Originally Slings were made with any spirit such as rum, Cognac, or Oude Genever mixed with water, sugar, ice and perhaps some fresh nutmeg grated on top.
Slings have now become a bit misunderstood. Due to the creation of the Singapore Sling, people nowadays largely associate the Sling with tropical juices and grenadine, which is a travesty. The Singapore Sling was created during the early 1900s, in Singapore’s fabulous Raffles
Hotel.
The Singapore Sling is often touted as a 'pre-tiki' tiki-style drink, due to its use of fresh lime juice, pineapple juice and other ingredients and was created by Hainanese-Chinese Bartender, Mr. Ngiam Tong Boon. Cocktail historian Ted Haigh believes that the Singapore Sling concocted at Raffles these days bears no resemblance to the original recipe. The earliest reference anyone has found to a pineapple-based Singapore Sling is from 1977 and this is from the nephew of Ngiam Tong Boon.
Before the 1970s there were numerous variations cited in newspapers and Cocktail books all over the world, which led to claims that no-one knows the exact recipe for the Singapore Sling.
The recipe we use is based on one listed in Stanley C. Arthur’s book, 'Famous New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix Em' (1937). That recipe contains dry gin, apricot brandy, cherry brandy, lime juice and chilled seltzer.
We tweaked this recipe and added Sloe Gin, fresh ginger extract, cane syrup and aromatic bitters - to make it a truly refreshing variation.
The Gin Sling
- Sloe Gin Ginger Sling:**
Build in an ice-filled highball glass 20mls Plymouth Gin, 20mls Plymouth Sloe Gin, 7.5mls apricot brandy, 7.5mls cherry liqueur, 5mls fresh ginger extract, 5mls cane syrup, 25mls fresh lime juice, 2 dashes aromatic bitters. Stir briefly and top up with chilled seltzer water. Garnish with 2 speared raspberries and a mint sprig tip. Serve with a straw.
- Rangoon Sling:**
Plymouth Gin, curacao, house-made lime cordial, fresh lime juice, aromatic bitters, orange bitters and chilled seltzer water (NEW)
- Gin Sling:
Beefeater Gin, Martini Rosso, fresh lemon juice, cane syrup and chilled seltzer water (NEW)
- Solomon Sling (Chad Solomon):
Beefeater Gin, kirsch eau de vie, cherry liqueur, fresh lemon juice, cane syrup, aromatic bitters and chilled seltzer water (NEW)
Variants and Mixology:
All £9.95
LONG and Refreshing
The Tom Collins is named after a great hoax that occurred in 1874 and was kick-started by people living in New York, Pennsylvania and elsewhere in the United States.
Mr. Collins was an imaginary villain who was meant to be running around the cities bad-mouthing people.
The people he was supposedly bad-mouthing were understandably upset and keen to know who this villain was. Newspapers encouraged the hoax by printing sightings and urging citizens to find the slanderer. More often than not, the attempt resulted in the ‘victims’ making
complete fools of themselves.
The recipe for the Tom Collins drink first appeared in the 1876 edition of Jerry Thomas’s 'Bartender’s Guide'. Since New York-based Thomas would have been well aware of the hoax, this is the most plausible source of the name for the drink.
By 1878, the Tom Collins was being served in the barrooms of New York City and elsewhere. It was identified as "a favourite drink in demand everywhere"
in the 1878 edition of 'The Modern Bartender’s Guide' by O. H. Byron. In that book, the Tom Collins served with gin, whiskey and brandy were considered to be the fashionable drinks of the moment.
A Collins is essentially a built drink that is served in a collins glass (or large tumbler) over ice. It requires a base-spirit of any kind, fresh lemon juice, cane syrup and is topped with chilled seltzer water. Other components may be added but these are the basic requirements which constitute a Collins.
- The Sicilian:**
Build over ice in a 16oz collins glass 20mls Plymouth Gin, 20mls Campari, 10mls Cointreau, 15mls cane syrup, 25mls fresh lemon juice, 75mls fresh ruby grapefruit juice, 2 dashes orange bitters and top up with chilled seltzer water. Garnish with an upturned wedge of fresh ruby grapefruit and serve with a long straw.
- Eton's Blazer
Plymouth Gin, fresh lemon juice, house-made groseille syrup, kirsch and chilled seltzer water (NEW)
- Mr. Harrison:**
ABSOLUT Vodka, curacao, fresh lemon juice, fresh kumquats, fresh basil, house-made orgeat syrup and chilled seltzer water (NEW)
- The Cincinnati Kid:**
Hennessy VS Cognac, elderberry eau de vie, fresh lemon, housemade cinnamon syrup, allspice tincture and chilled seltzer water.
Variants and Mixology:
All £9.95
The Collins
LONG and Refreshing
Some people reckon that this drink was created out of Prohibition-era Chicago, as gangs battled for the control of superior alcoholic spirits. The Northside gang that was led by Dion O’Banion had secured the good spirits pipeline, leaving only hooch and swill for the Southside gang. Southside gang leader Frankie McErlane and his cohort, former bartender and wealthy bootlegger Joseph Saltis, mixed it with lots of sugar and citrus - and thus,
apparently, the drink was born. However there is no evidence that the Southside was ever served in Prohibition Chicago and it is well documented that Saltis and McErlane focused only on forcing saloons into selling their beer and beer alone.
Others reckon the drink originated at the Southside Sportsmen’s Club in the Hamptons, Long Island. This could well be the case as the men who fished and hunted at this club did their golfing, riding, and racquet sports at places such as the Rockaway Hunting Club, the Maidstone Club and Piping Rock, which might explain how the drink spread to become the definitive summer drink of the country club set.
The 21 Club in midtown Manhattan and a variety of other post-Prohibition era clubs also make a claim to the Southside’s birthright. However, once again, there’s been no direct chain of documentation produced to verify or deny these claims. It is argued that Americans fleeing Prohibition to go to Cuba brought the Southside recipe with them, which resulted in the development of the Mojito. There are accounts of a Punch-style Mojito being in existence since before this time, but the long, refreshing Mojito that we know today didn't actually show itself on a Cuban Cocktail menu until 1928. Sloppy Joe’s Bar in Havana first featured it on their menu at that time and it was made with either Gordon’s Gin or Bacardi.
The
Southside
- The Southside:
Muddle together in a highball glass 35mls Plymouth Gin (or light white rum), 8 spearmint leaves, 25mls fresh lime juice, 7.5mls cane syrup and 2 dashes aromatic bitters.
Fill glass with cracked ice and add 50mls chilled seltzer water. Churn ingredients and garnish with a fresh lime wedge and a spring of fresh spearmint. Serve with a straw.
- The Fernet Side:**
Beefeater Gin, Fernet Branca, fresh lime juice, fresh spearmint, green cardamom tincture, cane syrup, Old Fashioned Bitters and chilled seltzer water (NEW) - Gin-Gin Mule (Audrey Saunders):
Beefeater Gin, fresh lime juice, fresh spearmint, fresh ginger extract, aromatic bitters, cane syrup and chilled seltzer water.
Variants and Mixology:
All £9.95
LONG and Refreshing
John Martin would long claim that he invented the