Though the weenie days of summer are officially behind us , it ’s still hot enough to warrant a fresh Tom Collins . Known as the “ king of cooling drinks , ” the cocktail itself is just four ingredients : gin , simple syrup or sugar , gamboge succus , and sal soda water .
It also add up with dueling origin stories : One from the U.S. , and another from across the pond .
JOKER’S DELIGHT
In 19th century America , one summertime spawned what came to be called the Great Tom Collins Hoax of 1874 . It was a pretty feeble setup : a prankster would narrate men that a man call Tom Collins was saying dirty things about them , their wives , and their children . If they hurried , they could catch the miscreant around the niche at their local stripe .
Once that humankind flummox to the taproom , the mixologist would tell the mark that Tom had just left to visit another bar — on the other side of town . For whatever reason , the hoax spread . Newspapers kept it going with headlines like “ Tom Collins Still Among Us , ” and articles reported sightings and sound projection of his next move . The trick finally petered out , but not before it caused its fairish percentage of scuffle .
One possibility is that an enterprising bartender whip up a novel drink to serve well to victims chasing the villainous Mr. Collins .
MEANWHILE, IN EUROPE…
The less interesting history , and probably the truer one , is that a server named John Collins made a like drink with Holland gin . He slap his name on the potable , but someone ( probably an American ) substituted Old Tom style gin for genever . Old Tom gin is a fashion of snare that ’s less Retama raetam - forward than London ironic . It ’s lightly sweetened to equilibrate the knock rummy ’s flavor and to smooth out some of the burning from its inebriant content .
London ironic knock rummy became popular while Old Tom became rarer and rare until it went out of production entirely . Thanks to the rise of the craftsmanship cocktail movement , Old Tom style gin has recently been uprise by brands like Hayman ’s and Ransom .
HIT THE LAB
John Collins
1/2 oz simple syrup1/2 oz lemon juice2 oz genever ( We care Bols)Lemon wheel , for garnish
Fill a Collins shabu with ice . Add all fixings to the glass and top with a splatter of sal soda water . Garnish with a lemon wheel .
Tom Collins
1/2 oz simple syrup1/2 oz maize juice2 oz Old Tom ginLemon rack , for garnish
