Vodka Collins
Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 13.3% ABV ∙
The Vodka Collins is a vodka-based variant of the Tom Collins, built with lemon juice and sugar syrup, shaken and topped with soda water. Crisp and tart from fresh lemon, with a clean vodka backbone and a fizzy lift that finishes light and refreshing.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Shake the first 3 ingredients with ice: Vodka 60 mlLemon juice 25 mlSugar syrup 15 ml
- Strain into the ice-filled glass
- Top with Soda water and briefly stir
- Garnish with an orange slice and a maraschino cherry on a skewer
Tips
- Pre-chill the glass so the drink stays cold and the ice melts slower once the soda water tops it off.
- Add the soda water last and stir only briefly, to keep the carbonation from going flat.
History
The Vodka Collins first appears in print in Ted Saucier's Bottoms Up, in its 1962 revised edition, where the recipe is credited to Ted Majeski of United Press International. Majeski, a news picture editor, is named in the book as the drink's creator, making this vodka-based cooler one of the more precisely documented members of the Collins family, emerging as vodka gained popularity in American bars through the 1950s and 1960s.
The drink is simply a Collins built with vodka in place of the traditional base spirit, following the same tall, citrus-and-soda format established generations earlier by the gin-based Tom Collins and John Collins, whose own naming and invention are disputed among several claimants.
FAQ
What's the difference between a Tom Collins and a Vodka Collins?
The base spirit is the difference: a Tom Collins uses gin, while a Vodka Collins swaps in vodka. Both otherwise follow the same structure of citrus, sugar syrup, and soda water, but the vodka version has a neutral backbone while the gin version carries a botanical, juniper-forward edge.
What is another name for a Vodka Collins?
It has no widely used alternate name; it is simply called a Vodka Collins, identifying it as the vodka-based member of the Collins family of drinks.
What is the difference between a Vodka Sour and a Vodka Collins?
A Vodka Sour is vodka, lemon juice, and sugar syrup shaken and served without soda water, giving a short, dense drink. A Vodka Collins uses the same shaken base but is then strained over ice and topped with soda water, making it a longer, fizzier, more diluted highball.
What makes a drink a Collins?
A Collins is a tall, soda-topped highball where the base spirit is shaken with lemon juice and sugar syrup, then lengthened with soda water over ice in a Collins glass; here vodka is the spirit, giving the Vodka Collins its name.
Do people still drink Tom Collins-style cocktails?
Yes, Collins-style drinks remain popular as easy-drinking warm-weather highballs, and the Vodka Collins is a common modern variant for those who prefer a neutral spirit to gin's botanical profile.
