Fizzes and Collinses: There is a difference

Knowing the difference between a fizz and a Collins is like knowing the difference between cocktails and mixed drinks. I agree that to some, such distinctions suggest a level of prowess indicative of excessive leisure. But for most serious imbibers, it shows a deep care for what they put in their bodies.

Despite a similar appearance, these two drink families affect the body differently. Although both work well as summer slings to cool the body, a fizz is less filling and far more appropriate before a meal. It is also meant to be sipped briskly. The Collins, with its greater amount of liquid and ice, is better fit for especially lazy afternoons when eating is a secondary concern.

A fizz is one of the great nearly forgotten drinks. Charles H. Baker, in his Gentlemen's Companion of 1934 gives high praise to its makers, writing "Fizzes ... whose genius we rank alongside that of the inventors of the Mint Julep and other truly immortal discoveries."

Nowadays, fizzes are overlooked, because anything effervescent is called a Collins. Although the predecessor to the Collins family, a fizz - with all its relatives - looks so much like a Collins that the only obvious difference is the vessel in which it's served. The current lack of concern for glassware further confuses the matter, since a fizz is often mistakenly served in a Collins glass.

The difference in taste between these two drink types can be great, though somewhat ethereal. The quality of effervescence separates a fizz from a Collins, as a Cocktail reader discovered during his efforts to instruct his regular bartender on how to make a proper Sloe Gin Fizz for those humid Washington, DC, summer evenings. Essentially, you could use the same recipe to make a fizz or a Collins. What separates a fizz from a Collins is the water used.

Fizzes hail from the days before bottled seltzers and soft drinks, when charged water was the mixer. If you've ever had the pleasure of going to a real soda fountain, where you watch the jerk hand over fizzing sodas, you know what I'm talking about, and you know that the word "jerk" in this instance is far from condescending. Today's seltzer manufacturers, with their plastic bottles and caps, cannot put enough gas in their liquids for proper fizzes and still ship them safely. Thus, we're usually served flat fizzes.

To properly prepare a fizz, you will need to invest in a soda siphon and small CO₂ cartridges. To put the fizz in a fizz, the ingredients must be properly frappéed. To mix a Collins - which can contain the same ingredients as a fizz - the soda is gently poured over the ice and then stirred slightly, so as not to release the carbon dioxide in the water.

Before inviting guests who might be familiar with a proper fizz, work up some stamina, since you will need to shake each batch of drinks up to five minutes and rarely less than three minutes. Bar compatriot and writer George Green recalls watching a platoon of large, shirtless, muscular men - hired solely to shake Ramos Fizzes - entertain a row of fair maidens (and other interested parties) at a bar in New Orleans during the '40s.

If you plan to use a soda siphon, fill it with very cold water and just top the glasses with it. If you insist on making a fizz the hard way, you'll need to revert to flirting skills learned in third grade. After washing your hands, place your thumb over the mouth of a cold bottle of seltzer water and shake it vigorously. As you will soon be reminded, this builds up pressure, making truly charged water. Invert the bottle at a 45-degree angle and slowly move your thumb to the side while keeping the soda in the glasses and not all over your guests or home. You'll soon see why 30 bucks spent at the kitchen-gadget store on a siphon is a good investment.

Of course, before spraying any charged water, you should have a fizz's ingredients waiting in the bottom of a 5- to 8-ounce Irish Coffee glass, which most resembles the traditional fizz goblet.

As for the ingredients, it would be difficult to improve the 1-to-2-to-8 proportioned recipe that has served so well over the decades: 1 part sweetness (from a fruit syrup, a cordial, or a dash of sugar), 2 parts sour (from either fresh lime or lemon juice - never anything else), and 8 parts liquor and water (usually 2 to 3 parts of the 8 is liquor while the rest is the charged water).

Once you've mastered these measurements, improvise as you see fit. This drink recipe is so flexible that you could name a fizz for every lost love or significant birthday in your life. Although gin is most commonly used in a fizz, any spirit higher than 80 proof will work. One note, however: Sloe gin is much too sweet to constitute the 2 or 3 parts liquor if sugar or another sweetener is used.

After shaking the ingredients with ice, strain them into a glass and top with charged water. Contrary to popular belief, ice is not served in a fizz, which is why chilled ingredients are key to keeping this drink a smooth summer cooler that's more refreshing than even an ice-filled Collins.