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Raffles Singapore Sling

1 1⁄2 oz Gin
1⁄2 oz Cherry Liqueur, Cherry Heering
1⁄4 oz Triple sec, Cointreau
1⁄4 oz Bénédictine
4 oz Pineapple juice
1⁄2 oz Lime juice
2 t Grenadine
1 ds Bitters, Angostura
1 Maraschino cherry (as garnish)
1 wdg Pineapple (as garnish)
Instructions

Shake vigorously with ice to build a nice head of foam. Strain into an ice filled Collins glass. Garnish with a maraschino cherry and a chunk of pineapple.

Notes

Originally served without garnish. An orange twist is also optional.
Can be strained into a highball and topped with soda. Lemon Juice can be substituted for lime, and any aromatic bitters for Angostura.

History

A Variant of the gin sling. My research suggests that this is as likely as any to be the original, authentic recipe, and more likely than most. Embury avows he's never seen two recipes alike for this drink. 1915 is one of several years in which this might have been created, between 1912 and 1921, but seems likely.

Cocktail summary
Created by
Ngiam Tong Boon, Long Bar, Raffles Hotel, Singapore
Year
1915
Is an
authentic recipe
Reference

Wikipedia, food.com, Anvil100

Curator
5 stars
User rating
4 stars
(33 ratings)
Yields Drink

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From other users
  • THIS is the one!
  • looks fun to try
  • Gin- sweet, sour
  • Dangerously easy drinking. Sweet--might go a touch heavier on the lime juice next time. — ★★★★★
  • The most delicious variant I have tried of this fine beverage. I particularly prefer it in a highball with a couple ounces of soda, ungarnished.
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Comments
Craig E commented on 10/18/2022:

FWIW, here's the current spec at Long Bar at Raffles:

  • 30ml Widges London Dry Gin
  • 10ml Bénédictine
  • 10ml Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao
  • 10ml Luxardo Cherry Sangue Morlacco
  • 10ml Crawley’s Singapore Sling Grenadine
  • 60ml fresh pineapple juice
  • 22.5ml fresh lime juice
  • dash Scrappy’s Spice Plantation bitters
  • cherry and pineapple chunk garnish

Largely as above, with proportionately more orange liqueur, Bénédictine, and grenadine, and rather less of the juices.

Shawn C commented on 11/20/2025:

It has been about 25 years since I had a Singapore Sling at the Long Bar in Raffles during a work project. Some years later I decided to make it myself and waded through quite a number of web pages discussing the drink (many of the URL's are lost/defunct now.) The purported recipe from Ngiam Tong Boon faced skepticism among various sources for having too much pineapple juice. The one that seemed closest to what I recall having was published by Ted Haigh in "Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails" in 2009. While still sweet, it cuts the pineapple juice in half, ups the lime (somewhat improving balance) and uses more gin. I have made hundreds of these...
2 oz London Dry Gin
3/4 oz Cherry Heering
2 tsp (1/3 oz) Bénédictine
2 tsp (1/3 oz) Cointreau
2 oz pineapple juice
3/4 oz lime juice
2 dashes real pomegranate grenadine
1 dash Angostura bitters
Soda water