Singapore Sling
| IBA Official Cocktail | |
|---|---|
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| Type | Mixed drink |
| Primary alcohol by volume | |
| Served | Straight up; without ice |
| Standard garnish | |
| Standard drinkware |
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| IBA specified ingredients* |
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| Preparation | Pour all ingredients into cocktail shaker filled with ice cubes. Shake well. Strain into highball glass. Garnish with pineapple and cocktail cherry. |
| * Singapore Sling recipe at International Bartenders Association | |
The Singapore Sling is a gin-based cocktail from Singapore. This long drink was developed sometime before 1915 by Ngiam Tong Boon, a Hainanese bartender working at the Long Bar in Raffles Hotel, Singapore. It was initially called the gin sling – a sling was originally an American drink composed of spirit and water, sweetened and flavored.
D. A. Embury stated in the Fine Art of Mixing Drinks: "Of all the recipes published for [this drink] I have never seen any two that were alike." The Times described the "original recipe" as mixing two measures of gin with one of cherry brandy and one each of orange, pineapple and lime juice An alternative "original recipe" used gin, Cherry Heering, Bénédictine, and fresh pineapple juice, primarily from Sarawak pineapples which enhance the flavor and create a foamy top. The hotel's recipe was recreated based on the memories of former bartenders and written notes that they discovered regarding the original recipe.
By the 1980s, the Singapore Sling was often little more than gin, bottled sweet and sour, and grenadine. With the move towards fresh juices and the re-emergence of quality products like Cherry Heering, the cocktail has begun to resemble its original version. Recipes published in articles about Raffles Hotel before the 1970s are significantly different from current recipes, and Singapore Slings drunk elsewhere in Singapore differ from the recipe used at Raffles Hotel.
The gin sling, attested from 1790, described an American drink of gin which was flavoured, sweetened and served cold. The Singapore sling has been documented as early as 1930 as a recipe in the Savoy Cocktail Book; Ingredients ¼ lemon juice, ¼ Dry Gin, ½ Cherry Brandy: "Shake well and strain into medium size glass, and fill with soda water. Add 1 lump of ice".
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Wikipedia