ASK BARTENDERS to define the classic Collins, and two descriptors pop up over and over again: “refreshing” and “crushable.” Both are euphemisms for “not too strong,” an apt characterization of a drink that’s like sipping on fizzy spiked lemonade. The Tom Collins is the best-known member of the Collins family. At heart it’s a gin sour: an ounce or two of spirit tempered by citrus and sugar and lengthened with soda water. The first to publish a recipe by that name was bartender Jerry Thomas, in his classic “Bartender’s Guide,”...

Source: Wall Street Journal December 26, 2019 14:37 UTC