The story of Asia cocktail culture is deeper and more influential than many realize, with roots stretching from colonial Singapore to prewar Japan. While the modern spotlight often shines on cities like Hong Kong or Bangkok, the true origins of Asia’s cocktail legacy are found in the ports, hotels, and hotel bars that first introduced Western spirits, service rituals, and innovation to the region.
Drinks historian David Wondrich famously wrote that the art of the mixed drink was born, matured, and spread globally between the American Revolution and Prohibition. But that same legacy also arrived in Asia—and transformed it.
The Tiger — Singapore and the Rise of the Sling
Small in size but massive in influence, Singapore has long been one of the world’s most important trade ports. Its location along major maritime routes made it a natural hub for goods, travelers, and ideas—including early cocktail culture. And it’s here that one of the world’s most debated drinks took shape: the Singapore Sling.
To understand the Sling, we have to look back. The word sling was used in the U.S. by the early 1800s to describe a drink made of spirit, lemon juice, sugar, and soda. Some historians, like Anistatia Miller and Jared Brown, argue that the American cocktail emerged when bitters were added to this base. Newspapers from the time even mention gin slings being served during political events—long before the word cocktail had a clear definition.
Singapore’s own version came later. After Sir Stamford Raffles founded the city in 1819, it became part of the British colonial holdings in Southeast Asia. By the mid-1800s, it joined Penang and Malacca as part of the Straits Settlements—a name that later found its way onto cocktail menus.
The historic Raffles Hotel is most closely tied to the Singapore Sling. Originally a private beach house, it became a full hotel by 1878 and was taken over by the Sarkies brothers in 1887. After renovations in the late 1890s by Tigran Sarkies, Raffles offered modern luxuries like ceiling fans, ice delivery, and the region’s first electric lights. But it was the Long Bar, a rustic watering hole relocated during renovations in the 1980s, that would make history.
In 1902, a tiger escaped from a traveling circus and hid beneath the bar’s billiards room—prompting what would become Singapore’s last tiger hunt, right under the future home of the city’s most iconic cocktail.
Between 1899 and 1915, Raffles bartenders were rumored to be mixing an early version of the Sling. According to hotel lore, women weren’t allowed to consume alcohol in public, so they typically drank fruit juices or tea. A sailor reportedly asked the bartender for a drink as red as a woman’s lips—and the Singapore Sling was born.
The credited inventor is Ngiam Tong Boon, a Chinese bartender from Hainan who started his career at the Adelphi Hotel before joining Raffles. He became known for his creativity and precision, and later family accounts painted him as a romantic figure who brought elegance to tropical mixology.
Yet the Sling’s history is anything but straightforward. Some records suggest Ngiam died in 1915—the same year the cocktail was supposedly invented. Even before that, drinks called Gin Sling, Straits Sling, or Commander were appearing in Singapore’s bars and clubs. A 1903 report mentions “pink slings for pale people,” while a 1913 article describes gentlemen mixing their own drinks at a cricket club using gin, cherry brandy, Bénédictine, lime, and soda.
The first recipe to resemble today’s Singapore Sling appears in Robert Vermeire’s 1922 book Cocktails: How to Mix Them. In the late 1920s, both “Straits Sling” and “Singapore Sling” were listed in The Savoy Cocktail Book, with differing specs. A 1930s handwritten recipe—possibly from Raffles—called for gin, Bénédictine, cherry brandy, lemongrass, and Angostura bitters.
When Roberto Pregarz took over as general manager of Raffles in 1967, he partnered with Ngiam’s grandson to revive the recipe. However, their version leaned toward the tiki trend of the time—sweeter, fruitier, and designed to appeal to tourists.
Today, most modern versions of the drink include gin, cherry brandy, lemon juice, soda water, and sometimes pineapple juice—though the latter likely wasn’t part of the original. One constant remains: the Singapore Sling is one of the most enduring icons of Asia cocktail culture.
