See Tom Mix
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See Tom Mix
People always forget about Old Tom gin. They shouldn't. Because Old Tom makes your martini variations even more awesome. Featuring 4 cocktail recipes.
When David Wondrich published his landmark cocktail book, Imbibe, in 2007, the gin scene was nothing like what is today. In unearthing all those classic 19th century cocktails, Wondrich immediately ran into an early 21st century problem of sourcing gins. Among the missing ingredients were both Dutch genever and Old Tom, which many of the original cocktails called for.
“This one’s a real problem,” Wondrich wrote. “Old Tom is completely unavailable.” In the can-do spirit of the aughts cocktail renaissance, Wondrich advocated for a DIY approach: “about the best thing to do is take a good, fragrant London Dry and sweeten it…A half ounce of gum per bottle should do.”
Thankfully, very soon after Imbibe was published, a couple of Old Tom gins found their way to market. Haymans Old Tom Gin from the UK and Ransom Old Tom Gin from Oregon became the standard bearers for those who were trying to recreate classic recipes like the Martinez or the Turf Club.
For those who don’t know it, Old Tom gin is a sweetened and (sometimes) aged style of gin that was created in England in the mid-18th century — during an era when there was a ton of awful bathtub gin that needed some additive to make it palatable. Over time, as it became more refined, early bartenders tended to favor it in many popular pre-Prohibition cocktails. Bon Appetit once called it the “the corduroy-clad hipster of gins.”
However, like a lot of products that popped up during those crazy cocktails years of the aughts, Old Tom gin sort of quietly disappeared from the conversation about a decade later. I started seeing it less and less on cocktail menus.
It had been so long since I’d seen it, I literally asked the question on Twitter: What happened to Old Tom gin? Happily, in response, I got a bunch of new-ish versions I’d never tasted, and I’ve been experimenting widely. I’ve found that it brings a lovely roundness and texture to a number of martini variations, including the four recipes below.
Here are three I suggest seeking out:
Catoctin Creek Old Tom Gin
Made by resting their Watershed Gin in pear brandy barrels for about six months, resulting in a blonde yellow color. The flavor is enhanced slightly with the addition of about 10 percent sugar, which brings fruity notes to the fore along with juniper and other spices and botanicals. 92 proof.
Spring 44 Old Tom Gin
Aged in American oak chardonnay barrels, which impart vanilla and toasty notes, balanced by spice and citrus. But still great juniper punch, works well in all the cocktails below. 88 proof.
Gin Lane 1751
The most botanical forward of the bunch, with significant anise and juniper, as well as the clearest and lowest-proof. Soft and silky, it works well in the Astoria Vecchio cocktail below. 80 proof.
4 Old Tom Cocktails To Try
Astoria Vecchio
There are many variations on the early-20th-century Astoria cocktail, itself simply a variation on the martini. This is my version, which calls for Old Tom gin and blanc/bianco/white vermouth (I like Dolin). The result here is a rounder, less botanical, take on the martini.
2.5 ounces Old Tom gin
1 ounce blanc/bianco vermouth
2 dashes orange bitters
Orange peel twist
Combine liquid ingredients in a mixing glass. Add ice and stir vigorously, then strain into a cocktail glass. Express orange peel over the top, then add as garnish.
Turf Club
Some cocktail historians believe that the martini was invented at New York's Turf Club in the early 1880s, essentially as a variation on the Manhattan that used Old Tom Gin instead of whiskey. The original called for Italian vermouth, which probably would have been Martini brand. (Martini vermouth was available in New York beginning in at least the 1860s, suggesting an origin of the drink’s name).
1.5 ounces Old Tom gin
1.5 ounces sweet/rosso vermouth
3 dashes aromatic bitters
Lemon peel twist
Combine liquid ingredients in a mixing glass. Add ice and stir vigorously, then strain into a cocktail glass. Express lemon peel over the top, then add as garnish.
Martinez
Some crazy theories suggest that this (named for Martinez, California) was the original martini. But, more likely, it was just a variation. In reality, all martinis are variations on the Manhattan. Regardless, the Martinez is a tasty drink, though slightly sweeter than a dry martini.
Other Martinez recipes call for aromatic bitters, an orange twist, and a ratio of two parts vermouth to one part gin. But I like equal parts gin and vermouth with bitters and a lemon twist. This recipe comes from the book, Spirits Sugar Water Bitters, by Derek Brown. Always use Old Tom Gin in a Martinez.
1.5 ounces Old Tom Gin
1.5 ounces sweet/rosso vermouth
1 teaspoon maraschino liqueur
2 dashes orange bitters
Lemon peel twist
Combine liquid ingredients in a mixing glass. Add ice and stir vigorously , then strain into a cocktail glass. Express lemon peel over the top, then add as garnish.
Fourth Degree
Early martinis generally included Old Tom gin and sweet vermouth, as well as a few dashes of bitters, a simple syrup, and usually a smidge of liqueur such as curacao, maraschino, or even absinthe. For instance, in the 1882 classic Harry Johnson's New and Improved Bartender's Manual, the “Martini Cocktail” recipe calls for “a dash of curacao or absinthe, if required.” The Fourth Degree calls for absinthe, which makes this cocktail sing. I hadn’t made one of these for a long time, and I was shook by how good it is. It’s become my go-to spring martini variation.
2 ounces Old Tom gin
1 ounce sweet/rosso vermouth
1/2 teaspoon absinthe
2 dashes aromatic bitters
Lemon peel twist
Combine liquid ingredients in a mixing glass. Add ice and stir vigorously, then strain into a cocktail glass. Express lemon peel over the top, then add as garnish.