Episode 27 - Tom Collins

Turkey Mojitos?  NO!  We’re not making those.  We mention those, but we’re not making those.  This episode is based on a direct request for a Tom Collins.  You can request a drink too.  All you have to do is click on the comment button at the bottom of this blog post.  Please do it.  We want to know you’re out there!

The Tom Collins is an old old drink.  We find that the old old drinks that are still around are usually pretty good.  They don’t stay around and return after Prohibition for nothing.
The Tom Collins is a fabulous drink.  Grown up lemonade.  Make it now!  The only real choice you have in it is the type of gin you use.  We decided to use “Old Tom” gin because we thought it would be most authentic but I know all the other gins would work just fine.

Tom Collins

1 1/2 ounces gin (We used Old Tom)
3/4 ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 ounce Simple Syrup
2 ounces Club Soda

Orange slice and cherry for garnish.

Combine all the ingredients (except the soda water) in an iced cocktail shaker.  Shake and strain into a collins glass over 2-3 ice cubes. Add the Club Soda and lightly stir. Garnish with the orange slice and cherry.

Right drink, wrong glass!

Where do you go after the Tom Collins?  So many different options present themselves but we decided to go with a similar drink from Ernest Hemingway.  Actually from the wonderful book, “To Have and Have Another: A Hemingway Cocktail Companion” by Philip Greene.  Hemingway was a diabetic and could not have the sugar syrup.  His version of the Tom Collins used coconut water.  It makes for a very different sort of drink.  Give it a shot and serve it to your friends.

Tom Collins a la  Hemingway
from  “To Have and Have Another - A Hemingway Cocktail Companion” by Philip Greene.  Perigee 2015

2 ounces London dry gin
3/4 ounce fresh lime juice
2-4 ounces coconut water
2-3 dashes Angostura bitters

Vigorously shake all ingredients then strain over 2-3 ice cubes in a collins glass.  Garnish with a lime wedge or peel.