The Bird — Kuala Lumpur’s Jungle Bird and the Bar That Hatched It
No story of Asia cocktail culture is complete without a stop in Malaysia, where one of the region’s most influential tiki drinks took flight—literally.
The Jungle Bird was first served in the 1970s in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s buzzing capital city. Originally created as a welcome cocktail at the newly opened Hilton Kuala Lumpur, the drink became an unexpected icon of tropical flavor and balance—though its rise to international fame would take decades.
The Jungle Bird wasn’t just a casual menu addition. According to bar legend, it was one of six cocktails proposed by the Hilton’s opening team in 1973, each designed to represent Malaysia’s exotic landscape and the hotel’s modern luxury. The winning drink—featuring dark Jamaican rum, Campari, pineapple juice, lime juice, and simple syrup—was both tropical and bitter, a rare combination that still sets it apart today.
It was served at the hotel’s Aviary Bar, an open-concept lounge surrounded by live birds in large indoor aviaries. The name Jungle Bird was a tribute to both the drink’s vibrant presentation and the bar’s unique setting. According to early hotel staff, it was even served in a custom ceramic vessel shaped like a bird, with a long tail that doubled as a straw.
For years, the Jungle Bird remained a local favorite. But it wasn’t until Jeff “Beachbum” Berry, a renowned tiki historian, rediscovered the recipe that the drink gained global attention. In his book Beachbum Berry’s Intoxica!, Berry traced the drink to John J. Poister’s 1989 New American Bartender’s Guide, which listed a simplified version of the cocktail. It credited the drink to Jeffrey Ong, the Hilton’s bar manager, who created it as the hotel opened on July 6, 1973.
The research didn’t stop there. Kim Choong, editor of Malaysian drinks journal Thirst, dove even deeper into the story. Through interviews with former Hilton staff, she confirmed Ong’s authorship and uncovered that the Jungle Bird was selected from a list of competing recipes. She also revealed that the hotel changed names several times—becoming the Crowne Plaza Mutiara Kuala Lumpur before being demolished in 2013 as the city pushed forward with modern redevelopment.
Despite its humble beginnings, the Jungle Bird gradually became a global cocktail bar staple, featured on menus from New York to London. Its unique mix of tropical fruit and bitter amaro helped modern bartenders rediscover the beauty of balance, and its Malaysian roots gave it a sense of place rare in tiki culture.
The drink’s symbolism runs deep. It captures a specific moment in Asia cocktail culture—the fusion of international hotel hospitality with local flavor, served in a glass that quite literally flew off the shelves. In fact, the original ceramic Jungle Bird mugs became so popular with hotel guests that many were “souvenired,” forcing the hotel to switch to engraved wine goblets later on.
Today, the Jungle Bird represents more than just a great drink. It stands as a symbol of Malaysian identity in the global cocktail world. As bartender and bar owner Kho Chee Kheong (of Kuala Lumpur’s Coley and Pahit) once said, “It’s a cocktail that represents Malaysia—and it’s how the world learns about our cocktail culture.”
Sadly, Jeffrey Ong passed away in 2019 at the age of 71, having asked for privacy late in life. But his legacy lives on—sipped, shared, and shaken around the world.
The Samurai — Japan’s Timeless Contribution to Asia Cocktail Culture
Among all the regions that define Asia cocktail culture, few have had a greater global influence than Japan. From quiet, meticulous bars in Tokyo to the country’s historic obsession with technique and hospitality, Japan has elevated bartending into something close to art.
The story begins long before today’s award-winning Japanese bars. In the 1600s, Japan was already aware of distillation through Chinese trade, but it wasn’t until 1853, when Commodore Matthew Perry arrived with a fleet of American ships—and a substantial supply of whiskey—that modern bar culture began to form.
