022 – Singapore Sling

A Sydney ‘lock-down’ version of the classic early 20th Century ‘Singapore Sling’ cocktail.

Sydney’s Covid Lockdown has inspired me to explore this famous cocktail. Let’s take a look at the classic ‘Singapore Sling’, as we also celebrate my Brother Lyle’s 50th Birthday (on Day-77 of Sydney’s Covid lock-down).

Make your own Locktail, the ‘Singapore Sling’. Here is my Sydney Lock-Tail recipe:

METHOD — Fill a Highball Glass with ice cubes. Add 45ml Gin, 15ml Herring (or other Cherry Liqueur), 10ml DOM Bénédictine, 10ml Cointreau (or other Triple Sec), 45ml Pineapple Juice (fresh), 15ml Lime Juice (fresh), 10ml of Grenadine Syrup, and 2-to-4 dashes of Rhubarb Bitters into a Cocktail Shaker. Add a handful of ice and shake well (10 seconds). Double strain into the ice-filled Highball Glass. Garnish with a fresh slice of Pineapple and a Maraschino Cocktail Cherry.

HISTORICAL NOTES – The Raffles Hotel was build in 1886 by the Armenian Sarkies Brothers, and until later land reclamation was a waterfront hotel and a favorite of the colonial upper-class in Singapore. It has been visited by Queen Elizabeth II, Rudyard Kipling, Charlie Chaplin and a host of who’s who of the late 1800’s and early 20th Century.

Chinese-born Ngiam Tong Boon created the ‘Singapore Sling’ sometime between 1899 and 1915 while working at the Raffles Hotel, although the name may not have been applied until the 1920’s. In 1903, a ‘Pink Sling’ is mentioned in a Singapore Newspaper and this may have been ‘Boon’s Mix’, as opposed to pale and simple ‘Gin Slings’ that had existed since around 1790.

Ngaim Tong Boon died in 1915 when leaving Singapore to return to China, and the recipe was never recorded. Raffles holds a 1936 bar chit from a visitor to the hotel, who asked for the recipe and it records the recipe as provided – almost identical to the IBA recipe recorded below. It is questionable whether this is a true record of Boon’s original, as the use of pineapple juice and grenadine seem somewhat unlikely in the very early 1900’s.

There are in fact so many different variations of the ‘Singapore Sling’ and related ‘Straits Sling’ in published recipes from the 1920’s onward, that it is challenging to get to anything definitive. Even Raffle’s themselves had a long and unfortunate history of serving their own ‘Singapore Sling’ as a pre-mix, and in packets sold in the gift-shop. Fortunately in 2012 they returned to making the cocktail fresh, and to the 1936 ‘original’ recipe.

THE OFFICIAL MIX – The ‘Singapore Sling’ is included in the International Bartender Association (IBA) ‘Contemporary Classics’ list, here. The recipe calls for 30ml Gin, 15ml Cherry Liqueur, 7.5ml Cointreau, 7.5ml DOM Bénédictine, 120ml fresh pineapple juice, 15ml fresh lime juice, 10ml grenadine syrup and a dash of Angostura Bitters. Shaken and strained into a Hurricane Glass. Garnish with pineapple and a maraschino cherry.

TASTING NOTES – The ‘original’ and IBA recipe is quite pineapple heavy, with the large amount (120ml) of pineapple juice overpowering the other subtle flavours from the smaller liqueur inclusions. This is a little unfortunate, as the DOM Bénédictine and other quality liqueurs such as Heering, should be given more of a chance to show their strengths. Many mixologists have made the same call and a number have brought the Pineapple Juice back to around the same as the Gin volume. That seems to give the cocktail a much more sophisticated flavour and a better balance between sweet and sour, and allows the drinker to get orange flavour from the Cointreau, cherry from the Herring, and the warmth and herbs from the Bénédictine. That is where I intend to start this ‘Lock-tail’ exploration.

LOCKTAIL CHANGES – As mentioned above, my starting point is to go with the 45ml of Pineapple Juice model, rather than the 120ml – allowing this to be a balanced cocktail rather than just infused Pineapple Juice. I have chosen Hartshorn’s Sheep Whey Gin from Tasmania for it’s silkiness, reminiscent of Old Tom Gin, but without the sugar. It is also juniper forward and balance in botanicals so as not to override the lesser liqueurs. Heering is the best Cherry Liqueur choice, to avoid introducing other flavours such as Brandy. I have also slightly increased the DOM Bénédictine and Cointreau to 10ml, to make sure they play a part and are noticeable in the mix. It is critical that the Pineapple and Lime Juice is fresh, the cocktail declines markedly if that is not the case.

YOUR LOCKTAIL EXPERIENCE – If you’d rather taste than read, I am progressively building an ingredient list and other sourcing information on this site. I will re-use ingredients where I can (good for my budget too), so that the cost goes down overtime if you are ‘playing at home’.

Let me know what you think.

Cocktails you’d like reinvented.

Recipes you’ve tried and your ‘score’.

This is the second of the 1911-1920 bracket of ‘Locktail’ remixes. See the full list in the index.