The Raffles Hotel in Singapore is the most famous hotel in Singapore. The Raffles is an opulent, magnificent colonial-style hotel opened in 1887 and was named after Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, British colonizer of Singapore. The first time I really heard about the Raffles Hotel in Singapore was in 1979 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I was visiting family and my older sister had a white t-shirt with “I had a Singapore Sling at the Raffles Hotel” written on the back of it. I was so jealous of that t-shirt.

I didn’t have a Singapore Sling. Not this time.

Mr. Ngiam Tong Boon, a Hainanese-Chinese bartender create the Singapore Sling at the Raffles Hotel at the turn-of-the-century. Apparently, if you visit the hotel museum you can see the safe where Mr. Ngiam locked away his recipe books and the Sling recipe. The famous drink recipe was written down in 1936 by a visitor to the hotel who asked the waiter for it.

Singapore Sling 

1 ½ oz gin

½ oz Herring Cherry liqueur

¼ oz Cointreau liqueur

¼ oz Benedictine

4 oz pineapple juice

½ oz lime juice

1/3 oz grenadine

1 dash bitters

Shake with ice

Strain into an ice-filled Collins glass

Garnish with cherry and slice of pineapple

Tags: Recipe