Raffles 1887
The Boston Sling: a New England twist on a 100-year-old recipe
To celebrate its third anniversary, Raffles Boston has reimagined the Singapore Sling as a New England version steeped in Irish whiskey, with cranberries and maple syrup. RAFFLES 1887 takes up the story
MORE than a century after the bartender at Raffles Singapore, Ngiam Tong Boon, created the Singapore Sling – a sophisticated rose-pink libation that quickly became the hotel's signature drink – there's a new sling on the block. Raffles Boston has relaunched its Boston Sling cocktail to mark the three-year anniversary of its arrival as Raffles' first US address.
What better way to celebrate than by reimagining the classic Singapore Sling through the eyes, palate and history of the New England city that inspired Cheers, one of the most successful TV series ever? (You can still visit the inspiration for the fictional ‘bar where everyone knows your name’ across from Boston Public Garden.)
For the Long Bar & Terrace's head bartender Daniel Savage, the sense of place is one of the most important factors of interpreting the classic. “It shouldn’t simply be the Singapore Sling with one or two local ingredients swapped in. It should give you a sense of where you are when you drink it,” he says. Just as the Singapore Sling naturally evokes its island surrounds with tropical fruit, his Boston version now “tastes much more like something you would expect to discover in New England.”
Made with Irish whiskey, house-made cranberry-maple syrup, Amaro Averna, fresh lime juice and soda, the new Boston Sling is full-bodied, round and rich. Most Raffles hotels around the world have created destination-specific slings by building off the original gin base. In using Irish whiskey instead, Savage has created something that is unexpected, but still chimes with the city and New England.
Irish whiskey has had a strong presence in Boston culture right from its colonial days, through the revolutionary era – when establishments such as the Warren Tavern, founded in 1780, became regular drinking haunts – to the lively bar scene found in the city today. Meanwhile local cranberries are hard to miss, especially around the fall season, and it was clear they should play a prominent role.
“Cranberry is deeply connected to Massachusetts, maple is quintessentially New England, and Irish whiskey speaks to an important part of Boston’s cultural history,” says Savage. At the same time, the ingredients mingle well in the glass. “They all share these deeper, darker notes that work beautifully together, with an almost warming kitchen-spice quality from the Amaro.”
Savage blends the fresh cranberries directly with the maple syrup to draw out the natural tartness of the fruit to balance the syrup and ensure its sweetness isn’t too cloying. The result, he says, is “both a nod to old-guard Boston and a more contemporary interpretation of what a Boston-themed cocktail can be.”
The Boston Sling went through many iterations as the bar mixologists prepped for the hotel’s opening, and this newest creation is a delicious drink they can be proud to call their own – much more Boston than Singapore, but every bit as Raffles.
How to make a Boston Sling
1½ oz Irish whiskey
¾ oz cranberry maple syrup*
½ oz Averna
½ oz fresh lime juice
Top with soda
Combine the above ingredients with ice, except the soda, shake vigorously to mix, and chill. Strain into a highball glass over crushed or pebble ice. Top with soda. Garnish with mint and cranberries.
*Cranberry-maple syrup
Make classic simple syrup by combining equal weights of sugar and water, bringing to a simmer and cooling once all sugar is dissolved. Combine equal volumes of simple syrup and canned cranberry sauce in a blender and purée until smooth and combined. Combine cranberry purée with equal parts maple syrup.
Raffles Hotels & Resorts
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