The Tom Collins

Crisp and zesty, the Tom Collins is the quintessential bar cart cocktail with lemon, club soda, simple syrup and gin that appeases many a palate. “It doesn't require anything in the way of headache-inducing, hard-to-find ingredients,” writes Esquire, who's been endorsing the drink since the early 1940s. “Now, craving a little simplicity and a lot of refreshment, we're talking it up for the hundredth-or-so time.” Like all simple recipes, it's more about how you make it. Here's how.