Oscar Mendelsohn, in his 1965 Dictionary of Drink and Drinking, gives credit for the Tom Collins to a waiter-bartender named John Collins who worked at Limmer's Hotel in London and was especially talented with his gin punches. The whole Limmer's-Collins association appears to be a hoax, according to the astute research of cocktail archaeologist George Sinclair. Mr. Sinclair points out that no drink called the Collins was associated with Limmer's Hotel, but that Collins was a category of drinks introduced in the 1876 edition of Jerry Thomas's Bartender's Guide,  which detailed recipes for a brandy, a whiskey and a gin Tom Collins. Actually, a drink called John Collins - sugar, lemon juice, Old Tom gin, and a bottle of soda water, served in a large glass over ice -  is tucked away on page 70 of Haney's Steward & Barkeeper's Manual, which was published a few years earlier, in 1869.

Regardless of all the confusing history, today the Tom Collins is a gin drink made with sugar, lemon juice and soda and served in a chimney glass that we have appropriately named the Collins glass. It is garnished in the United States with an orange slice and a cherry; across the ocean, it's garnished with a lemon peel or slice. (The same drink, served in a smaller highball glass with no garnish, is a Fizz) The Tom Collins is best made with a London dry style of gin that's replete with botanicals for a touch of bitterness, producing a wonderful summer drink that's much more interesting than a gin and tonic. A John Collins is the same drink made with bourbon; a vodka Collins is self-explanatory.[1]

Gin 2 oz

Fresh squeezed lemon juice 1 oz

Sugar syrup 1 oz

Club soda 3-4 oz

     
You can bring to the Collins whatever spirit you prefer, but in my opinion gin works wonders here. Unfortunately I wasn't able to reproduce the drink with an Old Tom style of gin, but I'm looking forward to it, given the fact that recently this drink is experiencing a revival.
Taking about revival, there are not many drinks that can invigorate your spirit as well as crafty Tom Collins. And you can have so much diversity by just swapping gin and the brand of soda water. You can have it citrusy, floral, with cucumber notes, agressive herbaceous and God knows what distillers might bring up next.



So relax, take a close look how Simon Ford of Liquor.com is mixing one the right way and go on to do one yourself!


References: 1. Dale DeGroff - The Essential Cocktail