The real turning point came with the Meiji Restoration in 1868, when Japan opened itself to Western ideas and industries, rapidly modernizing its infrastructure and society. This period didn’t just bring railways and factories—it also brought cocktails. Western diplomats, traders, and naval officers brought drinking customs with them, and Japanese hosts quickly adapted.
While the capital Tokyo (formerly Edo) was the heart of modernization, it was the port city of Yokohama that first served as Japan’s gateway to the world. It’s here, in 1873, that the Grand Hotel opened its doors and began serving foreign guests—including Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Rudyard Kipling, and Babe Ruth.
At first, the hotel’s bars served only beer and wine. But that changed when Louis Eppinger, a German bartender with experience in San Francisco and Portland, took over the Grand Hotel’s beverage program in the 1890s. Eppinger introduced Western cocktails with extraordinary technique and precision, mentoring a generation of Japanese bartenders who would carry his legacy far beyond Yokohama.
Meanwhile, Tokyo was undergoing a transformation of its own. After a fire in 1872 destroyed much of the Ginza district, it was rebuilt as a stylish, Western-inspired hub of modernity. By the early 1900s, European-style cafés were serving cordials and cocktails to writers, artists, and political thinkers. In 1910, Maison Konosu opened as the first European-style cocktail bar in Tokyo. Run by Komazo Okuda, a chef trained in French cuisine, it became known for drinks like the Pousse-Café, as well as a signature house cocktail made with five liqueurs known as Goshiki no Saké (“Five Colors of Alcohol”).
Then came the disaster that would change everything: the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. Measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale, it leveled large parts of Tokyo and Yokohama, killing over 140,000 people and destroying the Grand Hotel. Many surviving bartenders relocated to Tokyo, helping rebuild its bar scene from the ground up. One result was the founding of bars like Bar Lupin, which opened in 1928 and is widely considered one of the country’s first true cocktail bars.
Around the same time, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Imperial Hotel had just survived the earthquake. Its bar would go on to create one of Japan’s first famous cocktails: the Mount Fuji, a frothy mix of Old Tom gin, maraschino, citrus, and cream, designed to honor the hotel’s grand reopening in 1924.
That same year marked another major milestone for Asia cocktail culture. Japan published its first two original cocktail books: Kakuteru, or Cocktail, written by Tokuzo Akiyama, and Kokuteeru, written by 27-year-old bartender Yonekichi Maeda of Café Line. While Akiyama was a renowned imperial chef, Maeda was a working bartender who published 287 recipes, including both Western classics and uniquely Japanese creations like the Line Cocktail.
Notably, many of Maeda’s recipes predate those found in Harry Craddock’s Savoy Cocktail Book by several years. Some historians believe Maeda worked on international ships, giving him access to global cocktail trends before they appeared in London. After publishing his book, Maeda opened his own shop selling bottled cocktails and spirits until his death in the 1930s.
Japan’s dedication to craft didn’t fade. In 1929, the Nippon Bartenders Association was founded. By 1931, Japan held its first national cocktail competition, sponsored by the company now known as Suntory.
World War II halted much of Japan’s hospitality development, but after the war, as bars reopened and cities rebuilt, Japanese bartending re-emerged stronger, more refined, and more focused on hospitality than ever. Like the Ginza district, which rose from the ashes of destruction more elegant than before, Japan’s bar culture became a global benchmark for precision and excellence.
Conclusion
From the tropical elegance of the Singapore Sling, to the bold identity of Malaysia’s Jungle Bird, and the quiet mastery of Japan’s prewar cocktail bars, Asia cocktail culture has long played a defining role in the evolution of global mixology. These drinks and destinations aren’t just historical footnotes—they’re foundations. They reflect how Asia embraced the cocktail, reshaped it, and sent it back into the world, more refined, more local, and more powerful than ever.
As today’s bartenders continue drawing inspiration from the region—from minimalist highball bars in Tokyo to tropical rum dens in Kuala Lumpur—the legacy of these three cocktail capitals lives on in every stirred, shaken, and reinvented drink.
