When in Singapore, you Sling it.

The Singapore Sling to me has always been one of those drinks that you saw depicted on placemats at old Chinese restaurants. You know, the kinds that were opened in the 50s, still served chop suey and were decorated with paper lanterns. Remember?



The Sling was originally invented at the Raffles hotel by a Chinese bartender named Ngiam Toong Boon in the early 20th century. Main ingredients include Gin, Cherry Heering, Dom Bénédictine and pineapple juice. It's the national drink in Singapore (at least for tourists) and it's served as a complimentary beverage to the biz-class passengers on Singapore Airlines.

But let's face it: Most Slings are awful. Sickly sweet, you're more often to get a version that tastes like cough syrup at best, concentrated Kool-Aid at worst. But I'm not like the fun-haters over at cnngo.com who think the drink must die. Admittedly, the drink is poor the vast majority of the time it is ordered. But a true Sling is sublime and it is quite possible to have one.

Case in point: The sling I had at the Fullerton Hotel was not only perfectly balanced in flavour but had the perfect colour gradations. Served in a tall curvaceous glass, you could see the cocktail go from a dark red to a light yellow as you cat your eyes up the glass. At the top of the drink, sat a frothy, creamy foam, like the proper crema of an espresso. And to top it off, a slice of fresh pineapple and, of course, a Marachino cherry. As for the flavor, the bartender's well-slung sling contained the perfect proportions of liquers and included freshly made unsweetened pineapple juice.

With the craft cocktail trend in full motion back in the US, bartenders are revisiting some of the old tiki classics - Mai Tai! - and making them more tuned to adult palates rather than the sweet fruitbombs for the wine cooler generation. Finally. A finely mixed Sling or Mai Tai that isn't sickly sweet is one of the greatest refreshments I've ever known. It's vacation in a glass – tropical, daring, adventerous and slightly mysterious (what exactly is in this drink?).

So, to the much-maligned sling, I salute you. Enjoy one at the Fullerton if you can.