![]() The Raffles Hotel was a posh setting where they could indulge without anybody noticing: a place where they could drink all day without being seen. If you don’t mind all the judgmental looks you’ll get for drinking anything besides tea in public.īut upper-class women in Singapore had a secret: they were aware of the location of the best places to get their essential beverages (or two, or three). You could use a lovely cocktail to chill down and relax with your pals because the tropical climate is oppressively humid. Imagine being the unhappy wife of a British plantation owner who owned multiple properties in Singapore in the 1920s and is typically too busy to care for you. ![]() However, how did thirsty ladies, colonisation, and word of mouth play a part in the invention of this delectable cocktail more than a century ago? Many people consider Singapore’s national drink to be the cocktail known as the Singapore Sling. But its precise beginnings were more mixed and churned than straight up. This drink has solidified its status as a Singapore tradition, garnering admirers like Joseph Conrad and Rudyard Kipling. The Singapore Sling is a well-known, delectable beverage made in Singapore. When you’re in the correct setting and drinking a well-made beverage, the frenetic world around you gives way to a peaceful moment of leisure-the revitalizing break that inspired the creation of the Singapore Sling in the first place. The herbals and spices from the gin, liqueurs, and bitters become more noticeable as your palate becomes used to the fruit and sweets, decreasing the rate at which you consume it and allowing you to completely appreciate the cocktail’s subtle complexity. Many juice-based cocktails have a single flavour note that lingers till the finish, but the Singapore Sling is a cocktail with subtle, concealed flavours that may be found and considered with each sip. I think this very basic and simpler recipe is important because it gives us a glimpse of what the original, unadulterated Singapore Sling might have been like.The Singapore Sling drink has an upfront fruity flavour on the tongue that is followed by a very subtle, deep earthiness. With the CC recipe, you have equal portions of 3 spirits, lime juice, bitters and soda water. The story goes that 2 members of the Cricket Club mixed their own Sling when they were refused the drink at the bar because it wasn’t in keeping with the high standards of the club! Once again, using my sheer powers of persuasion, I got this ancient looking bartender to cough up, ok, bad phrase, to hand over, his so called secret recipe, although I’m thinking not so secret because in researching this post I came across the exact recipe a few times on the Web. Another favourite place of mine – to watch cricket, exhibition tennis matches and of course, The (old) Singapore Sevens. Then there is also the Singapore Cricket Club Singapore Sling or the Cricket Club Sling. It’s very similar to the one from The Long Bar which is printed on cards and displayed at every table on its premises. I shall be sharing with you this particular recipe as well. ![]() He used to go easy on the juice, and didn’t top it up with soda, giving you more of a hit with each sip. I still have a handwritten recipe from a bartender I was friendly with. Others say it was known as The Straits Sling (the Straits of Singapore being the body of water surrounding northern Singapore). Whatever it may have been, the original Sling bears only a slight resemblance to the current signature drink sold at The Long Bar. Some say it was originally called the Gin Sling. The one thing that we all do agree on is that it was probably created by Ngiam Tong Boon, a bartender at The Long Bar, Raffles Hotel (image below), either in the very early 20th century or the very, very late 19th century. A lot of what you read about the Singapore Sling is conjecture, at best. I make this live on “Simply Singapore”, a YouTube live series I used to run complete with a shaker mishap! Scroll down to the recipe to watch the video.Īs much as I love history, I shan’t bore you to death with the how, the who, the when, the what if and the “are-you-sure?” of Sling legend, because let’s face it, no one really knows. Singapore Sling – an iconic name in cocktail folklore and probably one of the most messed around, messed up and bastardised drinks in mixology history. ![]()
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