Taller Than Most

The Singapore Sling is a cocktail that was invented by Ngiam Tong Boon, a bartender working at the Long Bar in Raffles Hotel Singapore.

Somewhere just after the turn of the century, Mr Boon invented a pink cocktail for the colonial ladies – the Singapore Sling. The drink was supposedly created to please the ladies, so in that great tradition of female drinks, it’s pretty, pink, and hides its kick behind a deceptively sweet taste.  His recipe book was considered so valuable that it was kept locked in a safe. Visitors may now view the safe and other colonial treasures in the hotel’s museum.

HERE IS THE RECIPE:

• 1 1/2oz gin
• 1/2oz Peter Herring Cherry Heering
• 1/4oz Cointreau
• 1/4oz Benedictine
• 2oz pineapple juice
• 1 dash Angsostura bitters
• 1/4oz grenadine (homemade)
• 1/2oz lime juice
• club soda
• orange slice and maraschino cherry, for garnish
• Shake all ingredients except the club soda with ice, and strain into a highball glass. Fill mostly full with ice, and top with the club soda. Garnish.

This must-try drink runs with a steep $30 US dollar price tag if you have it at the original Ruffles Hotel. We opted for a less expensive version for only $8 US dollars at a seaside restaurant.  And it was GOOD.

-NIKO