Singapore Sling

The Singapore Sling was created in 1915 at the Long Bar in Raffles Hotel in, you guessed it, Singapore. It is still served in the Long Bar today. It was created by a forward-thinking bartender called Ngiam Tong Boon. So why was he forward thinking? Well, in colonial Singapore it was common for men to drink alcoholic drinks, mostly gin and whisky. Raffles had become a popular gathering place for the community and a vibrant social scene was emerging. For ladies however, etiquette of the day dictated they shouldn’t be seen with alcohol in public. For their ‘modesty’ they were to drink ‘feminine’ drinks - such as herbal teas and fruit juices. Ngiam Tong Boon decided to create an alcoholic drink for Singaporean ladies hiding in plain sight. He combined classic Singaporean ingredients and flavours to make a drink representative of Singapore. He used gin, liqueurs, pineapple and lime, creating a very alcoholic cocktail that could pass as fruit juice. Obviously, this became a very popular drink and the Singapore Sling was born. It’s hard to know the original recipe exactly as it was first mixed over 100 years ago. There are so many variations. So ours is what’s served at Raffles today.