Here’s my confession about Tom Collins cocktails. I first started loving this cocktail after Elsie told me it was her “bowling alley” drink. Haha. I don’t know why, but this still makes me laugh. If you’ve never had a Tom Collins before, it is essentially a spiked lemonade drink. It’s usually made with gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, and club soda. If you’re at a not-very-upscale-spot, say, a bowling alley, then it might be made with gin or vodka (who knows), Sprite, and a lemon wedge squeezed in.
I prefer the club soda version, but I won’t turn my nose up to the Sprite version. Ha.
This is a super easy to make cocktail at home, you don’t even have to own a cocktail shaker for this recipe. You simply combine the ingredients over ice and give it a good stir—that’s it. A Tom Collins is also a very refreshing cocktail for these warmer months ahead.
Here you can see I am still dealing with condiment bottles that have been defaced with google eyes—compliments of my niece. She “pranked” me last time she stayed over and I’m not going to remove them because it’s too funny. It’s like all the bottles in our refrigerator are puppets.
I sometimes use store-bought simple syrup, but usually I make my own. Currently, I have an old store-bought bottle that I keep refilling (after washing it) with homemade simple syrup. Recycling hack for you. 🙂
If you like gin and tonic, I think you should give a Tom Collins a try. Cheers! xo. Emma
Tom Collins
Ingredients
- 2 ounces gin
- 1 ounce fresh lemon juice
- 1 ounce simple syrup
- 6-7 ounces club soda
Instructions
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Fill a collins glass with ice. Add all ingredients and stir to combine.
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Garnish with a lemon wedge and cherry.
12 Comments
Mmm, I love a Tom Collins! I like to use some shrubs (drinking vinegars) to vary the flavor and the profile of mine, then I just call them Summer Collins. Pop in a few fresh berries too, yum!
Summer Collins! I love that. Sounds delicious.
Sometimes I muddle blueberries in the bottom when I make these. I don’t have a cute name for it tho 🙁
how do I make it a little more tart? Please reply. Thank you. Jimmy.
More lemon juice and/or less simple syrup. Play around with the amounts find what you like.
I spy more of Penny’s googley eyes! Haha! Love it. For some reason bowling alley drink makes so much sense!
They live on! I am amazed how long the google eyes have stayed on bottles in the frig. I had no idea glue dots were that powerful. Ha
Trying it this weekend!
I’ve never had a tom collins. Sounds simple and summery! I’ll have to give it a try
http://www.NancyUgo.com
Lo intentaré muy pronto. Espectacular
I do a combo of sprite and club soda so it’s not quite sprite-like. And I definitely stick with gin. I’ll drink a vodka collins, if I must. But I try to never must because GIN.
I like the combo idea! To me, all Sprite is a little on the sweeter side than I prefer (which I realize is subjective, that’s just my opinion). So a half and half option would be good. I more often have ginger ale or ginger beer than Sprite at home, so I bet that would be a good sub although I guess it’s verging into a Moscow mule territory at that point. 🙂