Tom Collins
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon sugar syrup*
- Juice of 1 medium lemon
- 3-4 ounces of gin (2 measures)
Stir all of the above together in the Tom Collins glass (see image right) and add 4 ice-cubes. Fill with soda water, stir again, and serve immediately. If you use Old Tom Gin (see below), use half the quantity of sugar syrup.
Originally a Tom Collins was made with Old Tom Gin which is a sweetened type of gin. Unfortunately it is not seen often these days so we have to substitute regular gin and sugar syrup1. A collins is served in the tallest glass used for cocktails which is, appropriately, named a Tom Collins glass. It will normally hold 12-16 ounces.
* Sugar syrup can be made at home by combining equal parts of sugar and water and cooking until the sugar has completely dissolved. It is much easier to use this for cocktails as sugar can be difficult to dissolve in alcohol and you can up end up with grains in your cocktail. When using sugar syrup, you can substitute one for one.
