Classic Tom Collins Cocktail Recipe

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You may have had your fare share of gin cocktails, but have you ever had the Classic Tom Collins Cocktail? I mean this drink has only been around since 1874! Yep, you read that right! It’s been around since the 1800s and it has a pretty funny story to how it got its name. If you haven’t tried one, there is no better time than today!

Classic Tom Collins Cocktail Recipe | Infamous Tom Collins Cocktail | The Best Gin Cocktail | Tall Gin Drink | Tom Collins Joke | #gin #tomcollins #cocktail #goals

What the Heck is a Tom Collins? 

Many cocktails are named after real life people, movies, or TV shows, but that just isn’t true about the Tom Collins. You may be thinking Tom Collins must have been a really important person to get a drink named after him. Well, the truth is it’s actually a pretty fun story. 

The Classic Tom Collins Cocktail is actually named after a really, and I mean really LAME joke! If you think the bar jokes you hear today are lame, just wait until you hear this one…

Tom Collins

The Joke

Here’s how the joke would go:

A man would approach one of his friends at the bar, and ask him, “Hey, have you seen Tom Collins?”

The second man would always reply, ” No, I have never made his acquaintance.”

The first man would then tell his friend, “Perhaps you had better do so, and as quick as you can, for he is talking about you in a very rough manner — calling you bad names, and convincing people there isn’t anything you wouldn’t steal short of a red-hot stove.”

The second man would get pretty pissed as you would imagine, and he would stomp off to go find Tom Collins. 

THE TWIST: There was NO Tom Collins! He didn’t exist. He was a made up character that everyone got a laugh about when their friend’s would take off looking for an imaginary person.

Yeah, it’s a pretty lame joke, but it went viral in 1874, and it was so popular that it was dubbed The Great Tom Collins Hoax of 1874. It went so far that some newspapers even printed stories that contained false sightings of the infamous Tom Collins. 

Eventually, a bartender got smart, and he decided to make some money off this hoax. So, he created a drink called, “Tom Collins.” So, when anyone came rushing into his bar seeking revenge and asking for Tom Collins, they would be served a tall gin drink instead. 

Classic Tom Collins Cocktail Recipe Ingredients

This recipe makes 1 drink, and it only takes about 2 minutes to make. Here’s what you need:

Tom Collins Ingredients

Classic Tom Collins Cocktail Recipe

You can whip this cocktail up in no time! In fact, you could even use it to play a joke on your friends! 

Step 1: In a glass of your choice add ice, cane sugar, and gin.

Add ingredients

Step 2: Then squeeze lemon over the ice. Throw in an orange slice and top your glass with soda water. 

Top with soda water

Step 3: Give it a good stir and enjoy!

Stir it up

Don’t have time to make this Classic Tom Collins Cocktail now? Pin it to Pinterest so you can find it later! 

 Classic Tom Collins Cocktail Recipe | Infamous Tom Collins Cocktail | The Best Gin Cocktail | Tall Gin Drink | Tom Collins Joke | #gin #tomcollins #cocktail #goals

Classic Tom Collins Cocktail Recipe

Classic Tom Collins Cocktail Recipe

You may have had your fare share of gin cocktails, but have you ever had the Classic Tom Collins Cocktail? I mean this drink has only been around since 1874! Yep, you read that right! It’s been around since the 1800s and it has a pretty funny story to how it got its name. If you haven’t tried one, there is no better time than today!

Ingredients

  • Ice
  • 1 tsp cane sugar
  • 2 oz Gin follow
  • 1 tsp lemon juice (1 slice squeezed)
  • 1 orange slice
  • 3 oz soda water

Instructions

  1. In a glass of your choice add ice, cane sugar, and gin.
  2. Then squeeze lemon over the ice. Throw in an orange slice and top your glass with soda water. 
  3. Give it a good stir and enjoy!

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