The global novel coronavirus pandemic may have grounded us, but we can still enjoy happy hour. This daily series will provide delicious drink recipes for you to try at home. So call your friends for a virtual sip session and traverse the globe, even if it's only in your mind.
Today's cocktail hails from Singapore – Singapore Sling.
What is it?
Modern mixologists may have moved on from the traditional recipe, but for a real taste of Singapore, it’s impossible to beat this classic tiki bar tipple.
Origins
Widely regarded as Singapore’s national drink, the Sling was created in 1915 at Raffles Singapore’s famous Long Bar. As the story (or at least one of them) goes, bartender Ngiam Tong Boon created it so ladies could sneakily enjoy a gin (disguised as fruit punch) alongside the gentlemen at a time when etiquette dictated women couldn’t drink alcohol in public. It’s thought the original recipe was lost during the 1930s, and it has been hotly contested ever since.
You'll need (Serves 1)
1fl oz (30ml) dry gin
½ fl oz (15ml) Cherry Heering liqueur, cherry brandy or kirsch
⅓ fl oz (8ml) Bénédictine
⅓ fl oz (8ml) Cointreau
2 ½ fl oz (75ml) pineapple juice
½ fl oz (15ml) lime juice
⅓ fl oz (8ml) grenadine
1 dash Angostura bitters
soda water
pineapple slice and maraschino cherry to garnish
ice
Method
Step 1: Add all the ingredients, except the soda and garnishes, to a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice.
Step 2: Shake and strain into a tall, ice-filled glass.
Step 3: Top with soda, lightly stir and garnish with the pineapple slice and cherry.
Tasting notes
The perfect pick-me-up on a sultry equatorial afternoon – for the Sling was specifically designed to be imbibed in its birthplace – the exotic ingredients in this sparkling scarlet concoction combine to deliver a sharp, fruity slap of sweetness with a seductive herbal undertone. These days many deem the original recipe too sweet, the cherry flavor too dominating. But when served fresh in the right climate, not to mention the right bar (Raffles Singapore’s Long Bar looks much as it did a century ago, complete with rattan-fan “air-con”), this quencher still hits the spot.