Ingredients:

2oz. Old Tom or London Dry Gin or Genever, if you have it.

1 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice

.75 oz. Simple Syrup or Lemon Cordial (syrup infused with lemon peel)

Soda water

Combine all ingredients except soda in a shaker and chill. Strain into a chilled Collins glass. Top with soda. Top with ice. Garnishes of lemon peel or lemon wedge are optional. Serve and enjoy!

“Have you heard from Tom Collins lately? He’s down at the bar telling everyone who’ll listen that you’re a liar and a cheat.”

“What?! I don't know any Tom Collins! I’m going down there to give this character a piece of my mind!

So then the guy walks into the bar all hot and bothered and asks the bartender where he can find Tom Collins so he can kick his ass all over the place. 

Everyone within earshot starts chuckling, including the barkeep because they have all heard this prank already today. This gag was apparently commonplace in New York City sometime around 1874 and only lead to a few fatalities.   

This old prank is one of reasons the name of this drink became so well known. The other is that the most common spirit being ordered as the base for the drink  at that time was Old Tom gin, a sweeter, barrel-aged spirit similar to Genever (the original Dutch juniper-flavored spirit) which was more common then than the presently ubiquitous London Dry style of gin. Its one of the few beverages so popular that the glass it comes in bears its name. Many people today know the Collins glass, long before they ever taste a proper Tom Collins. 

These cultural re-enforcements are how the drink lost its original name the “John Collins.” Named for its creator who served at Limmer’s Hotel in London in the 1830’s when his concoction became a signature drink of the house. The name John Collins is still used for when the drink is made with whiskey, however, and though recipes from then and now vary slightly they all call for spirit, sugar, lemon, soda AND ice!  A tall glass and the presence of ice IN IT have become defining characteristics. Think of it as a Gin punch lengthened with soda water, or as a sparkling lemonade spiked with gin. However you look at it the result is the same AND incredibly refreshing. It is such a delicious and simple combination its sad how infrequently one gets ordered at a bar today, and also frustrating how simple variations of this classic get stamped with made-up names on “signature cocktail” lists all over the place. 

Side Notes:

When making “long drinks” I often like to beef up the flavors to hold up against the additional dilution with soda water and melting ice.  The use of bitters and tinctures is good for this, as well as using flavored syrup as opposed to neutral syrup. Also using large blocks of clear ice which are colder, melt more slowly, AND have less nucleation sites where bubbles can form leading to the preservation of carbonation over a longer time. Wow. I know. Seems like a lot, but its really pretty simple. Carbonation is carbon dioxide gas dissolved in water. Bubbles are bad, they are carbon dioxide escaping from your drink! Adding ice before the soda and then string the drink in the glass to mix the ingredients together will kill all of your carbonation! Good mixing technique, chilled glasses, and using good ice are the best ways to hold on to your CO2.