ENDANGERED COCKTAIL OF THE MONTH-THE TOM COLLINS
By Pink Lady
It’s been about 15 years, give or take, since I started writing this little column. How is it possible that in that span I haven’t yet written about Tom Collins? As I write this, it is a beautiful summer evening, just warm and humid enough to inspire lounging with a cocktail on the patio instead of a sunset stroll, yet not hot enough to cloister indoors in the AC. This, my friends, is Tom Collins’ weather.
The Tom Collins is a drink with which you may be glancingly familiar. Perhaps your dad sipped them, or you saw Don Draper instruct his tween daughter Sally how to mix him one on Mad Men. It is a basic and delightful formula made with gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup, topped with club soda and served in a tall, cylindrical glass which also bears its name. The drink dates way back to 19th century England, where it appeared as a type of famously delicious gin punch on the menu at Limmer’s Hotel in London. John Collins was head waiter there and known well enough for his version that the drink came to bear his name: “his clientele runs to admirals and baronets, dukes and generals — they spread the drink around the world,” writes David Wondrich in IMBIBE!
As for the “John versus” Tom thing, that original English recipe (which was never precisely recorded) was made with Dutch genever, a sort of precursor to modern gin that was malty, full bodied, and prized in its heyday. Many attribute the “Tom” rebrand to guests indicating they wanted their Collins made with Old Tom gin, a sweetened style of gin that was a new fad in the 1870s. By the time the John/Tom Collins made its way to New York City, the name thing was sometimes a bit of a prank: “Turn to the guy standing next to you at the bar and say that you heard Tom Collins was going around bad mouthing him and that you just saw said Mr. Collins in a bar around the corner, down the street, across town, wherever,” writes Wondrich. “Exit guy, steaming. At the next place, when he asked for Mr. Collins those who were in on the gag would repeat the procedure.” Real high brow stuff, but exactly the type of thing one could imagine happening down at the local watering hole today. As for which gin to use today, they really all taste good in this mixture — the best one to use will be the one you have on hand.
TOM COLLINS
2 ounces of gin
1 ounce of lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1/2 ounce of simple syrup
Club soda, to top
Add the gin, lemon juice and simple syrup to a Collins glass. Fill with ice, top with club soda and stir. Garnish with a lemon wheel and maraschino cherry.
Cin Cin!
