Pegu Club (cocktail)

The Pegu Club or the Pegu is a gin-based cocktail that was the signature drink of Burma's Pegu Club.[2] The club was located just outside Rangoon, and its members were those Britons who were senior government and military officials and prominent businessmen.[3] The club was named after the Pegu, a Burmese river. The recipe appears in the Savoy Cocktail Book of 1930 by Harry Craddock as "The Pegu Club Cocktail," and the 1930 edition of Cocktails by "Jimmy" late of Ciro's London as "Pegu Club."[4] However, it appears to be first listed in Barflies and Cocktails by Harry McElhone of the famous Harry's New York Bar in Paris.

Pegu Club
Cocktail
TypeCocktail
Primary alcohol by volume
Servedshaken
Standard garnishlime twist
Standard drinkware
Cocktail glass
Commonly used ingredients
  • 1 1/2 ounces gin[1]
  • 3/4 ounce orange curaçao
  • 1 teaspoon lime juice
  • Dash bitters
  • Dash orange bitters
PreparationShake ingredients together in a mixer with crushed ice. Strain into chilled glass, garnish and serve.

The Pegu Club is best served in a chilled glass and is considered a hot weather drink. Its taste is reminiscent of grapefruit and some bartenders will garnish it with a twist of grapefruit peel or slice of fresh grapefruit, although it is commonly served with a slice of lime to complement the lime juice in the drink.

The Pegu Cocktail has all but disappeared from memory in present-day Myanmar, however there has been a resurgence in awareness and availability due to tourism.

See also

Notes
  1. Anthony Dias Blue, The Complete Book of Mixed Drinks (HarperCollins, 2011)
  2. Ti Adelaide Martin, Lally Brennan, Tim Trapolin, In the Land of Cocktails: Recipes and Adventures from the Cocktail Chicks (HarperCollins, 2007), 58
  3. Thant Myint-U, The River of Lost Footsteps: A Personal History of Burma (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006), 190
  4. Cocktails by "Jimmy" late of Ciro's London (David McKay Company, Philadaelphia, Washington Square, 1930), 60
  • Ted Haigh, Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails: From the Alamagoozlum to the Zombie (Quarry Books, 2009), pp. 226ff.
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