Singapore Sling Cocktail Recipe

The Singapore Sling is a tropical classic that combines gin, cherry liqueur, orange liqueur, Bénédictine, pineapple and lime juices, bitters, and club soda. 

A Sling is an 18th-century cocktail that was created as a single-serving punch. Drinks historian David Wondrich describes the original construction of a Sling in his 2007 book Imbibe!, as a “punch without the citrus.” Over time, the recipe evolved.

“The Sling is a simple drink, even elemental, spirits, sugar, water,” writes Wondrich. “Perhaps a bit of nutmeg scraped on top. Ice, if you’ve got it. Nothing to it. For the English, this wasn’t enough. They liked the general idea of a long drink with spirits in it, but they wanted…more. In English hands, the formula for the Sling spread its arms to embrace citrus juices and, later, liqueurs, making it into nothing more than a long Punch in a glass and Sling in name only…thus it appeared in Singapore, at the end of the nineteenth century.”

The first known documentation of the Gin Sling variation (gin, citrus, sweeteners, and soda) appeared in the Singapore publication Straits Times in 1897. According to Wondrich, the drink was popular as a hangover remedy and “an everything cure.” 

The accepted story about the origins of the Singapore Sling, as we know it today, is that the drink was created in the early 20th century by bartender Ngiam Tong Boon at the Long Bar in Singapore’s Raffles Hotel. The original recipe was supposedly lost in the 1930s, and even the Long Bar, which has since reopened and serves a revised version, cannot claim to offer Boon’s exact recipe. 

During the 1970s and ’80s, the Singapore Sling, like many classic cocktails at the time, was transformed into a syrupy sweet, electric pink concoction that barely resembled the refreshing long drink it once was.

Why the Singapore Sling works

A well-made Singapore Sling should taste like the best possible grown-up version of a fruit punch. The recipe featured here is from Dale DeGroff, the iconic bar legend who served the cocktail at The Rainbow Room in the early 1990s. 

“The recipe varies from book to book, and I was unhappy with many of them,” says DeGroff. “Robin Kelley O’Connor, the Bordeaux wine expert, faxed me this recipe from Raffles while staying there in 1990. I have never tasted a better version. It’s spicy, not too sweet, with a beautiful pink color and a layer of foam from vigorous shaking with pineapple juice. I’m making it my business to teach this recipe to every young bartender I know. It’s a gem in your repertoire.”

A London Dry gin serves as the base and backbone of the cocktail. The only sweetness in this variation comes from three liqueurs: Cherry Heering, a Danish liqueur with a spiced jam finish; Cointreau, a concentrated liqueur made from bitter and sweet orange peels; and French herbal liqueur Bénédictine. All lend layered complexity to the drink as well. Some recipes include grenadine for additional sweetness. 

This variation calls for a generous portion of pineapple juice, adding a sweet, tangy, and tropical brightness. The fresh lime juice contributes more acidity and balances the overall sweetness of the drink. A dash of Angostura bitters helps to highlight the complex herbaceous notes and adds a touch of warming spices. And, club soda, to top, lengthens and lightens the intense, punchy flavors for a refreshing, tall drink.