Tom Collins Cocktail

The NVD Tom Collins – when a lame joke goes viral… 19th Century Style.

Most people know that a Tom Collins is a classic Gin cocktail made with lemon juice, soda water, and sugar. But most people probably never knew that it was named after a silly joke from 1874.

Here's how it went: A man would approach his friend and ask, "Have you seen Tom Collins?"

"Why no!" the second man would say. "I have never made his acquaintance."

"Perhaps you had better do so, and as quick as you can, for he is talking about you in a very rough manner — calling you hard names, and convincing people there is nothing you wouldn't steal short of a red-hot stove."

This would upset the second man, who would stomp off to go looking for this rascal Tom Collins, but — surprise! — He didn't actually exist.

It's a pretty bad joke, yet it went viral and became all the rage in New York and Philadelphia. It was so popular, in fact, that it was dubbed "The Great Tom Collins Hoax of 1874” by the press.

Eventually, one ingenious bartender caught on and decided to create and name a drink called "Tom Collins" so that if anyone came rushing into his bar seeking revenge and asking for Tom Collins, they would unknowingly have ordered a tall Gin drink instead.

What makes the NVD Tom Collins so unique and wonderfully special, you ask? First, we made a fresh batch of our infamous Old Hollywood Ginn just for the occasion – perfect to replicate the Old Tom Gin used in the original recipe. We then blend in our special sugar and real lemon juice into the mix creating an elegant classic cocktail. Try in a Collins glass filled with ice topped with soda water.

Recognized Cocktail – 32% ALC by VOL.