Singapore Sling co*cktail Recipe | co*cktail Society (2024)

By Timo Torner/ Last updated on June 24, 2023

The Singapore Sling is a complex and fruity gin co*cktail with countless variations. We will help you through the jungle of recipes and show you our best Singapore Sling recipe.

Everyone has heard of it, but only a few know how to make it - the Singapore Sling co*cktail. It's hardly surprising when you look at the long list of ingredients, including gin, different liqueurs and juices, soda, red wine, and bitters.

Quick Facts Singapore Sling

• Method:shaken
• Flavor profile:well-balanced, sweet and sour
• How to serve it:over ice
• Glassware:sling glass
• Alcohol content:~ 14.5% ABV, 14 grams of alcohol per serving

So, time to get your shaker out and make our favorite version of the Singapore Sling.

Ingredients for the Singapore Sling

The list of ingredients required for the Singapore Sling recipe is long - and that goes for every version of this co*cktail. So, making this iconic drink needs some determination and these nine ingredients:

• London Dry Gin, e.g., Tanqueray or Sipsmith
• D.O.M. Bénédictine - a French herbal liqueur with 40% vol. with a subtle note of honey
• Grand Marnier- an orange-flavored liqueur based on cognac with a 40% ABV
• Heering cherry liqueur- a premium cherry liqueur from Denmark. It is a staple in co*cktail bars and has a beautiful sweet taste of cherries you likely won't find in other cherry liqueurs.
• Dry red wine. -Don't use sweet red wine because the drink already gets enough sugar from juices and liqueurs.
• Freshly squeezed lime juice
• Freshly squeezed pineapple juice
• Grenadine - the pomegranate syrup is best when homemade. It's more fruity and a lot less artificially sweet.
• Angostura bitters
• Soda Water brings the final and refreshing touch to the drink.

Pro Tips to Make the Drink

Despite the long list of ingredients, you should still pay attention to a few details with this recipe. That means you definitely should optfor freshly squeezed juices.

It is a given for drinks with only a few ingredients, but you may feel tempted to cut a corner and use bottled juice. However, I recommend not to. With grenadine and Heerings, you have enough added sugars in your drink. The tangy, natural flavor of fresh juice will lift your Singapore Sling.

Talking about grenadine:if you have time to make the syrup at home, do that. Even though only a small amount goes into this drink, it makes a difference. -And you can use it for other recipes too.

Further, floating the red wine on top works best when you pour slowly and gently over the back of a bar spoon. -And one last tip regardingthe soda water: Use a new bottle or one you opened only recently to make sure it has enough carbonation.

Recipe Variations from Raffles Hotel

The Singaporean Raffles Hotel is considered the home of the Singapore Sling. Yet, when you take a look at the current menu at theirLong Bar, you quickly realize that they have not only one recipe but two.

The first is a more traditional take on the Singapore Sling, namedThe Raffles 1915 Gin Sling.The other is a contemporary variation with the descriptive nameModern Raffles Singapore Sling.

If you want to try them at home, you need to stock up on some unconventional supplies. Anyway, here are the ingredients and measurements for the versions served at Long Bar:

The Raffles 1915 Gin Sling

• 1 oz Sipsmith Raffles 1915 Gin
• ½ oz Luxardo Cherry Sangue Morlacco
• ½ oz D.O.M Bénédictine
• ½ oz Simple syrup
• ¾ oz Fresh-squeezed lime juice
• two dashes of Angostura bitters
• Soda water, to top
• Lime wedge for garnish

Modern Raffles Singapore Sling

• 1 oz Widges Gin
• ⅓ oz Luxardo Cherry Sangue Morlacco
• ⅓ oz D.O.M Bénédictine
• ⅓ oz Pierre Ferrand Dry Orange Curaçao
• ⅓ oz Crawley’s Singapore Sling Grenadine
• ¾ oz Fresh lime juice
• 2 oz Fresh pineapple juice
• one dash of Scrappy’s Plantation Bitters
• one cherry (garnish)
• one pineapple slice (garnish)

History of the Singapore Sling

The legendary drink likely originated in Singapore's famous Raffles Hotels, where Chinese bartender Ngiam Tong Boon supposedly invented it over 100 years ago, in 1915, while working at the bar in said hotel.

Since then, the recipe got published in various co*cktail books, each featuring a different version. Why? Because the original recipe from Raffles Hotel got lost. Consequently, nobody knew how Ngiam Tong Boon prepared the drink and which ingredients he did use.

Thus, you will have a hard time finding two bars serving the same version of the Singapore Sling these days. We tried quite a few, and the recipe above turned out to be our favorite.

By the way: the termslingis derived from the German wordschlingen, which meansto gulp down.

Other theories about the origin

Even though most experts agree on this story of Raffles, there are hints that it might now be the entire truth. When looking closely into the history of the Singapore Sling, you come across some different theories.

On searching the Singaporean newspaper archives,David Wondrichfound that the first reference to a Sling was from 1897. That would have been almost 20 years before Boon mixed the co*cktail at Raffles for the first time in 1915.

In 1903, another statement seemingly referred to the drink as "pink slings for pale people." It states the pink hue the Singapore Sling is famous for and points out that the recipe was meant for Western tourists.

And finally, an article from 1913 states the typical components of the Sling co*cktail. The ingredients included: cherry Brandy, D.O.M. Bénédictine, gin, lime juice, ice, a few drops ofco*cktail bitters, and water. What's more, it seems that, occasionally, a red wine float was part of the mix.

Despite all this, the Raffles Hotel is widely considered the birthplace of the Singapore Sling, and many bars and bartenders took a cue from their recipe.