Like so many drinks, the origins of the Collins are muddled. For those who take the American aspect of the story, the Tom Collins developed from the “The Nice Tom Collins Hoax” of 1874, through which pranksters would inform a good friend they’d run into one “Tom Collins” at a bar across the nook who had bad-mouthed stated good friend. When the good friend would depart to search out “Tom Collins,” the trick sparked a wild-goose chase of, maybe, not-so-epic proportions.
Or you’ll be able to select the British aspect, which (extra probably) means that the Tom Collins was the creation of London bartender John Collins, who dreamed up an eponymous gin punch within the latter half of the nineteenth century, that, when made with Outdated Tom Gin, presumably turned the Tom Collins. Featured in Harry Johnson’s 1882 bartender’s guide, the basic is a bubbly drink manufactured from lemon, sugar, soda water and gin.
Ask any bartender at the moment for a riff on the Collins, and also you’ll make sure to come back away with a minimum of a dozen variations. Bartenders have introduced the centuries-old drink into the trendy day by placing an aperitif-like spin on the drink, swapping the gin for different base spirits and amping up the citrus taste with cordials or different juices, like grapefruit. Nonetheless, regardless of so many layered takes on the drink, some argue that its easiest kind might already be the very best: “In its authentic gin—particularly Outdated Tom—capability, it’s simply transcendent,” says Maison Premiere’s William Elliott.
