Gin Sling
Gin, lemon, sugar, a dash of bitters and soda over ice. The sling — spirit, sugar and water — is older than the word cocktail, and the gin one is the Singapore Sling's plain ancestor.
Built to the standard modern spec; not yet tested in our kitchen. How we test.
The recipe.
Scaling adjusts quantities only. Prepare shaken drinks in individual portions.
Let’s make a good drink.
Fill a collins glass with ice.
Add the gin, lemon juice, syrup and bitters and stir.
Top with cold soda and stir once.
Garnish with a lemon twist, and a grating of nutmeg if you want the old way.
A thoughtful finish
- The bitters are what separate a sling from a Collins; two dashes of Angostura.
- A grating of nutmeg is the 1790s sling's garnish and suits gin surprisingly well.
- Old Tom gin makes it rounder and more historical.
Common mistakes
- Skipping the bitters; then it is a Tom Collins.
- Too much soda.
- Confusing it with the Singapore Sling, which is a different and much more elaborate drink.
A few good questions.
What is a sling?
Originally spirit, sugar and water — the drink the word 'cocktail' was first defined against in 1806, which added bitters. Today a gin sling is gin, lemon, sugar, bitters and soda.
What is the difference between a Gin Sling and a Tom Collins?
Bitters. Otherwise they are nearly the same drink.
How is it related to the Singapore Sling?
The Singapore Sling is a gin sling with cherry liqueur, Bénédictine and pineapple added, from Raffles Hotel around 1915.
Why nutmeg?
The eighteenth-century sling was served warm or cold with grated nutmeg; it is a nod to the drink's age.
Variations
- Tom Collins — Gin, lemon, sugar and soda.
- Singapore Sling — Gin, cherry liqueur, Bénédictine and pineapple.
- Gin Fizz — Gin, lemon, sugar and soda, served short.
- Gin Rickey — Gin, lime and soda.
Where it comes from
c. 1800s · United States and England
The sling — spirit, sugar and water, sometimes with nutmeg — is one of the oldest American mixed drinks, recorded by the 1790s; the famous 1806 definition of ‘cocktail’ calls it ‘a stimulating liquor composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water and bitters’ — that is, a bittered sling. By the late 1800s the gin sling had taken on lemon and soda, and in Singapore around 1915 it took on cherry liqueur and pineapple and became famous. The plain Gin Sling is a Tom Collins with a dash of bitters, and the bitters make it more interesting than the Collins.
Sources
- The Balance and Columbian Repository, 1806 (article)
- David Wondrich, Imbibe!, 2015 (book)
- Harry Johnson, Bartenders' Manual, 1888 (book)
Strength. About 1.51 US standard drinks at an estimated 12.5% ABV, estimated from the ingredients and technique, not measured. What that means.
A little character in every sip.
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