Tom Collins in the Fall, Cocktail

There are competing stories about how the Tom Collins came to be, but the most likely story is that a bartender named John Collins created the drink and ushered in a new style of "long drinks". The name of Tom Collins rather than John Collins is most likely due to the original drink being made with Old Tom gin. Long drinks are drinks that are a little lighter in alcohol by volume and feature soda water. The light bubbles in the soda water refreshes the pallet and the low alcohol makes this a fantastic cocktail to sip with or before a meal or while relaxing. 

 Recipe

• 2 oz gin

• .5 oz fresh squeezed lemon juice

• .5 oz Dirty Pumpkin syrup

• 2 oz club soda I like Topo Chico mineral water)

• 1 lemon wheel for garnish

Instructions

• Pour the gin, lemon juice, and syrup into a shaker half filled with ice and shake

• Pour into a tall glass half filled with ice and top with your sparkling water

• Garnish with a lemon wheel