Aviation
45 ml Gin, 15 ml Maraschino liqueur, 15 ml Lemon juice, 7.5 ml Crème de violette, 1 Maraschino cherry
Photo: Tom Collins by Will Shenton · CC BY-SA 3.0 · All credits
Ingredients
- 50 ml Jigger The large side of a standard jigger, filled to the top: 50 ml, with 25 ml on the other side. Gin
- 25 ml Jigger The small side of a standard jigger, filled to the top: 25 ml, with 50 ml on the other side. Lemon juice - Freshly squeezed
- 15 ml Spoons A tablespoon. Simple syrup
- 100 ml Jigger Two large sides (2 x 50 ml) of a standard jigger. Soda water - Chilled
- 1 twist Lemon twist (optional)
Measured in Millilitres (UK). Sign in to read these in American measures. Print a kitchen card at this size.
What the jigger, the spoons and the jug hold, in millilitres and in fluid ounces, is on the measures reference.
Quick version
- Shake the gin, lemon and syrup with ice.
- Strain into ice-filled glass, top with soda and stir once.
Method
- Shake the gin, lemon juice and simple syrup with ice until the tin frosts.
- Strain into a Collins glass packed with fresh ice.
- Top with chilled soda water and stir once, gently, to keep the bubbles.
- Garnish with a lemon twist.
Serve it
Tom Collins
A gin sour lengthened with soda: the most refreshing thing you can do with a bottle of gin and five minutes. It has been served in tall glasses since the 1870s, and there is still nothing better on a hot afternoon or a long lunch.
Getting it right
Fresh lemon juice only. The bottled sort tastes of the bottle, and with three things in the glass there is nowhere to hide it. Sweeten to taste - a proper Tom Collins is sharp rather than syrupy - and build it in the glass over plenty of ice: gin, lemon and syrup first, then the soda poured in gently and stirred once. The tall glass matters more than it sounds, since soda loses its sparkle fastest in a short one. A slice of lemon and a cherry is traditional, and rather charming.
Tasting notes
Zesty and effervescent, with the gin arriving at the very end of the sip. Cold, long, and gone before you noticed you were thirsty.
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50 ml Gin, 25 ml Lemon juice, 12.5 ml Simple syrup, 15 ml Crème de mûre, 2 berries Blackberry