A Tom Collins Is the High-Brow Hard Lemonade You've Been Waiting For

If the thought of pleasantly tart, not-too-sweet, fizzy hard lemonade appeals to you, then the Tom Collins is right up your alley. The cocktail dates back to at least 1876, when a recipe for the cooling tipple first appeared in Jerry Thomas's The Bartenders Guide. Bonus feature: it's way better than the bottled malted beverage stuff you drank when you were too young to care.

Tom Collins Cocktail Recipe

Yield: 1 cocktail

Ingredients

• 2 oz Gin
• 1 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
• 1 oz Simple Syrup
• Club soda
• Lemon slice (for garnish)
• Maraschino Cherry (for garnish)

Glassware

• Collins Glass

Tools/Drinkware

• Cocktail Jigger
• Cocktail Shaker
• Strainer

Instructions

Combine gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously until the outside of the shaker frosts. Strain into a Collins or highball glass filled with ice. Top with club soda to taste. Garnish with a lemon slice and cocktail cherry.