I remember the first time that I was working a bar and I got my first request for a Singapore Sling. I was expecting something with lots of fruit juices and several exotic rarely used liqueurs. I was shocked at how much alcohol it had in it. The recipe that came in my guide was one of the grenadine versions. At what point did grenadine make it into so many cocktails that originally never had any. Somewhere in the 1950’s anything that had any red tone got grenadine instead of bitters or cherry herring or whatever ingredient that was originally called for. I guess it was just a sign of the time where everything boiled down to the lowest common denominator.
The original Singapore Sling was created at the Raffles Hotel by Ngiam Tong Boon. The history of the cocktail is without doubt but even they nearly lost touch with the cocktail themselves but they found a recipe handwritten by Boon.
Ingredients
1 oz. London dry gin
1 oz. Cherry Heering
1 oz. Bénédictine
1 oz. fresh lime juice
2 oz. soda water
1 dash Angostura bitters
Garnish
The original had none but when the original recipe was lost lime wedges did get added to the recipe
Glassware
12 oz tumbler
Assembly
Fill a shaker with crushed ice. Measure lime juice, Cherry Herring, gin and add to shaker. Shake until cold and pour the entire contents into the glass. Top with club soda. Float Bénédictine and bitters.
Suggestions
The Raffles Sling is basically the same thing minus the lime juice and bitters.