Guide
4 gin cocktails from lemon, lime, and soda
Gin, a lemon, a lime, simple syrup, and soda water cover four recipes Google already shows for My Cocktail Pantry: the Tom Collins, Gin Fizz, Gimlet, and Gin Basil Smash. This is not another ranked list of every gin drink ever printed. It is the short menu you can mix tonight if a gin bottle is already on the shelf, plus the one grocery bunch of basil that turns a lemon sour into a smash.
The gin pantry that unlocks four classics
Most gin cocktail roundups start with a Martini or a Negroni. Those are real drinks, and they live on this site, but they ask for vermouth or Campari — bottles a lot of home bars do not keep next to the gin. The four recipes here share a smaller list: London dry gin, lemon juice, lime juice, simple syrup, and soda water. Basil is the only extra, and only for the smash.
That overlap is the point. One 750 ml gin bottle, a citrus bowl, and supermarket club soda will pour a tall Collins, a short foamy fizz, a coupe Gimlet, and — if the herb drawer cooperates — a Gin Basil Smash. Check gin off in Pantry first. Then add lemon, lime, simple syrup, and soda water so What I can make can tell Ready to Mix from Almost There.
If you want the rest of the gin catalog after this short list, the gin cocktails hub collects every gin recipe we publish. This guide stays on the four sours and highballs that already earn Search impressions: Collins, Fizz, Gimlet, and Smash.
Tom Collins — the ice-filled highball
The Tom Collins is the tall gin sour: 2 oz gin, 1 oz lemon juice, and ¾ oz simple syrup, shaken, then soda on a highball packed with ice. Ice in the serving glass is the whole method. Without it you are making a Gin Fizz and calling it a Collins.
London dry from the pantry is enough. Old Tom gin is the historical name, not a shopping requirement. Shake the gin, lemon, and syrup until the tin frosts, strain over ice, and add cold soda last so it does not go flat in the shaker. A lemon wheel and a cherry are the usual garnish; skip the cherry if you do not keep them.
Open the full Tom Collins recipe for the measured steps, glass, and pantry match. Mix this one when you want a long, cold gin drink and you already have soda water.
Gin Fizz — the same sour, no ice in the glass
The Gin Fizz uses the same gin, lemon, and syrup. Strain into a chilled highball with no ice, then soda so a foam head rises. That empty, frosty glass is the split from a Collins, not a different grocery list.
Do not stir much after the soda or you knock the fizz down. Garnish with a lemon wheel on the rim. The Ramos Gin Fizz is the creamy New Orleans cousin with egg white, cream, and orange flower water — a different shopping list. This page is the plain fizz: four ingredients, short, foamy.
Open how to make a Gin Fizz for the full method. Pour the fizz when you want it compact; pour the Collins when you want it tall and staying cold over ice.
Gimlet — lime, no soda
Skip the soda. A Gimlet is gin and lime: 2 oz gin shaken with ¾ oz fresh lime juice and ¾ oz simple syrup, double-strained into a chilled coupe. Fresh juice plus syrup is the home-bar default. Rose’s lime cordial is the older naval shortcut if that bottle is what you already own — equal parts gin and cordial is the shipboard version.
The Gimlet is the drink to make when the soda is gone but a lime is on the board. It is also the sharpest of the four: no bubbles, no ice in the glass, just gin and citrus. A thin lime wheel is enough garnish.
Open the Gimlet recipe for the shake, the strain, and the pantry check. If you only buy one citrus this week and you already have gin and syrup, buy limes for the Gimlet and lemons for the two tall drinks — that pair covers all four recipes except the basil.
Gin Basil Smash — the grocery-store herb
Keep the gin-lemon-syrup sour. Add 8–10 fresh basil leaves, muddled gently in the syrup so they bruise and smell green, then shake with gin, lemon, and ice. Double-strain over fresh ice in a rocks glass so you do not drink shredded stems. Slap a basil sprig for the garnish.
Do not turn it into pesto. Stems and over-muddling make it bitter. London dry is the usual base; a more herbal gin will shout louder over the basil, which some people want. The smash is the only drink on this list that needs a produce run if basil is not already in the kitchen.
Open the Gin Basil Smash recipe for the muddle, the double-strain, and the rocks-glass serve. If gin, lemon, syrup, and basil are already in the pantry, you can mix it tonight without soda.
What to buy if you are one bottle short
Gin unlocks all four. Lemon covers the Collins, the Fizz, and the Smash. Lime covers the Gimlet. Soda water is only the two tall drinks. Basil is Smash-only.
If Almost There is showing citrus, buy both a lemon and a lime — that is the cheapest way to get every recipe on this page into Ready to Mix. If soda is the gap, a supermarket bottle of club soda is enough; you do not need a siphon. If basil is the gap, one clamshell from the produce aisle is enough for a round of smashes.
Shopping list ranks missing bottles by how many complete recipes they unlock from your current pantry. For this cluster, gin is the first buy, citrus is the second, soda is the third, and basil is optional. Browse more gin drinks on the gin spirit hub, or stay in citrus on the sour flavor hub.
Start with gin in Pantry. Add lemon, lime, syrup, and soda. Mix the Collins when you want ice in the glass, the Fizz when you want foam, the Gimlet when you want a coupe, and the Smash when basil is in the house. The four recipe pages hold the full steps, glassware, and pantry match — then What I can make will keep the list honest as the shelf changes.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a Tom Collins and a Gin Fizz?
The sour is the same: gin, lemon, and sugar. A Tom Collins is shaken and served over ice in a tall glass, then topped with soda. A Gin Fizz is shaken and strained into a chilled glass with no ice, then soda, so a foam head can rise. Ice in the serving glass is the whole split.
Can I make a Gimlet with Rose’s instead of fresh lime?
Yes. Equal parts gin and Rose’s lime cordial is the older naval version. This site’s Gimlet recipe uses fresh lime juice and simple syrup so the drink stays tart. Use Rose’s if that bottle is already in the pantry.
Do I need Old Tom gin for a Tom Collins?
No. London dry gin from a home bar makes a Tom Collins. Some books would call the dry-gin version a John Collins. The ice-filled highball is the same pour.
What if I only have lemon, not lime?
You can still make the Tom Collins, Gin Fizz, and Gin Basil Smash. The Gimlet wants lime. Buy one lime when you next shop if you want all four drinks in Ready to Mix.
