Singapore Sling

Singapore Sling
IBA official cocktail
Type Mixed drink
Primary alcohol by volume
Served Straight up; without ice
Standard garnish Maraschino cherry, pineapple
Standard drinkware
Hurricane glass
IBA specified
ingredientsdagger
Preparation Pour all ingredients into cocktail shaker filled with ice cubes. Shake well. Strain into highball glass. Garnish with pineapple and cocktail cherry.
dagger 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[1] by Ngiam Tong Boon, a Hainanese bartender working at the Long Bar in Raffles Hotel, Singapore. It was initially called the gin sling[2] – a sling was originally a North American drink composed of spirit and water, sweetened and flavored.[3]

History

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[4] An alternative "original recipe" used gin, Cherry Heering, Bénédictine, and fresh pineapple juice, primarily from Sarawak (or "smooth cayenne"[5]) pineapples, which enhances the flavor and creates 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.

Present style

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.[6] Recipes published in articles about Raffles Hotel before the 1970s are significantly different from current recipes, and Singapore Slings found elsewhere in Singapore differ from the recipe used at Raffles Hotel. The Original Singapore Sling costs S$36.20, after service charge and GST.

Gin slings

The gin sling, attested from 1790, described a North American drink of gin which was flavoured, sweetened and served cold.[7] 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".[8]

Brewer's refers to the gin-sling as "a drink mainly composed of gin and lemon" and states that it has been attributed to bartender John Collins of London, "but it dates from before his time and was found in the U.S.A. by 1800"[9] which is similar to the John Collins which is another drink of gin and lemon.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Campbell, Colin (12 December 1982). "Singapore Journal; Back to Somerset Maugham and Life's Seamy Side". The New York Times. Singapore.
  2. ↑ The Daily Telegraph, Peterborough: Sling shot AVA GARDNER'S knickers are still missing, 13 April 1991
  3. ↑ OED sling, n.5
  4. ↑ p. iv/4 (Singapore Suppl.), The Times 19 July 1976
  5. ↑ "PINEAPPLE – Common Varieties | TFNet – International Tropical Fruits Network". www.itfnet.org. 2016-05-10. Retrieved 2017-10-18.
  6. ↑ Burkhart, Jeff (10 April 2011). "Sometimes a bartender needs to sling whatever works". mercurynews.com. San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 2011-04-14.
  7. ↑ OED, gin-sling, n.
  8. ↑ OED Singapore sling n.
  9. ↑ Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable 1969, pp. 463.

Further reading

  • "The Genealogy and Mythology of the Singapore Sling," Ted "Dr. Cocktail" Haigh, in Mixologist: The Journal of the American Cocktail, 2007, ISBN 978-0-9760937-0-1
  • Andrew F. Smith: The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink. Oxford University Press 2007, ISBN 978-0-19-530796-2, p. 567 (online copy, p. 567, at Google Books)
  • Rob Chirico: Field Guide to Cocktails: How to Identify and Prepare Virtually Every Mixed Drink at the Bar. Quirk Books 2005, ISBN 978-1-59474-063-3, p. 257 (online copy, p. 257, at Google Books)
  • 100th Anniversary of the original Singapore Sling at Raffles Singapore
  • SingaporeSling recipe at DrinkBoy
  • Jason Wilson (February 2011). "For a better Singapore Sling, the answer is clear (not red)". Washington Post.

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