Singapore Sling Article – Page 1 of 5

The Gin sling of the Raffles Hotel.

By George SinclairThe Singapore Sling is often touted as a pre-Tiki, Tiki-style drink, due to its useof lime juice, pineapple juice, and other ingredients. The Singapore Sling soldacross the bar at the Raffles Hotel, is served from pre-mixed jugs, much to thehorror of cocktail aficionados who make the pilgrimage to the sacred Long Bar,purported hang-out for some icons as Somerset Maugham, Rudyard Kipling,Joseph Conrad (author of "Heart of Darkness"), and Noel Coward.The menu of the Long Bar reads like so: "The Singapore Sling was created atRaffles Hotel at the turn-of-the-century by Hainanese-Chinese bartender, Mr.Ngiam Tong Boon." And it continues: "In the Hotel's museum, visitors may viewthe safe in which Mr. Ngiam locked away his precious recipe books, as well asthe Sling recipe hastily jotted on a bar-chit in 1936 by a visitor to the Hotelwho asked the waiter for it. Originally, the Singapore Sling was meant as awoman's drink, hence the attractive pink colour. Today, it is very definitely adrink enjoyed by all, without which any visit to Raffles Hotel is incomplete."The recipe for the Singapore Sling is also included on the menu:30ml Gin15 ml Cherry Brandy120 ml Pineapple Juice15 ml Lime Juice7.5 ml Cointreau7.5 ml Dom Benedictine10 ml GrenadineA Dash of Angostura BittersGarnish with a slice of Pineapple and CherryHowever, according to pre-eminent cocktail historian Ted Haigh, author of"Vintage Cocktails and Spirits" and a founder member of the Museum of theAmerican Cocktail, "Raffles no longer has the original recipe, a fact recordedby the hotel biographer and by the Communications Department of RafflesHotel."So, if the Raffles Hotel is not selling Singapore Slings made to the originalrecipe, then what are they selling and where did their current recipe originatefrom? The earliest references that I have been able to find for the pineapple-based Singapore Sling are from 1977. All the 1977 references feature thehttp://www.thinkingbartender.com

Singapore Sling Article – Page 2 of 5nephew of Ngiam Tong Boon, and have him telling the story of how his uncleinvented the Singapore Sling; There is never any evidence, and the authors ofthe articles seem to always take Ngiam Tong Boon's nephew at his word:Lethbridge Herald, 22nd April 1977."My uncle taught me how to make this [the Singapore Sling], and I have taughtmy nephews and my children," said Ngiam Dee Suan, mixing the Singapore Slingfrom gin, cherry brandy, Cointreau and a mixture of fruit juices. His back wasturned to Raffles's "long bar" where Somerset Maugham and Noel Coward,among others, sipped the delectable punch. It's never occured to Ngiam that itmight not be a part of his tradition - only members of his family have workedat the long bar since his uncle Ngiam Tong Boon invented the Sling there in1915."Other than Ngiam Dee Saun's claims for his Uncles creation of the SingaporeSling there is no other proof connecting Ngiam Tong Boon with the pineapplepunch, now claimed to be "The" Singapore Sling.At the beginning of the 1970s the Raffles Hotel fell on hard times, it was duringthis period of turmoil that an Italian by the name of Roberto Pregarz wasappointed Manager of the establishment. It was Pregarz's duty to regain theRaffles Hotel's former glory, and this he did: ""What I did was simply go backinto the past and try to recapture all the good features and services whichmade the Raffles famous.", Pregarz is quoted as saying in the pages of theSyracuse Herald Journal, 20th November 1977. The most telling comment,coming from the same Syracuse Newspaper goes as follows:"He [Pregarz] researched the original recipe for the Singapore Sling (gin, cherrybrandy and sometimes Benedictine) and dug out old menus from famousoccasions."As you see the Singapore Sling recipe was lost, and Pregarz looked for theoriginal recipe; And one would assume that Pregarz must have asked some ofthe people working at the Raffles Hotel how exactly a Singapore Sling wasmeant to be made. Pregarz may have spoken to Ngiam Tong Boon's nephew,and got the recipe that is today called a Raffle's Singapore Sling.Before the confusion of the 1970s, there were many Singapore Sling recipescited in newspapers and cocktail books, which has lead to some assuming thatit is impossible to say what the original Singapore Sling actually was. However,if you look at all the references to the Singapore Sling and then divide themhttp://www.thinkingbartender.com

Singapore Sling Article – Page 3 of 5into two camps; those Slings actually drunk at the Raffles Hotel, and thoseSlings simply drunk in the city of Singapore, it is then that you get a clearerpicture, and a definitive answer.It may come as a surprise but the Singapore Sling made at the Raffle Hotel,prior to the 1970s, was not actually referred to as the Singapore Sling; Here aresome quotes:The Charleston Gazette, 16th May 1966."AT THE FAMOUS old Raffles Hotel, It seems absolutely indecent not to stand upwhen they serve you your Singapore Sling (known here, by the way, simply as agin sling) and shout "God save the queen" before downing your tot and thenthrowing the glass against the wall."Waterloo Daily Courier, 3rd July 1949."Dream, for example of a lovely courtyard in old Singapore, Malay attendants,white dinner jackets, lovely inscrutable ladies, coconut palms and the HotelRaffles Gin Sling. This boon to mankind is said to consist of proper applicationsof dry gin, cherry brandy and Benedictine, shaken for a moment, and stirred ina bar glass, ice-chilled, filled to taste with chilled club soda and garnished witha spiral peel of a green lime."Here we have a recipe for the Hotel Raffles Gin Sling, and it matches perfectlywith the Singapore Sling recipe given by Charles Baker in his 1939 book, TheGentleman's Companion:"The original formula is 1/3 each of dry gin, cherry brandy and Benedictine;shake it for a moment, or stir in in a barglass, with 2 fairly large lumps of ice tochill. Turn into a small 10 oz highball glass with one lump of ice left in and fillup to individual taste with chilled club soda. Garnish with the spiral peel of 1green lime. In other ports in the Orient drinkers often use C & C ginger aleinstead of soda, or even stone bottle ginger beer."Another contemporary newspaper journalist lists the exact recipe from theRaffles Hotel:Eureka Humboldt Standard, 11th May 1966."And while we're in that neck of the woods, here is the Singapore Sling - fromthe noted Raffles Hotel. This is served ornamented with a spirally cut peel ofhttp://www.thinkingbartender.com