Cocktail Family Deep Dives
The Fizz & Collins: Effervescent Classics
Fizzes and Collins cocktails share a Sour base topped with soda, but their differences in technique, glassware, and proportion create meaningfully distinct drinks.
The Fizz and Collins are the effervescent extensions of the Sour template. Both begin with the Sour's spirit-citrus-sweetener foundation and add carbonated water. But how that soda is added, in what proportion, and in what glass transforms the drink's character entirely. The Fizz and Collins are related but distinct expressions of one fundamental idea: what happens when you lighten a Sour with bubbles?
Fizz vs Collins: The Key Differences
The distinction between Fizz and Collins is formal and reproducible, though the terms are frequently confused in casual usage.
The Fizz Format
A Fizz is shaken with ice and strained into a chilled glass without ice, then topped with a small amount of carbonated water — typically one to two ounces. The glass is smaller (a 6-8 oz old-fashioned glass or fizz glass). The result is cold, slightly diluted from shaking, and lightly effervescent — the soda adds lift without making the drink primarily carbonated.
The Collins Format
A Collins is built in a tall glass over ice, with no shaking. Carbonated water is added in a much larger proportion — four to six ounces — making the drink primarily a long, refreshing beverage rather than a focused cocktail. The Tom Collins (gin, lemon, sugar, soda) is the prototype: a leisurely, sessionable drink designed for warm weather and extended consumption.
Why the Difference Matters
The Fizz's technique — shaking, straining, then adding soda — preserves carbonation more completely than building over ice. The Collins's ice dilutes the drink progressively over time, making it grow lighter and more refreshing as you drink it. These are different drinking experiences serving different purposes.
The Ramos Gin Fizz: Technical Extreme
No Fizz is more technically demanding than the Ramos Gin Fizz, invented by Henry C. Ramos in New Orleans in 1888. The recipe is relatively simple — gin, lemon juice, lime juice, simple syrup, heavy cream, egg white, orange flower water, and club soda — but its execution is not.
The Twelve-Minute Shake
Ramos specified that his Gin Fizz required twelve minutes of continuous shaking to achieve the correct texture. In practice, this was accomplished by a relay of bartenders (his 1915 Mardi Gras service reportedly employed 35 "shaker boys"), each shaking the drink for a minute before passing it on. The extended shaking creates an extraordinarily stable, thick foam that rises above the glass rim in a dramatic pillar.
The Science of the Ramos Foam
The extended Dry Shake (without ice) followed by a wet shake (with ice) denatures the egg white proteins and whips heavy cream into a stable emulsion. The orange flower water — typically one to two drops — provides a floral aromatic quality that lifts the drink's richness. The club soda, added after straining and before the foam fully sets, is a calculated risk: it must be poured carefully to not collapse the foam while still being incorporated into the drink.
Tom Collins History
The Tom Collins has an unusual origin: it began as a hoax. In the 1870s, a popular prank involved telling someone that a man named Tom Collins had been saying terrible things about them in a nearby bar. The victim, enraged, would rush to the bar asking for Tom Collins — a joke repeated so widely that bartenders began inventing a drink by that name to serve to confused customers.
From Joke to Classic
By the 1880s, "Tom Collins" was a formal cocktail entry in bartenders' guides. The name "Tom" specified that it was made with Old Tom gin — a slightly sweet, botanically lighter style between London Dry and genever. Modern Tom Collins versions use London Dry gin, which is drier and more assertive than the original formula.
The Collins Glass
The tall, narrow Collins glass (12-14 oz) is named after this drink. Its proportions maximize the ratio of ice surface area to liquid volume while maintaining enough height for carbonation to remain lively throughout consumption.
Essential Fizzes and Collins
- Gin Fizz: Gin + lemon + sugar + soda. The foundational Fizz.
- Ramos Gin Fizz: The extreme. Gin + citrus + cream + egg white + orange flower water + soda.
- Tom Collins: Gin + lemon + sugar + soda over ice in a tall glass. The foundational Collins.
- French 75: Gin (or Cognac) + lemon + sugar + Champagne. The Fizz family's most elegant expression.
- Rum Collins: White rum replaces gin. Lighter, more tropical.
- Vodka Collins: Clean and neutral, lets the citrus and soda lead.
The Fizz and Collins families demonstrate that technique is content — the same ingredients produce fundamentally different drinking experiences depending on how they are assembled.