Tom Collins with a dried lemon wheel.
The Tom Collins is the cocktail that everyone forgets about and then can't believe they forgot about. Gin, fresh lemon, sugar, soda. Long, dry, foam on top. A drink for sitting in the garden in March, not for showing off.
The dried lemon does what the fresh one can't: it sits on top of the foam like a halo and doesn't tip the drink towards pith bitterness as the ice melts.
What you'll need
- 45ml London dry gin
- 20ml fresh lemon juice
- 15ml sugar syrup (1:1 sugar to water)
- Soda water, to top
- 1 dried lemon wheel
How to make it
- In a shaker, combine the gin, lemon juice, and sugar syrup. Fill with ice.
- Shake hard for 8 seconds. We're building texture, the longer you shake, the more foam.
- Strain into a chilled Collins glass over fresh ice. Don't reuse shaker ice; it's spent.
- Top with soda water, gently, down the side of the glass, so you keep the foam intact.
- Float a dried lemon wheel on the foam. It'll perch there for the whole drink.
Notes
If you're making this for someone who finds gin "too gin," reach for a softer London Dry like Plymouth or a contemporary like Hendrick's. The lemon wheel is what carries the visual, the gin gets to play a supporting role.
Two dried wheels in a tall glass is also acceptable behaviour.
Use the Lemon jar, about 25 wheels per jar.