Friday, April 29, 2011

Pegu | 15 down 260 to go

Dry & citrusy...the Pegu from colonial Burma
I love it when H & M lead with a short but tantalizing history of a cocktail, especially one as exotic and literary as the Pegu.  This drink was fantastically popular during the 1920’s, 30’s & 40’s, but traces back to Burma of the late 1800’s.  The bev gets its name from The Pegu Club which was 50 miles outside Rangoon and was the regular haunt of British colonial officers.  One officer in particular may be a reason for it’s 20th century popularity.  For several years, George Orwell was famously stationed in Burma and a frequent patron of the club.
 
For my family back East, a quick Google led me to the club’s namesake in SoHo and purports to be an establishment dedicated to classic cocktailing culture.  How cool is that?  Maybe you could check it out and report back.  Or perhaps a field trip cum family reunion when I’m home next.  For research purposes, of course!  I sense a plan hatching…

H & M claim “the Pegu is more than mildly in resurgence, meaning that this inspiring gin aperitif has been successfully ordered at most bars and dining establishments.”  Now granted, the copyright of the bible is 1998.  But still, has anyone else heard of this tipple before?  I know I haven’t.
 
The Pegu is a good way, say the authors, for people who don’t like Angostura bitters to acclimate.  They also suggest adding a couple dashes of orange bitters as training wheels for the bitters-averse.  We tried it both with the orange bitters and without.  This is a beautiful, dry, citrusy drink.  Very refreshing.  If you make it with only the Angosturas, you can smell the difference when shaking, but the taste is not terribly different.  Though it does go from dry with the orange to dry, dry, dry with Angosturas alone.  An easy-breezy one to mix and a definite for a summer evening after a day in the sun.  Santé!

Pegu
3 parts gin
1 part Cointreau
1 part lime juice
2 dashes Angostura bitters
(2 more dashes orange bitters for a bit more citrus and less dryness)

Shake with cracked ice and serve in chilled Martini glasses.  Garnish with a lime twist.

2 comments:

  1. we were sitting on the dock today talking and were wondering the history of the beer stein...why the lid? we were wondering if you knew. we know we can google it but thought we'd ask you first :-)

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  2. Great question. But beer isn't a cocktail so the Cocktail Bible doesn't cover it. But from what I recall from some source...NPR maybe? is that the lid was introduced for sanitary reasons during the plague. Do Google it to confirm.

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