Gin Sling

A simple and refreshing cocktail, the Gin Sling is a bit of a mix of a Gin and Tonic with a Tom Collins, so if you like either or both of those, this one's for you.

Although you can, there's no need to stir this drink once you top it up with water. The lack of stirring creates a good looking, somewhat layered drink. This is reflected in the flavour as well, since the concentraion increases the more you drink, counterbalancing the dilution of the cocktail from the ice melting.

Enjoy a batch of Gin Slings with friends while enjoy good weather.

Total Time 4

Servings 1 cocktail

Ingredients

50 mL Gin
20 mL Lemon Juice
15 mL Simple Syrup*
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
Tonic Water to taste.
Club Soda to taste.
Garnish with rosemary sprig and lemon wedge

Instructions

Shake Gin, Lemon Juice, Sugar Syrup, and Bitters in cocktail shaker with plenty of ice. Make sure everything is properly cold.
Strain into a tall glass with ice.
Top up with equal parts Tonic Water and Club Soda.
Garnish, enjoy.

Notes

*Learn how to make Simple Syrup at home.

The "Sling" style cocktail has evolved over the years, and this is perhaps one of the more basic versions of the style. Traditionally, a Sling had different basic ingredients, including Nutmeg, but this has obviously changed. All in all, a Sling is basically a punch that's easy and enjoyable to drink. So have fun!

Our Review of the Gin Sling

Yay, gin!

You can look at the Gin Sling in a few different ways. There’s the obvious elements of a Gin and Tonic since it has both gin and tonic in it, but I think that comparison is a little bit lazy. The Gin Sling also looks and kind of feels like a Lemon, Lime, and Bitters too, which is a lovely and refreshing non-alcoholic mixture of lemon-lime soda and bitters.

But really, the Gin Sling is a cocktail all its own.

Before I wrote this review, I quickly looked up what a sling actually is. Of course the two most common types of sling are the ordinary Gin Sling you see here and then the Singapore Sling which is, perhaps, even more famous. What’s interesting is that early slings had nutmeg in them. Now it doesn’t look like there’s any specific definition of what needs to be in a sling. I guess we can base other slings off something like the recipe you see here.

Anyway, firstly, I like a Gin Sling because it’s a great tasting cocktail that’s actually pretty simple to make while having more than a few ingredients. It feels a lot more elaborate that it is, which means making a Gin Sling is a lot of fun but not too hard. Although, if I had to choose, I’d go with a Singapore Sling, I don’t always have the ingredients for one of those, so a Gin Sling will often do the job for the general feel of the cocktail I want without having to go buy the bottles I need. That’s the beauty of our cocktail generator I suppose.

Although the simplicity of the Gin Sling is one of the great things about it, it’s also on of the negatives though. The cocktail seems to be lacking something. While so many simpler cocktail recipes combine basic ingredients that somehow become bigger than the sum of their parts, the Gin Sling doesn’t do this. Perhaps it’s the combination of both tonic water and soda water, and perhaps I’m not getting my ratios right. It’s worth experimenting with to find that perfect Gin Sling balance.

As cocktails go, you could do a lot worse than a Gin Sling, especially if you’re after something long, refreshing, and easy to drink with familiar flavours. And that’s what you should reserve this cocktail recipe for: familiarity. This can be a good thing sometimes, so wait until then and you’ll be sure to enjoy this cocktail.

7.5/10

Review by Ziggy

Check out even more cocktail recipes to keep having fun

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