We’re putting a spin on a classic today!
Who here has heard of (or enjoyed) a Singapore Sling before? I sure hadn’t, but I stumbled upon it one day in my cocktail research and knew I had to try it for a couple of reasons:
Reason #1: Gin
You probably know it’s one of my faves since it shows up in so many of my cocktails, like this Fresh Thyme and Plum Gin Fizz, this Turmeric Gin & Ginger Cocktail, and this You Go, Gin Coco (to name a few.) I’m down to try any and all gin drinks!
Reason #2: Pineapple
By now you know that this California gal has some Hawaii roots, and I believe that this tropical fruit can make just about any recipe ten times better.
It was pretty obvious that I needed to give this drink a shot, so I decided to interpret it in my own way (with the ingredients I had on hand in our liquor cabinet) and the Santa Barbara Sling was born!
Before I get into the recipe, here’s a quick recap of the OG Singapore Sling: It’s rumored to have been created way back at the beginning of the 19th century by a Hainanese bartender named Ngiam Tong Boon, who worked at the Long Bar in the Raffles Hotel in Singapore. It was originally just called a “gin sling,” but apparently it had an identity crisis. To this day, there are tons of iterations of this recipe, so it was only natural that I make it my own and give it a local California touch!
This Santa Barbara Sling has a pretty large number of ingredients, but most of them are items you might already have in your liquor cabinet or pantry. I didn’t feel like tracking down the unique liqueurs the original recipe called for, like Cherry Heering and Benedictine, so I did my best to find the closest substitutes I could that I already had on hand.
Instead of Cherry Heering, I simply used some of the juice from a jar of maraschino cherries, and instead of the Benedictine, I used it’s more common counterpart here in the US, Jaegermeister. Because the cherry juice was non-alcoholic (and because I love gin) I also upped the amount of gin the recipe calls for.
Despite the numerous ingredients, the Santa Barbara Sling comes together in a snap. Once you have all of the ingredients, you simply pour them together in a glass over a hefty serving of ice, give the mixture a nice stir, and enjoy.
My interpretation of this cocktail turned out quite tasty (if I do say so myself) and, after the week I’ve had, all I want to do today is sit out in my backyard with a good book and a Santa Barbara Sling in hand. I hosted my FEED Supper pop-up dinner last night, and it was a smashing success! It was quite a lot of work doing everything on my own (and did I mention they turned off our power for a couple of hours on Thursday morning?) but the payoff was totally worth it and we had a great turnout. Unfortunately, I still have a lot of work to get done today, but that’s the price I pay for all of the fun travel plans I have ahead!
That’s right folks, my marathon month of traveling continues next week when the hubby and I take a long weekend trip up to Napa (right in the middle of harvest! So excited.) Then I’m back for a few days and off on a plane to Hawaii the following week with my dad. I convinced him to come along on a “work research” trip with me and I’m so excited to have some one-on-one time with him. We definitely have lots of eating planned, but we’re hoping to also find some fun farm tours or other excursions to go on while we’re there. Please let me know in the comments if you have any ideas or suggestions!
But, since it’s Friday and I plan to work as little as possible while still getting everything done that I need to, I’m going to just leave you with this, the tropical, tasty and refreshing Santa Barbara Sling!
Santa Barbara Sling
Ingredients
- ¼ ounce Cointreau
- 4 ounces pineapple juice
- ½ ounce maraschino cherry juice from the jar the cherries are stored in
- ½ ounce Grenadine
- 1 ½ ounces gin
- ¼ ounce Jaegermeister
- 1 dash Angostura bitters
- ¼ ounce fresh lime juice
Instructions
- Fill a highboy glass three quarters of the way full with ice. Add ingredients to glass and stir to combine. Serve with a lime wedge for garnish.
Notes
- In this recipe, the maraschino cherry juice is meant to sub in for the Cherry Heering used in a traditional Singapore Sling.
- Likewise, the Jaegermeister subs in for the Benedictine.
Nutrition
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One for me, one for you.
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