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How to Make a Singapore Sling: A Quick & Easy Cocktail Recipe

by Kris Barton Kris Barton Author Last Updated:
Summary Information - A short introduction into this article

Wanna know how to make a Singapore Sling? Well, you’re in the right place!

You make a Singapore Sling by combining Gin, Cherry Brandy, Cointreau, Benedictine, Grenadine, Pineapple Juice, Lime juice and Angostura Bitters.

But let’s take a deeper dive into the cocktail.

Wanna know how to make a Singapore Sling? Well, you’re in the right place!

You make a Singapore Sling by combining Gin, Cherry Brandy, Cointreau, Benedictine, Grenadine, Pineapple Juice, Lime juice and Angostura Bitters.

But let’s take a deeper dive into the cocktail.

In this article, we’re going to cover:

There’s also a downloadable how to make a Singapore Sling recipe Infographic that you can download and take away with you – pretty cool, right?

Let’s get mixing.

How to make a Singapore Sling: a Quick & Easy Cocktail recipe
Table of contents

How to Make a Singapore Sling

First up, let’s learn how to make a Singapore Sling.

Like a lot of cocktails, the Singapore Sling has had many different variations over the years (see the history of the Singapore Sling for more details).

But the current International Bartenders Association has the recipe down as the following:

Singapore Sling Recipe

Singapore Sling Recipe

Ingredients

  • Gin 30ml / 1oz.
  • Cherry Brandy 15ml / 0.5oz.
  • Cointreau 7.5ml / 0.3oz.
  • Benedictine 7.5ml / 0.3oz.
  • Grenadine 10ml / 0.3oz.
  • Pineapple Juice 120ml / 4.1oz.
  • Lime Juice 15ml / 0.5oz.
  • A dash of Angostura Bitter
  • a slice of pineapple and a cocktail cherry

Recipe

With a Cocktail Shaker:
  • Add Ice, Gin, Cherry Brandy, Cointreau, Benedictine, Grenadine, Pineapple Juice, Lime Juice, and Angostura Bitter to your cocktail shaker.
  • Shake well.
  • Strain into a Hurricane Glass.
  • Garnish with a slice of pineapple and a cocktail cherry.
Without:
  • Add Ice, Gin, Cherry Brandy, Cointreau, Benedictine, Grenadine, Pineapple Juice, Lime Juice, and Angostura Bitter to a Hurricane Glass.
  • Garnish with a slice of pineapple and a cocktail cherry.

Now that you know how to make a Singapore Sling, let’s take a look at our specialized recommendations for the ingredients.

Let’s take a look at the best Singapore Sling ingredients available for the best prices.

Here’s our list of recommended Singapore Sling ingredients:

How Many Calories are in a Singapore Sling

So, there’s a lot to this Singapore Sling recipe..let’s see how it’s going to affect our waistlines!

Calories
gin
65
Cherry Brandy
30
Cointreau
24
Grenadine
23
Benedictine
22
Pineapple Juice
67
Lime Juice
4
Total Calories
235

History of the Singapore Sling

In 1915, Ngiam Tong Boon, the bartender at The Long Bar, in the Raffles Hotel, Singapore had a great idea: create a cocktail that looks exactly like fruit juice.

Wait…what? Fruit Juice?

It was to hide the fact the drink contained alcohol…

…why?

Because back then, it was socially unacceptable for women to drink booze in public.

The invention of the Singapore Sling recipe kept everyone happy: women could drink in bars and men could buy women drinks in bars.

But were the Singapore Sling ingredients the same back then as they are now? Probably not.

Let’s get into it a little more.

Early Appearance

One of the earliest cocktail books the Singapore Sling appeared in was in the 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book.

There, this cocktail recipe consisted of just 3 Singapore Sling ingredients:

And to make it, according to the book, you: “Shake well and strain into medium size glass, and fill with soda water. Add 1 lump of ice”.

If this was the recipe back then, it begs the question: where did the modern day recipe come from?

Modern Recipe

Records of Boon’s original Singapore Sling recipe was lost during the Second World War.

In 1942, The Raffles Hotel was occupied by the invading Japanese military and in 1945 by the Allies as a transit camp for prisoners of war.

The modern Singapore Sling recipe was thought to have been created sometime the 1970s.

At this time, Raffles Hotel underwent a revamp under the leadership of a new General Manager. The Long Bar and the Singapore Sling were great marketing tools for the revamp and the new GM made use of these tools.

It’s thought that the new Singapore Sling recipe was born out of this, particularly since ingredients such as Pineapple Juice and Grenadine were popular with Tiki Bar recipes of the time.

It also helped that Pineapples were grown in Singapore, so could be sourced locally and was good for the bottom line.

Denial

But Raffles deny such claims and double down on the notion that the original Singapore Sling and the modern one were one in the same.

They even had Boon’s nephew, Ngiam Dee Saun, confirm it was his uncles original recipe.

The fact that Saun worked at Raffles at the time was surely just a coincidence.

Whatever the true history of the Singapore Sling, I think we can all agree it’s delicious.

Next up, a downloadable How to Make a Singapore Sling cocktail recipe Inographic that you can download and take with you.

How to Make a Singapore Sling Cocktail Recipe Image

To save this how to make a Singapore Sling recipe image to your computer:

Or a tablet or mobile:

How to make a Singapore Sling cocktail recipe Infographic

Want More Cocktail Ideas?

No that you know how to make a Singapore Sling, do you want to expand your cocktail recipe list? Need a little more cocktail inspiration?

You’re in the right place.

Check out our cocktail recipe hub. There you’ll find over 100 cocktail recipes for you to try – pretty cool, right?

Better yet, why not search our cocktail collection? You can search by:

So cool!

Happy mixing, guys.

Further Reading

Kris Barton Author
Cocktail connoisseur and season mixologist, Kris Barton has been making (and more importantly drinking) cocktails for most of his adult life. He's the author of all of these quick & easy cocktail recipes you'll want to drink over and over again.

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