Singapore sling

By Tan, Bonny written on 1997-09-29
National Library Board Singapore

Comments on article: InfopediaTalk

The Singapore Sling is an internationally recognised cocktail created at Raffles Hotel in 1915 by Bar Captain Ngiam Tong Boon.

History
Originally created as a lady's drink and thus the pink hue, it has become a world-renowned cocktail still being mixed in Raffles Hotel. A receipe written on a bar-chit in creator Ngiam's own handwriting, dated 1936, can still be found in the Raffles Hotel Museum along with Ngiam's receipe book. As recent as 1999, Raffles Hotel reportedly sold 1,000 Singapore Slings a day

Ngiam Tong Boon had been a bartender at Raffles Hotel at the turn of the century. The Hainanese had also concocted a bitter-sweet drink, the "Million Dollar Cocktail" which similarly gained a reputation when Somerset Maugham referred to it in his short tale, "The Letter".

Recipe
30 ml gin
15 ml Cherry Brandy
120 ml pineapple juice
15 ml lime juice
7.5 ml Cointreau
7.5 ml Benedictine Dom
10 ml Grenadine
a dash of Angostura Bitters

Place all ingredients in a cocktail shaker shake gently, and strain into a tumbler. Garnish with pineapple slices and a cherry.



Author
Bonny Tan



References 
Augustin, A. (1988). The Singapore treasury: Secrets of the garden city. Singapore: A. Augustin.
(Call no.: RSING 915.957 AUG)

Raffles Hotel publicity note on Singapore Sling. (1999, July).

Mowe, R. (Ed.). (1999). Southeast Asian specialties: A culinary journey through Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia (p. 109). Culinaria: Konemann.



The information in this article is valid as at 2002 and correct as far as we can ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.



Subject
Ethnic Communities>>Food
Cocktails--Singapore
Cookery>>Beverages>>Mixed alcoholic drinks

Librarian Recommendations
>> Raffles Hotel
>> Hainanese community


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