So I've decided to join in on Mixology Monday, a monthly melding of the minds for cocktail-swilling bloggers. Naturally, this month's theme (hosted by Michael at A Dash of Bitters) is a drink ingredient I have hardly any experience with at all: bitters. I came across a bottle of Angostura on my last trip to the grocery store, though, so I had to see what the deal was with this ingredient so often called for in classic cocktails.

As it turns out, bitters are (is?) a unique, wonderful thing. I've been adding it to soups, sauces, and whatever else its blend of citrus, herb and spice notes will go with, including (of course) cocktails. There's quite a variety of drinks out there that include bitters, ranging from strong and aromatic (the staple Manhattan) to the sweet and exotic (the "Skull & Bones" from my favorite mixologist, Dr. Tiki; on a related note, I've got to get me one of these).

Now then, the Pegu Club. After browsing a bunch of cocktail recipe websites (one of my favorites is The Webtender, which looks like it hasn't been updated since 1995), I came across the Pegu Club Cocktail. I've heard of the Pegu Club in New York, but apparently this drink dates back to the original Pegu Club in Burma, where English expats would drown their homesickness in a litanty of gin-based libations, including this one.

Now, the Webtender version calls for only Angostura bitters, but some other recipes call for both Angostura and orange bitters. The latter seemed like overkill to me, plus I only had the Angostura, so version #1 it is.

Pegu Club Cocktail
1 1/2 oz gin (Bombay Sapphire, but I plan to try Plymouth)
1/2 oz Cointreau
1/2 oz lime juice
2 dashes of Angostura bitters

Shake with cracked ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime wedge. (I used the last of my lime to make the drink, so no wedge here, but I think this looks plenty nice without a garnish.)


My first thought was that it looks a little like grapefruit juice. And somehow, it tastes like it, too - the sour of the lime, the orange of the Cointreau, and whatever the hell Bombay puts into their gin (the label reads like your grandmother's herb garden) add up to a refreshing, sour bite. The drink's taste is strong enough to warrant that "cracked ice" tip, which I usually ignore - shake this thing for a while. (Gary Regan's version calls for 2 oz of gin and 1 oz triple sec; if you use Cointreau, that's one hell of a pre-dinner cocktail. "Fuck the broccoli quiche, Linda, let's all sit around the fire and sing some Zeppelin!")

Next time on Mixology Monday: Drinks for a Festive Occasion. I'm thinking mulled wine and Goldschlager shots.

This entry was posted by Darryl, on Monday, November 13, 2006. You can leave your response.