A classic cocktail often appearing in various forms on drink menus around the world, the Singapore Sling was appropriately first concocted in Singapore. While the exact year this cocktail was created is open to some debate, most agree that the cocktail was first created by a Hainanese-Chinese bartender named Mr. Ngiam Tong Boon at the Raffles Hotel’s Long Bar in Singapore. It is believed the bartender first mixed up the cocktail sometime between 1910 and 1915.
The cocktail, which is made from a mixture of gin, cherry brandy and Benedictine in equal parts with a dash of bitters and Cointreau and finished off with pineapple and lime juice and grenadine, was modified in the middle of the 20th century by the original creator’s nephew. The newer recipe has been used since and is the base for the modern Singapore Sling. In the Raffles Hotel Museum, visitors can view the safe where Mr. Ngiam locked away all of his secret cocktail recipe books.
Included is also a hastily written recipe for the Singapore Sling, which was jotted down in 1936 by a visitor who asked the bartender for the recipe. Today, the drink is served on all Singapore Airlines flights and is mentioned in many popular culture movies and books, including Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, in which lead character Raoul Duke talks about drinking “Singapore Slings with mescal on the side.” You can also still order an original Singapore Sling at the Raffles Hotel’s Long Bar, where icons like Rudyard Kipling and others would once sip this famous, fruity cocktail.
Make a Singapore Sling
The original Singapore Sling was created by Ngiam Tong Boon for the Raffles Hotel in Singapore in the early 1900's. The Singapore Sling is a smooth, slow, sweet cocktail with a complex flavour.
