The Singapore Sling is a national icon but hardly any locals will order one on a night out. It has been relegated to a tourist attraction in a glass; on every visitor’s to-do list together with visiting the Night Safari, and posing for a souvenir shot with the Merlion.
Created a century ago at the Raffles Hotel’s Long Bar by bartender Ngiam Tong Boon, it is a tropical cocktail, along the lines of the Mai Tai. The original recipe is lost to history, but it generally calls for gin, cherry Heering, Benedictine Dom, Cointreau, pineapple juice, lime juice, grenadine, bitters and soda water. It became an ambassador for the British Colonial outpost after debuting in the Savoy Cocktail Book in 1930. Decades later, the Singapore Sling soared thousands of feet above Raffles Hotel, and made its way as a complimentary cocktail on Singapore Airlines.
The originally muddy brown concoction was modified in the 1970s by Ngiam’s own nephew, transforming it into a red drink with white foam, reflecting the colours of the Singapore flag. But the frothy and garish drink is too tooth-achingly sweet for today’s taste, and it desperately needs a makeover again, so Men’s Folio invited four mixologists and bars to give a fresh spin to our Sling.
Mark Lionel Tay, creator of the Smith’s Sling
“We decided to match the number of ingredients in the original Raffles Hotel Singapore Sling. We include tea in our version as a nod to the colonial period when the Sling was first invented. The tea’s tannic quality gives extra body to the muddled pineapple cubes, which also balances quite nicely with the blend of sugars.”
- 45ml Beefeater 24
- 10ml Cointreau
- 5ml Vedrenne Supercassis
- A splash of Benedictine Dom
- 45ml freshly muddled pineapple
- 30ml TWG earl grey tea
- A dash of Bitter Truth lemon bitters
- 1tsp caster sugar
- 1tsp demerara sugar
- 1tsp gula melaka
Muddle pineapple, and add all ingredients in a mixing glass. Shake with ice and strain into a martini glass. Serve with a slice of pineapple twist.
Barkode, 66 Dunlop Street Tel: 6396 4463
Summer’s Bouquet
“Our approach is to retain the freshness and bouquet of Naturalis Singapore Sling tea. We added the elderflower to add a hint of sweetness to the cocktail. It’s an overall light and refreshing tea cocktail to enjoy any time of the day.”
Jonathan Cheok, Creative Director, Germania Group (Naturalis)
- 40ml Smirnoff vodka
- 15ml elderflower syrup
- 30ml Naturalis Singapore Sling tea
- 2 slices lemons
- Ice cubes
Muddle the slices of lemon and mix the rest of the ingredients in a mixing glass. Shake with ice and strain into a martini glass. To serve, garnish with a lemon twist.
Lvl22 Lounge, Oasia Hotel, 8 Sinaran Drive Tel: 6664 0333
Singapore Sling (Men’s Folio Twist)
“The original Singapore Sling was deemed too sweet for some, so I tweaked the mix to make it more balanced – adding Bombay Sapphire gin that cuts the sweetness of the original, and flambeed the foam to give it a nice caramelised whiff without overpowering the taste of the cocktail.”
Ethan Leslie Leong, Director of Bar Operations and mixologist, Maison Ikkoku
- 45ml Bombay Sapphire gin
- 44ml freshly squeeze pineapple juice
- 30ml freshly squeeze pomegranate juice
- 15ml freshly squeeze lemon juice
- 15ml
- 15ml Parfait triple sec
- 2 cognac-infused cherries
Muddle cognac infused cherries in a mixing glass and pour in all ingredients, shake with ice and strain into martini glass, add angostura bitters and flambe surface. Garnish with pineapple and cognac cherry.
Maison Ikkoku, 20 Kandahar Street Tel: 6294 0078
Singapore Sung
“I have replaced gin with Belvedere Pink Grapefruit vodka which has lots of citrusy notes and herbaceous zing as it is macerated with real ginger pieces, and has many gin-like characteristics. But rather than being juniper dominant, it creates a fresh grapefruit bouquet which is lively and uplifting. The name – although a bit of a tongue twister – represents things being jumbled around and omitted but becoming beautiful in the end. ‘Sung’ is past tense rather than ‘song’ since the original recipe is lost to history.”
Garth Foster, Belvedere Vodka International Mixologist
- 45ml Belvedere Pink Grapefruit
- 10ml sherry
- 5ml cherry brandy
- 3 drops orange bitters
- 25ml fresh lemon juice
- 20ml soda
- 25ml pineapple syrup (simple syrup infused with fresh pineapple pieces)
Shake ingredients and pour over fresh rocks and top with soda. Garnish with a pineapple leaf and cherry atop crushed ice.
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