Spotlight Shots
Making our way through the silver screen and the printed page, one hangover at a time
words by Will Halbert
“Twenty-four hours ago we were sitting in the Pogo Lounge of the Beverly Heights Hotel, in the patio section of course, drinking Singapore Slings with Mescal on the side, hiding from the brutish realities of this foul year of Our Lord, nineteen-hundred and seventy one…”
Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
In an industry rife with alcoholic ante-upping and creative one-upmanship there’s a lot to be said for the simpler things, and the classic Boilermaker is nothing if not simple. Offering some serious bang for your buck the humble boilermaker lights a modest fire in your belly without burning through your hard-earned funds.
And then there’s this little monstrosity: The Singapore Sling and Mezcal chaser. Neither humble nor modest, this odd little combo is, by turns, a kiss on the lips and a kick in the teeth. The one-two punch of a tiki classic and a shot of Mexico’s finest export is a combo so callous in its conception and so ludicrous in its creation that it could only have come from the mind of literary hellraiser, Hunter S. Thompson.
This is chaos and cosmos incarnate; Bonnie and Clyde; Sid and Nancy. This is the good cop, bad cop buddy movie that absolutely nobody asked for. This is Tango and Cash in liquid and damn near flammable form. Make no mistake, the Singapore Sling and Mezcal chaser offers up a cavalcade of sweet and smoke that’ll see you lickity-split, flat-out stripped of your precious sobriety (not to mention money, if your eyes are on the top shelf material).
But you know what? It’s also a hoot. Tradition and etiquette dictate – in equal measure – that I should give you a rundown of where The Singapore Sling comes from and what’s in it. Allow me to furnish you with both details presently: The Singapore Sling hails from Raffles Hotel circa 1915. It’s seen a fair few iterations over the course if its career, but consensus generally falls on the following spec:
1 1/2 ounces gin, London dry
1/4 ounce Cherry Heering
1/4 ounce Cointreau
1/4 ounce Bénédictine
1/4 ounce grenadine
1 ounce lime juice
3/4 ounce pineapple juice
1 dash Angostura bitters
2 ounces soda water
See? It’s preposterous. A silly wee pink drink with sweetness and charm aplenty. The Mezcal chaser adds a harder, more brazen edge, mind. An edge that makes cooking up and quaffing more than a couple of these combos an exercise in outright insanity.
You should try it.
Sure, there are those who might object to such a recommendation. It’s not entirely beyond the realms of possibility that some might consider chasing a liquor laden cocktail with spirit chaser to err on the side of irresponsible drinking. They’d be dead right, too. But what do I care? I’m on my third round. There’s no more effective means of hiding from the brutish realities of this foul year of Our Lord, two-thousand and twenty, after all.
Bottoms up.
