Tom Collins

“The Small Rain”, Thomas Pynchon, 1959

2 oz. Old Tom gin

1 oz. simple syrup

¾ oz. fresh lemon juice

Club soda, to top

1 lemon wheel, for garnish

1 maraschino cherry, for garnish

Fill a Collins glass with ice and chill it in the freezer.

Place the gin, syrup, and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker, fill it two-thirds of the way with ice, and shake until chilled.

Strain into the chilled Collins glass and top with the club soda. Garnish with the lemon wheel and cherry and enjoy.

“Hey,” he said, “what y’all drinking?”

“Tom Collins,” she said.

Levine drank scotch. Her face got serious.

“Is it bad out there?” she said.

“The Small Rain” is a short story from a larger collection of Pynchon stories, Slow Learner. The story takes place in 1957, during the aftermath of a hurricane in Louisiana. The main character, Nathan “Lardass” Levine, is an army private who’s part of the cleanup operation. Normally a slacker, he begins to take the job seriously once he sees the gravity of the situation.

The Tom Collins is a cocktail from London dating to the later nineteenth century, and its name might have come from a bartender named John Collins, and the use of Old Tom gin. Or it might be something else entirely!