Singapore Sling

Who knew a little Thai restaurant in Highland Park could give you the best bang for a $5.95 drink? Hidden in a menu packed with equally exotic drink names (i.e. the Bangkok Blessing); the Singapore Sling at the Pad Thai is as bright as it is alcoholic. The red drink consists of half a glass of gin, layered with cointreau, cherry liqueur, lime juice, grenadine, and garnished with two maraschino cherries and lemon slices hanging off the sides.

Having never been a fan of the tart and biting kiss of the simple gin and tonic, it’s pleasing to see how much fun gin can be if it’s paired with equally intense flavors.

According to Wikipedia, the modern Sling is a revival of a once forgotten recipe, invented around 1910 at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore. You may remember it as the drink the late great Hunter S. Thompson was having poolside in California when he got the call sending him to the Mint 400, making the Sling the birth of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

This drink is not for those under 5ft., weak hearted, boring, or Asian (females). For the true alcoholic drinking Long Island Ice Teas just for the taste, the Sling can be a fun and welcome change, and is an ideal cure for the first date jitters. But most importantly, there is nothing better than a Singapore Sling to cool a scorched tongue that’s had too much Sriracha in their Pad Prig King. So forget trying the carafe of 10 dollar red wine, cause if you get the right waitress to make you this drink (make sure to ask for it “strong”), you are set for the rest of dinner and prepared to conquer any awkward lulls in the conversation.

For those that don’t like going out for their drinks, the official Raffles Hotel Singapore Sling’s recipe is as follows:

1 1/2 ounce (30 ml) gin

1/2 ounce (15 ml) Heering Cherry Liqueur

1/4 ounce (7.5 ml) Cointreau

1/3 ounce (10 ml) grenadine

1/2 ounce (15 ml) lime juice

4 ounces (120 ml) pineapple juice

dash Angostura bitters

1/4 ounce (7.5 ml DOM Benedictine

But personally, I feel the heart of the drink lies in the first 5 ingredients, shaken and poured over ice with a slice of lemon and a maraschino cherry.

Pad Thai Restaurant

217 Raritan Ave.

Highland Park, NJ 

*This entry was originally published on the Johnsonville Press!