Singapore Sling
Ingredients
- 1 1⁄2 oz Tanqueray London Dry Gin
- 1⁄2 oz Heering Cherry Liqueur
- 1⁄4 oz Bénédictine D.O.M. liqueur
- 1⁄4 oz Cointreau triple sec liqueur
- 1 1⁄2 oz Pineapple juice
- 1⁄2 oz Lime juice
- 1⁄12 oz Monin Grenadine Syrup
- 1 dash Angostura Aromatic Bitters
Method
Glass:
Photographed in an UB Koto Collins 35cl
Prepare:
- Select and pre-chill a COLLINS GLASS.
- Prepare garnish of pineapple wedge and Luxardo Maraschino Cherry.
Method:
- SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
- STRAIN into ice-filled glass.
Garnish:
- Garnish with pineapple wedge skewered with maraschino cherry.
Nutrition:
One serving of Singapore Sling contains 226 calories
History:
Convention has it that the Singapore Sling was created sometime between 1899 and 1915 by Chinese-born Ngiam Tong Boon at the Long Bar in Raffles Hotel, Singapore.
Raffles Hotel is named after the colonial founder of Singapore, Sir Stamford Raffles, and was the Near East's expat central. As Charles H. Baker Jr. wrote in his 1939 Gentleman's Companion, "Just looking around the terrace porch we've seen Frank Buck, the Sultan of Johor, Aimee Semple McPherson, Somerset Maugham, Dick Halliburton, Doug Fairbanks, Bob Ripley, Ruth Elder and Walker Camp - not that this is any wonder." Raffles still sticks out of modern-day Singapore like a vast, colonial Christmas cake.
The first known reference to a sling in Singapore newspapers comes in 1897, and indeed, a Gin Sling was a popular drink at the time. The red-pink colour distinguishes the ingredients used in a Singapore Gin Sling, and a 'Pink Sling' is mentioned in a Singapore newspaper in 1903.
The weight of evidence confirms it was Chinese-born Ngiam Tong Boon who created the Gin Sling, we now recognize as a Singapore Sling, while working at the Long Bar at Raffles Hotel, so this dates the drink's invention sometime between 1899, when Boon started work at the hotel after its expansion, and 1915, when Boon died after leaving the hotel to travel back to Hainan, China.
So, there is little controversy as to who created the Singapore Sling, where he created it and (roughly) when, but there is much debate over the original name and ingredients.
Early bar books include recipes for both Singapore Slings and Straits Slings. Singapore was part of the British cluster of colonies that, in 1836, was grouped with Penang and Malacca to form the Straits Settlements, and it seems certain that Boon's cocktail was similarly named the Straits Sling. In the Long Bar itself, people probably simply ordered a 'Gin Sling' and were served Boon's 'house' version.
The name appears to have changed sometime between 1922, when Robert Vermeire describes the Straits Sling as a "well-known Singapore drink" in his Cocktails and How to Mix Them, and the early 1930s.
In his 1930 The Savoy Cocktail Book, Harry Craddock includes both the Singapore Sling and Straits Sling, the latter being closer to what we recognise today as a Singapore Sling.
Review:
Beautifully balanced, fruity and complex with just enough gin to add a spirituous bite. We're indebted to Dale DeGroff for sharing this recipe, which he, in turn, was given by a former bartender at Singapore's Raffles Hotel.
