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Jul

2010

Tom Collins

The Tom Collins cocktail was supposedly named for a bartender at a London restaurant named Limmer’s. Regardless of the name, I have always loved this cocktail because of the interplay between lime juice, simple syrup and club soda. It is a tangy, refreshingly bold cocktail that seems to kick start a good mood. Tell me you do not get into a better mood when this cocktail goes down the hatch. This seemingly old-fashioned delight is back in favor largely due to continued exposure on the AMCs cable television show Mad Men.

I flat out love the show. In my circles, I am known as a fuddy duddy who is mentally stuck somewhere between 1940 and 1965. I can picture Don Draper or Roger Sterling enjoying this cocktail while they plot and plan their latest machinations. 1960’s cool. Sophistication. Narrow ties and pillbox hats. It seems to me that this era was the last can-do era of the United States. We were powerful and we knew it. We wanted to get things done and we did. Go to the moon in ten years. No problem. End poverty. Please! Nothing was out of our reach. Our cars were big, our ambitions were large and we were # 1. Our dress was ultra chic and we knew how to have a good time. Work hard and play hard. Build it big. Reach for the stars. The United States was at the nadir of civilization. Then Dallas came and it seemed the dream was lost. I have always maintained that America changed for good when President Kennedy was murdered. You can chart the beginnings of the decline from that day forward. Everything after November, 1963 became muddled and out of focus.

Mad Men allows us to travel back and get a taste of what that time really was all about. When the next episode shows again on Sunday night, go ahead and mix up a few of these Tom Collins cocktails and drift back in time to a place forever gone.

2 fl oz (60 ml) gin

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon simple syrup

5 to 6 fl oz (150 to 180 ml) club soda

1 lemon wedge, for garnish

1. Pour the gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup into a shaker two-thirds full of ice cubes.

2. Shake well.

3. Strain into an ice-filled Collins glass.

4. Pour in the club soda.

Add the lemon wedge.

Recipe courtesy of:

Foley, Ray, William-Sonoma: The Bar Guide (Williams-Sonoma Lifestyles). New York: Time Life Books, 1999.

Photo courtesy of amctv.com and the Mad Men Cocktail Guide.

Comments

Mary

I haven't had one of these in years. It looks and sounds wonderfully refreshing to sip on a hot summer night. I hope you are having a great day. Blessings...Mary

Friday 30 July 2010, 08:10

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hipcop

Oh sounds delicious!! I am entertaining all this week and loving your site!! Exactly what I needed to throw a great bash!! I can't get enough!! This cocktail I am trying tonight!! ;)

Tuesday 10 August 2010, 05:54

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