizzy rum-based highball built on muddled fresh cucumber, lemon juice, and soda water over ice in a Collins glass. It belongs to the Collins family of drinks, which pairs a base spirit with citrus, sweetener, and carbonated water; this version uses white rum rather than the gin of a classic Tom Collins.
What makes a cocktail a Collins?
A Collins is defined by its structure, not its spirit: a base liquor shaken or built with lemon (or lime) juice and a sweetener, lengthened with soda water and served tall over ice. Swapping the spirit gives named variations, such as the Tom Collins (gin), John Collins (Old Tom gin or genever), and this rum-based Cucumber Rum Collins.
What's in a Rum Collins?
This Cucumber Rum Collins is white rum, fresh muddled cucumber, lemon juice, and sugar syrup, shaken and topped with soda water. It is finished with a dash of saline solution for extra edge and garnished with a cucumber ribbon, then served in a Collins glass.
What's the difference between Tom Collins and John Collins?
A Tom Collins is traditionally made with London dry gin, while a John Collins uses an older-style gin such as Old Tom or, in some versions, genever or bourbon. Both otherwise follow the same lemon, sugar, and soda water structure; the name simply tracks the spirit used.
What should not be mixed with cucumber?
Cucumber's flavor is delicate and easily overpowered, so it is generally paired with light, complementary ingredients like citrus, mint, or a clean spirit rather than heavy, smoky, or strongly bitter ones. In this build, white rum, lemon, and a touch of sugar syrup let the cucumber stay forward instead of getting buried.
