The Singapore Sling recipe
for your table
Shake all the ingredients except the garnish vigorously with ice.
Strain into a highball glass or hurricane glass filled with fresh ice.
Check the color: soft coral pink, not bright red.
Garnish with a pineapple wedge and a cherry.
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The story
Bartender Ngiam Tong Boon of the Long Bar at the Raffles Hotel invented the Sling at a time when etiquette forbade women from drinking alcohol in public. His pink, innocent-looking creation solved that elegantly. The original recipe was lost. The current one is a reconstruction from the 1930s, based on the memories of former bartenders and a note found in a safe. At the Long Bar, it is still made on a production line today, while guests throw peanut shells on the floor: the last place in Singapore where you are legally allowed to litter.
The right glass
At Raffles, the Sling is served in a tall, slightly tapered glass. A 44 cl stemmed hurricane glass comes closest and gives the pink color plenty of room to shine. A generous 47 to 55 cl long drink glass also works excellently. Most important: height, clarity, and room for an exuberant garnish. For the tapered model that most closely resembles the one at Raffles, see our hurricane glasses.
Royal Leerdam Hurricane Cocktail Glass on Stem 44 cl (6 pieces)
Bormioli Rocco Diamond Long Drink Glass 47 cl (6 pieces)
Both sets together € 67,90.
The right tools
For a Singapore Sling, besides the glass, you use a Boston shaker, a jigger with six measurements, a cocktail strainer, a fine strainer for double straining, and a bitters bottle. These are the bar tools we use ourselves; you can find everything in our bar tools & cocktail sets.
Glass set (our choice 01) + 5 bar tools together € 126,70.
Variations & twists
The Raffles recipe is the standard, but older versions are drier: gin, cherry liqueur, lemon, and soda, worth trying if you prefer less sweetness. With fresh pineapple juice and a light hand with the grenadine, it stays closest to elegant. The cherry and pineapple as garnishes are obligatory heritage. Looking for more inspiration? Browse more than 100 cocktail recipes.
Serving tip
Cherry Heering and Bénédictine are the flavor-makers you shouldn’t replace with “something similar.” Using fresh pineapple juice instead of juice from a carton makes it noticeably lighter and fresher.
Good to know
What each of the nine ingredients does
Nine ingredients may sound like a lot, but each has a job. The 3 cl of gin forms the backbone, 1.5 cl of Cherry Heering adds color and cherry depth, and 0.75 cl of Cointreau plus 0.75 cl of Benedictine bring orange and spicy honey notes, respectively. The 12 cl of pineapple juice makes it long and frothy, 1.5 cl of lime juice keeps the sweetness in check, 1 cl of grenadine adds color, and a dash of Angostura ties everything together. Leave out two of them and you still have a drink, but no longer a Sling.
Replacing Cherry Heering and Benedictine
These two bottles are the investment in this recipe. Cherry Heering is a Danish cherry liqueur at 24 percent, dark and barely artificial; cheap cherry brandy makes the cocktail bright red and sweet, the exact opposite of the coral pink you’re after. Benedictine is a 40 percent herbal liqueur made with honey and twenty-seven herbs, and is the hardest to replace; Drambuie comes closest. Expect to spend around sixty euros in total, but at 1.5 and 0.75 cl per glass, you can make dozens.
How strong the Sling really is
It looks like a vacation drink, but in reality the glass contains just over 6 cl of spirits and liqueur. Count it up: 3 cl gin, 1.5 cl cherry liqueur, 0.75 cl Cointreau, and 0.75 cl Benedictine, together amounting to about 2.3 cl of pure alcohol. In a glass of around 25 cl, that comes to 9 to 12 percent. Because 12 cl of pineapple juice softens everything, it drinks like lemonade, and that was precisely the intention in 1915. Two are enough for most guests.
For a group: mix in advance
Measuring nine ingredients per glass is unsustainable for twelve guests. Mix everything except the pineapple juice and garnish in a bottle: for twelve people, that is 36 cl gin, 18 cl Cherry Heering, 9 cl Cointreau, 9 cl Benedictine, 18 cl lime juice, 12 cl grenadine, and a teaspoon of Angostura. Chill the base and add the juice just before serving, because pineapple juice starts to taste bitter after a few hours. For each glass, shake 8.5 cl of the mix with 12 cl pineapple juice and plenty of ice.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Singapore Sling made of?
The Singapore Sling combines 3 cl gin with 1.5 cl cherry liqueur, 0.75 cl Cointreau, 0.75 cl DOM Benedictine, 12 cl pineapple juice, 1.5 cl lime juice, 1 cl grenadine, and a dash of Angostura bitters. Together, these nine ingredients create its soft coral-pink color and spicy-fruity character.
Why is the Singapore Sling so famous?
It was created around 1915 by bartender Ngiam Tong Boon at the Long Bar of the Raffles Hotel, at a time when women were not allowed to drink alcohol in public; his pink creation looked like fruit juice. Raffles still serves it, which made it world-famous.
How much alcohol is in a Singapore Sling?
Expect just over 6 cl of spirits and liqueur in a glass holding about 25 cl of liquid, which amounts to roughly 12 to 14 percent. The 12 cl of pineapple juice makes it taste much softer than it really is, exactly the effect it was originally designed to achieve.
Which glass do you use for a Singapore Sling?
At Raffles, it is served in a tall, slightly tapered glass; a 44 cl hurricane glass on a stem comes closest. A generous 47 to 55 cl highball glass works just as well. What matters is height, clarity, and room for the exuberant garnish; see our highball glasses.
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