Tom Collins Recipe

Happy Hour: Tom Collins

March 24, 2012

In a memorable scene from season two of Mad Men, Don Draper instructs his 6-year-old daughter, Sally, how to prepare a Tom Collins for guests.

This gin sour drink, first created in the late 1800s, was a popular Summer sipper in the '50s and '60s, when it was known as "the king of cooling drinks." While it's currently fallen out of favor, perhaps the scene suggests that it's time to bring back this maraschino-topped crowd-pleaser.

Get the classic recipe.

From YumSugar

Tom Collins

Ingredients

2 ounces gin
Juice from half a lemon
1 teaspoon superfine sugar
4 ounces cold club soda
Slice of lemon and a maraschino cherry

Directions

Shake gin, lemon juice, and sugar with ice, then pour into a chilled collins glass filled with ice.
Add club soda and garnish with lemon slice and maraschino cherry.

Makes 1 cocktail.

Photos: Nancy Einhart

11 Comments

paanta 4 years 40 weeks

Secret additional ingredient: Angostura Bitters

crystalm07 4 years 41 weeks

This sounds good except I hate gin...but I might like a vodka version!

nancita 4 years 41 weeks

This was one of my first go-to cocktails. It's a bit sweet for me now, but it is definitely a refreshing Summer sipper.

shoneyjoe 4 years 41 weeks

I'm single, but maybe I could adopt a kid and teach him or her to bartend for me. Plus then I'd be eligible for a child tax credit. It's win-win! :D

peachesmel9 4 years 41 weeks

I LOVE Tom Collins drinks, but unfortunately no bartenders seem to know how to make them. Consistently I would be asked by the bartender how to make the drink I ordered, so I eventually just gave up. Maybe appearing on Mad Men will bring them back?

cmill38 4 years 41 weeks

i've had tom collins with soda and with tonic as well keiren. just out of curiosity but is tonic more commonly ordered with other mixed drinks leaving soda not avaliable in some bars? i don't know the answer, it's just a thought.